Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Bahrain

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 Textile Products

Produced or Manufactured in Bahrain

December 10, 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: Roy Unger, 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 Bahrain 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 limits for the 2000 period.

A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of HTS

numbers is available in the CORRELATION: Textile and Apparel

[[Page 70216]]

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

December 10, 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 textile products in the

following categories, produced or manufactured in Bahrain 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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Group I

237, 239pt. \1\, 331-336, 338, 339, 340- 51,902,949 square meters

342, 345, 347, 348, 350-352, 359pt. equivalent.

\2\, 431, 433-436, 438, 440, 442-448,

459pt. \3\, 631, 633-636, 638, 639,

640-647, 648, 649, 650-652, 659pt.

\4\, 831, 833-836, 838, 840, 842-847,

850-852, 858 and 859pt. \5\, as a

group.

Sublevels in Group I

338/339................................ 721,202 dozen.

340/640................................ 346,020 dozen of which not more

than 259,514 dozen shall be in

Categories 340-Y/640-Y \6\.

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\1\ Category 239pt.: only HTS number 6209.20.5040 (diapers).

\2\ Category 359pt.: all HTS numbers except 6406.99.1550.

\3\ Category 459pt.: all HTS numbers except 6405.20.6030, 6405.20.6060,

6405.20.6090, 6406.99.1505 and 6406.99.1560.

\4\ Category 659pt.: all HTS numbers except 6406.99.1510 and

6406.99.1540.

\5\ Category 859pt.: only HTS numbers 6115.19.8040, 6117.10.6020,

6212.10.5030, 6212.10.9040, 6212.20.0030, 6212.30.0030, 6212.90.0090,

6214.10.2000 and 6214.90.0090.

\6\ 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.

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 4, 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 to 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. 99-32622 Filed 12-15-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F