Announcement of an Import Restraint Limit and Guaranteed Access Level for Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in El Salvador

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of an Import Restraint Limit and Guaranteed Access

Level for Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced

or Manufactured in El Salvador

October 13, 1999.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

an import limit and guaranteed access level.

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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 limit and Guaranteed Access Level for textile

products in Categories 340/640, produced or manufactured in El Salvador

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 limit and guaranteed access

level for 2000.

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.

Requirements for participation in the Special Access Program are

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

1998.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

October 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 and man-made

fiber textile products in Categories 340/640, produced or

manufactured in El Salvador and exported during the twelve-month

period beginning on January 1, 2000 and extending through December

31, 2000, in excess of 1,346,540 dozen.

The limit set forth above is subject to adjustment pursuant to

the provisions of the ATC and administrative arrangements notified

to the Textiles Monitoring Body.

Products in Categories 340/640 exported during 1999 shall be

charged to the applicable category limit for that year (see

directive dated December 14, 1998) to the extent of any unfilled

balance. In the event the limit established for that period has been

exhausted by previous entries, such products shall be charged to the

limit 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, 2000, a guaranteed access level of 1,000,000

dozen is being established for properly certified textile products

in Categories 340/640 assembled in El Salvador from fabric formed

and cut in the United States which are re-exported to the United

States from El Salvador during the period beginning on January 1,

2000 and extending through December 31, 2000:

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 6, 1995 (60 FR 2740), as amended, shall be

denied entry unless the Government of El Salvador 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).

[[Page 56333]]

Sincerely,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 99-27267 Filed 10-18-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F