Amendment and Redesignation of Import Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textiles and Textile Products and Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Apparel Produced or Manufactured in the Philippines

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Amendment and Redesignation of Import Limits for Certain Cotton,

Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textiles and Textile Products and Silk Blend

and Other Vegetable Fiber Apparel Produced or Manufactured in the

Philippines

September 16, 1998.

AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs increasing

and amending the coverage of limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: September 23, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Heinzen, International Trade

Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of

Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on the quota status of this

limit, refer to the Quota Status Reports posted on the bulletin boards

of each Customs port or call (202) 927-5850. For information on

embargoes and quota re-openings, call (202) 482-3715.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as

amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as

amended.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated August 19, 1998, the

Governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines

agreed to amend the coverage of Group II to include Categories 361,

369-S and 611 and to increase the 1998 Group II limit.

A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of HTS

numbers is available in the CORRELATION: Textile and Apparel Categories

with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (see Federal

Register notice 62 FR 66057, published on December 17, 1997). Also see

62 FR 64361, published on December 5, 1997.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

September 16, 1998.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: This directive amends, but does not cancel,

the directive issued to you on December 1, 1997, as corrected on

December 23, 1997, by the Chairman, Committee for the Implementation

of Textile Agreements. That directive concerns imports of certain

cotton, wool and man-made fiber textiles and textile products and

silk blend and other vegetable fiber apparel, produced or

manufactured in the Philippines and exported during the twelven-

month period which began on January 1, 1998 and extends through

December 31, 1998.

Effective on September 23, 1998, you are directed to amend the

Group II designation to include the coverage of Categories 361, 369-

S \1\ and 611. Categories 361, 369-S and 611 shall be sublevels in

Group II. Import charges already made to these categories shall be

moved to Group II. The 1998 limit for Group II shall be increased to

190,612,355 square meters equivalent \2\.

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\1\ Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.

\2\ The limit has not been adjusted to account for any imports

exported after December 31, 1997.

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The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has

determined that these actions fall within the foreign affairs

exception of the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).

Sincerely,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 98-25388 Filed 9-22-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F