Establishment of an Export Visa Arrangement for Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Fiji

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment of an Export Visa Arrangement for Certain Cotton

and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Fiji

May 11, 1999.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

export visa requirements.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: June 1, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Arnold, International Trade

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

Commerce, (202) 482-4212.

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.

Pursuant to exchange of notes dated March 3, 1999 and April 26,

1999, the Governments of the United States and the Republic of the Fiji

Islands agreed to establish an Export Visa Arrangement for cotton and

man-made fiber textile products subject to import control. That is,

products in merged-Categories 338/339/638/639 will be visaed as either

part-Categories 338-S/339-S/638-S/639-S or part-Categories 338-O/339-O/

638-O/639-O, produced or manufactured in Fiji and exported from Fiji on

and after June 1, 1999. Products exported during the period June 1,

1999 through June 30, 1999 shall not be denied entry for lack of a

visa. All products exported on and after July 1, 1999 must be

accompanied by an appropriate export visa.

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 63 FR 71096, published on December 23, 1998).

Interested persons are advised to take all necessary steps to

ensure that textile products that are entered into the United States

for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, will meet

the visa requirements set forth in the letter published below to the

Commissioner of Customs.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

May 11, 1999.

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) and Executive Order 11651 of

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

and Clothing (ATC) and the Export Visa Arrangement, effected by

exchange of notes dated March 3, 1999 and April 26, 1999 between the

Governments of the United States and the Republic of the Fiji

Islands, you are directed to prohibit, effective on June 1, 1999,

entry into the United States for consumption and withdrawal from

warehouse for consumption of cotton and man-made fiber textile

products in part-Categories 338-S/339-S/638-S/639-S and part-

Categories 338-O/339-O/638-O/639-O, produced or manufactured in Fiji

and exported from Fiji on and after June 1, 1999 for which the

Government of the Republic of the Fiji Islands has not issued an

appropriate export visa fully described below. Should whole

categories, merged categories or part categories become subject to

import quota, the whole, merged or part category(s) automatically

shall be included in the coverage of this arrangement. Merchandise

in the whole, merged or part category(s) exported on or after the

date the whole, merged or part category(s) is added to the agreement

or becomes subject to import quotas shall require a visa. Products

exported during the period June 1, 1999 through June 30, 1999 shall

not be denied entry for lack of an export visa. All products

exported on and after July 1, 1999 must be accompanied by an

appropriate export visa.

A visa must accompany each commercial shipment of the

aforementioned textile products. A circular stamped marking in blue

ink will appear on the front of the original commercial invoice or

successor document. The original visa shall not be stamped on

duplicate copies of the invoice. The original invoice with the

original visa stamp will be required for the shipment to enter into

the United States. Duplicates of the invoice and/or visa may not be

used for this purpose.

Each visa stamp shall include the following information:

1. The visa number. The visa number shall be in the standard

nine digit letter format, beginning with one numeric digit for the

last digit of the year of export, followed by the two character

alpha country code specified by the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) (the code for the Fiji is ``FJ''), and a six

digit numerical serial number identifying the shipment; e.g.,

9FJ123456.

2. The date of issuance. The date of issuance shall be the day,

month and year on which the visa was issued.

3. The original signature of the issuing official authorized by

the Fiji Islands Customs Service for the Government of the Republic

of the Fiji Islands.

4. The correct category(s), merged category(s), part

category(s), quantity(s) and unit(s) of quantity of the shipment as

set forth in the U.S. Department of Commerce Correlation and in the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States shall be reported in

the spaces provided within the visa stamp (e.g., ``Cat. 338-S/339-S/

638-S/639-S--510 DOZ'').

Quantities must be stated in whole numbers. Decimals or

fractions will not be accepted. Merged category quota merchandise

may be accompanied by either the appropriate merged category visa or

the correct category visa corresponding to the actual shipment. For

example, quota Category 338-O/339-O/638-O/639-O may be visaed as

Category 338-O/339-O/638-O/639-O or if the shipment consists solely

of Category 338-O merchandise, the shipment may be visaed as

``Category 338-O'' but not as ``Category 339-O.'' If, however, a

merged quota category such as Category 338/339/638/639 has a quota

sublimit on Category 338-S/339-S/638-S/639-S, then there must be a

``Category 338-S/339-S/638-S/639-S'' visa for the shipment if it

includes Category 338-S/339-S/638-S/639-S merchandise.

U.S. Customs shall not permit entry if the shipment does not

have a visa, or if the visa number, date of issuance, signature,

category, quantity or units of quantity are missing, incorrect or

illegible, or have been crossed out or altered in any way. If the

quantity indicated on the visa is less than that of the shipment,

entry shall not be permitted. If the quantity indicated on the visa

is more than that of the shipment, entry shall be permitted and only

the amount entered shall be charged to any applicable quota.

The complete name and address of a company actually involved in

the manufacturing process of the textile product covered by the visa

shall be provided on the textile visa document.

If the visa is not acceptable then a new correct visa or a visa

waiver must be presented to the U.S. Customs Service before any

portion of the shipment will be released. A visa waiver may be

issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce at the request of the

country office in Washington, DC, for the Government of the Republic

of the Fiji Islands. The waiver, if used, only waives the

requirement to present a visa with the shipment. It does not waive

the quota requirements. Visa waivers will only be issued for

classification purposes or for one-time special purpose shipments

that are not part of an ongoing commercial enterprise.

If the visaed invoice is deficient, the U.S. Customs Service

will not return the original document after entry, but will provide

a certified copy of that visaed invoice for use in obtaining a new

correct original visaed invoice, or a visa waiver.

If import quotas are in force, U.S. Customs Service shall charge

only the actual quantity in the shipment to the correct category

limit. If a shipment from Fiji has been allowed entry into the

commerce of the United States with either an incorrect visa or no

visa, and redelivery is requested but cannot be made, the shipment

will be charged to the correct

[[Page 26946]]

category limit whether or not a replacement visa or waiver is

provided.

Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and

not for resale, regardless of value, and properly marked commercial

sample shipments valued at U.S. $800 or less do not require an

export visa for entry and shall not be charged to existing quota

levels.

A facsimile of the visa stamp is enclosed.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has

determined that these actions fall within the foreign affairs

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

letter will be published in the Federal Register.

Sincerely,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN18MY99.029

Export Visa Stamp for the Republic of Fiji

[FR Doc. 99-12509 Filed 5-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-C