Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Mauritius

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool,

Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and

Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Mauritius

November 3, 1998.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naomi Freeman, International Trade

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

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

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

of each Customs port, call (202) 927-5850, or refer to the U.S. Customs

website at http://www.customs.ustreas.gov. 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.

The import restraint limits for textile products, produced or

manufactured in the Mauritius and exported during the period January 1,

1999 through December 31, 1999 are based on limits notified to the

Textiles Monitoring Body pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreement on

Textiles and Clothing (ATC).

In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the

Commissioner of Customs to establish the 1999 limits. The limits for

Categories 338/339 and 347/348 have been reduced for carryforward

applied in 1998.

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).

Information regarding the 1999 CORRELATION will be published in the

Federal Register at a later date.

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

November 3, 1998

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: Pursuant to section 204 of the Agricultural

Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Executive Order 11651 of

March 3, 1972, as amended; and the Uruguay Round Agreement on

Textiles and Clothing (ATC), you are directed to prohibit, effective

on January 1, 1999, entry into the United States for consumption and

withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of cotton, wool, man-made

fiber, silk blend and other vegetable fiber textiles and textile

products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in

Mauritius and exported during the twelve-month period beginning on

January 1, 1999 and extending through December 31, 1999, in excess

of the following levels of restraint:

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Category Twelve-month restraint limit

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Knit Group

345, 438, 445, 446, 645 and 646, as a 199,072 dozen.

group.

Levels not in a group

237....................................... 256,715 dozen.

335/835................................... 102,046 dozen.

336....................................... 120,083 dozen.

338/339................................... 458,792 dozen.

340/640................................... 782,369 dozen of which not

more than 476,248 dozen

shall be in Categories 340-

Y/640-Y \1\.

341/641................................... 541,965 dozen.

347/348................................... 965,737 dozen.

351/651................................... 237,995 dozen.

352/652................................... 2,018,188 dozen of which not

more than 1,715,462 dozen

shall be in Category 352.

442....................................... 12,177 dozen.

604-A \2\................................. 427,959 kilograms.

638/639................................... 552,852 dozen.

647/648/847............................... 745,486 dozen.

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\1\ Category 340-Y: only HTS numbers 6205.20.2015, 6205.20.2020,

6205.20.2046, 6205.20.2050 and 6205.20.2060; Category 640-Y: only HTS

numbers 6205.30.2010, 6205.30.2020, 6205.30.2050 and 6205.30.2060.

\2\ Category 604-A: only HTS number 5509.32.0000.

The limits set forth above are subject to adjustment pursuant to

the provisions of the ATC and administrative arrangements notified

to the Textiles Monitoring Body.

Products in the above categories exported during 1998 shall be

charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see

directive dated December 19, 1997) to the extent of any unfilled

balances. In the event the limits established for that period have

been exhausted by previous entries, such products shall be charged

to the limits set forth in this directive.

In carrying out the above directions, the Commissioner of

Customs should construe entry into the United States for consumption

to include entry for consumption into the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico.

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,

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

[FR Doc. 98-29979 Filed 11-6-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F