Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Nepal

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton and

Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Nepal

October 4, 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: 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 Bilateral Textile Agreement, effected by exchange of notes

dated May 30 and June 1, 1986, as amended and extended, and Memoranda

of Understanding (MOUs) dated November 6, 1996 and June 20, 1997,

between the Governments of the United States and Nepal establish limits

for the period January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2000.

These limits may be revised if Nepal becomes a member of the World

Trade Organization (WTO) and the United States applies the WTO

agreement to Nepal.

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

October 4, 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; the Bilateral Textile Agreement, effected

by exchange of notes dated May 30 and June 1,

[[Page 54872]]

1986, as amended and extended; and Memoranda of Understanding dated

November 6, 1996 and June 20, 1997 between the Governments of the

United States and Nepal, 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 and man-made

fiber textile products in the following categories, produced or

manufactured in Nepal 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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336/636................................... 263,163 dozen.

340....................................... 380,091 dozen.

341....................................... 1,220,891 dozen.

342/642................................... 331,734 dozen.

347/348................................... 856,133 dozen.

363....................................... 7,741,604 numbers.

369-S \1\................................. 983,454 kilograms.

640....................................... 191,297 dozen.

641....................................... 431,328 dozen.

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\1\ Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.

The limits set forth above are subject to adjustment pursuant to

the provisions of the current bilateral agreement between the

Governments of the United States and Nepal.

Products in the above categories exported during 1999 shall be

charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see

directive dated November 12, 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.

These limits may be revised if Nepal becomes a member of the

World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United States applies the WTO

agreement to Nepal.

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. 99-26381 Filed 10-7-99; 8:45 am]

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