Request for Public Comments on Cambodian Labor Law and Standards Pursuant to the U.S.-Cambodia Bilateral Textile Agreement

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Request for Public Comments on Cambodian Labor Law and Standards

Pursuant to the U.S.-Cambodia Bilateral Textile Agreement

November 3, 1999.

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

ACTION: Notice concerning Cambodian labor law and standards.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Unger, International Trade

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

Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on categories for which

consultations have been requested, call (202) 482-3740.

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.

A notice and letter to the Commissioner of Customs published in the

Federal Register on February 8, 1999 (see 64 FR 6050) outlined the

bilateral textile agreement of January 20, 1999 in which the

Governments of the United States and Cambodia agreed to limits for

certain cotton, wool and man-made fiber textile products, produced or

manufactured in Cambodia and exported to the United States during three

one-year periods beginning on January 1, 1999 and extending through

December 31, 2001.

Pursuant to the bilateral textile agreement, the United States must

make a determination by December 1, 1999 as to whether working

conditions in the Cambodian textile and apparel sector substantially

comply with Cambodian labor law and internationally recognized core

labor standards. If the United States makes a positive determination,

textile and apparel specific limits will be increased for the

subsequent agreement year.

Anyone wishing to comment or provide data or information regarding

this matter is invited to submit 10 copies of such comments or

information to Troy H. Cribb, Chairman, Committee for the

Implementation of Textile Agreements, U.S. Department of Commerce,

Washington, DC 20230; ATTN: Becky Geiger. The deadline for receipt of

comments is November 19, 1999.

Comments or information submitted in response to this notice will

be available for public inspection in the Office of Textiles and

Apparel, room H3100, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.

The solicitation of comments is not a waiver in any respect of the

exemption to the rulemaking provisions contained in 5 U.S.C.553(a)(1)

relating to matters which constitute ``a foreign affairs function of

the United States.''

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 99-29161 Filed 11-3-99; 2:23 pm]

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