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

September 13, 1999.

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, 2000.

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,

2000 through December 31, 2000 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 2000 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 63 FR 71096, published on December 23, 1998).

Information regarding the 2000 CORRELATION will be published in the

Federal Register at a later date.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

September 13, 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); 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, 2000, 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, 2000 and extending through December 31, 2000, 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 218,034 dozen.

group.

Levels not in a group

237....................................... 281,167 dozen.

335/835................................... 111,766 dozen.

336....................................... 131,521 dozen.

338/339................................... 526,529 dozen.

340/640................................... 856,890 dozen of which not

more than 521,611 dozen

shall be in Categories 340-

Y/640-Y \1\.

341/641................................... 593,587 dozen.

347/348................................... 1,108,321 dozen.

351/651................................... 260,664 dozen.

352/652................................... 2,210,420 dozen of which not

more than 1,878,860 dozen

shall be in Category 352.

442....................................... 12,370 dozen.

604-A \2\................................. 455,134 kilograms.

638/639................................... 605,511 dozen.

647/648/847............................... 816,494 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 1999 shall be

charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see

directive dated November 3, 1998) 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,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 99-24246 Filed 9-16-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F