Announcement of Import Restraint Limits and Guaranteed Access Levels for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Guatemala

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits and Guaranteed Access

Levels for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products

Produced or Manufactured in Guatemala

November 4, 1998.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

import limits and guaranteed access levels.

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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 and guaranteed access levels for

textile products, produced or manufactured in Guatemala 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 limits and guaranteed access

levels for 1999.

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.

Requirements for participation in the Special Access Program are

available in Federal Register notice 63 FR 16474, published on April 3,

1998.

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

November 4, 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 and man-

made fiber textile products in the following categories, produced or

manufactured in Guatemala and exported during the 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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340/640................................... 1,497,682 dozen.

347/348................................... 1,793,301 dozen.

351/651................................... 315,928 dozen.

443....................................... 72,305 numbers.

448....................................... 45,303 dozen.

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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.

Also pursuant to the ATC, and under the terms of the Special

Access Program, as set forth in 63 FR 16474 (April 3, 1998),

effective on January 1, 1999, you are directed to establish

guaranteed access levels for properly certified textile products in

the following categories which are assembled in Guatemala from

fabric formed and cut in the United States and re-exported to the

United States from Guatemala during the period January 1, 1999

through December 31, 1999:

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Category Guaranteed Access Level

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340/640................................... 520,000 dozen.

347/348................................... 1,000,000 dozen.

351/651................................... 200,000 dozen.

[[Page 63033]]

443....................................... 25,000 numbers.

448....................................... 42,000 dozen.

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Any shipment for entry under the Special Access Program which is

not accompanied by a valid and correct certification in accordance

with the provisions of the certification requirements established in

the directive of January 24, 1990, as amended, shall be denied entry

unless the Government of Guatemala authorizes the entry and any

charges to the appropriate specific limit. Any shipment which is

declared for entry under the Special Access Program but found not to

qualify shall be denied entry into the United States.

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. 98-30134 Filed 11-9-98; 8:45 am]

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