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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Man-

Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile

Products Produced or Manufactured in India

December 4, 1998.

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

[[Page 68248]]

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1999.

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 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 India 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).

Effective on January 1, 1999, a visa will no longer be required for

products integrated in the second stage of the integration of textiles

and clothing into GATT 1994 from WTO member countries (see 63 FR 53881,

published on October 7, 1998). A visa will continue to be required for

non-integrated products. For quota purposes only, products remaining in

categories partially integrated will continue to be designated by the

designator ``pt.''

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish the 1999 limits.

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

December 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, man-made fiber,

silk blend and other vegetable fiber textiles and textile products

in the following categories, produced or manufactured in India 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:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Category Twelve-month restraint limit

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Levels in Group I

218....................................... 15,759,634 square meters.

219....................................... 72,024,490 square meters.

313....................................... 42,166,947 square meters.

314....................................... 8,574,344 square meters.

315....................................... 14,401,463 square meters.

317....................................... 42,323,197 square meters.

326....................................... 9,618,909 square meters.

334/634................................... 153,260 dozen.

335/635................................... 682,313 dozen.

336/636................................... 962,758 dozen.

338/339................................... 4,168,194 dozen.

340/640................................... 2,140,156 dozen.

341....................................... 4,473,861 dozen of which not

more than 2,684,315 dozen

shall be in Category 341-Y

\1\.

342/642................................... 1,381,686 dozen.

345....................................... 210,686 dozen.

347/348................................... 677,845 dozen.

351/651................................... 292,062 dozen.

363....................................... 49,249,693 numbers.

369-D \2\................................. 1,429,609 kilograms.

369-S \3\................................. 779,787 kilograms.

641....................................... 1,608,636 dozen.

647/648................................... 934,120 dozen.

Group II

200, 201, 220-227, 237, 239pt. \4\, 300, 123,462,255 square meters

301, 331-333, 350, 352, 359pt. \5\, 360- equivalent.

362, 600-604, 606 \6\, 607, 611-629, 631,

633, 638, 639, 643-646, 649, 650, 652,

659pt. \7\, 666, 669pt. \8\, 670, 831,

833-838, 840-858 and 859pt. \9\, as a

group.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ Category 341-Y: only HTS numbers 6204.22.3060, 6206.30.3010,

6206.30.3030 and 6211.42.0054.

\2\ Category 369-D: only HTS numbers 6302.60.0010, 6302.91.0005 and

6302.91.0045.

\3\ Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.

\4\ Category 239pt.: only HTS number 6209.20.5040 (diapers).

\5\ Category 359pt.: all HTS numbers except 6406.99.1550.

\6\ Category 606: all HTS numbers except 5403.31.0040 (for

administrative purposes Category 606 is designated as 606(1)).

\7\ Category 659pt.: all HTS numbers except 6406.99.1510 and

6406.99.1540.

\8\ Category 669pt.: all HTS numbers except 5601.10.2000, 5601.22.0090,

5607.49.3000, 5607.50.4000 and 6406.10.9040.

\9\ Category 859pt.: only HTS numbers 6115.19.8040, 6117.10.6020,

6212.10.5030, 6212.10.9040, 6212.20.0030, 6212.30.0030, 6212.90.0090,

6214.10.2000 and 6214.90.0090.

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 22, 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.

Effective on January 1, 1999, a visa will no longer be required

for products integrated in the second stage of the integration of

textiles and clothing into GATT 1994 from WTO member countries (see

directive dated September 30, 1998). A visa will continue to be

required for non-integrated products. For quota purposes only,

products remaining in categories partially integrated will continue

to be designated by the designator ``pt.''

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. 98-32797 Filed 12-9-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F