Consolidation and Amendment of Export Visa Requirements to Include the Electronic Visa Information System for Certain Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Sri Lanka

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Consolidation and Amendment of Export Visa Requirements to

Include the Electronic Visa Information System for Certain Cotton,

Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and

Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Sri Lanka

December 14, 1999.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs

consolidating and amending visa requirements.

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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) 482-3400.

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.

In exchange of notes dated December 10, 1999, the Governments of

the United States and Sri Lanka agreed to amend the existing visa

arrangement for cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend and other

vegetable fiber textiles and textile products in Categories 200-239,

300-369, 400-469, 600-670, 831-859, produced or manufactured in Sri

Lanka and exported on and after January 1, 2000. The amended

arrangement consolidates existing provisions and new provisions for the

Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS). The Governments of the

United States and Sri Lanka will implement a 6-month test phase in

which, in addition to the ELVIS requirements, shipments will continue

to be accompanied by a visa. This notice supersedes the notice and

letter to the Commissioner of Customs, as amended, published in the

Federal Register on September 7, 1988 (53 FR 34573).

A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of

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.

Goods integrated into GATT 1994 in Stage II by the United States

will not require a visa or ELVIS transmission (see Federal Register

notice 63 FR 53881, published on October 7, 1998).

Interested persons are advised to take all necessary steps to

ensure that textile products entered into the United States for

consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, will meet the

visa requirements set forth in the letter published below to the

Commissioner of Customs.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 14, 1999.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: This directive supersedes the directive

issued to you on September 1, 1988 by the Chairman, Committee for

the Implementation of Textile Agreements. Under the terms of section

204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); and

pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing and

the Export Visa Arrangement, effected by exchange of notes dated

December 10, 1999, between the Governments of the United States and

Sri Lanka; and in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order

11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, you are directed to prohibit,

effective on January 1, 2000, entry into the customs territory of

the United States (i.e., the 50 states, the District of Columbia and

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) 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

Categories 200-239, 300-369, 400-469, 600-670, 831-859, including

part categories and merged categories, produced or manufactured in

Sri Lanka and exported on and after January 1, 2000 for which the

Government of Sri Lanka has not issued an appropriate export visa

and Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS) transmission fully

described below. Should additional categories, part-categories or

merged categories become subject to import quotas, the entire

category(s), part-category(s) or merged category(s) shall be

included in the coverage of this arrangement.

A visa must accompany each shipment of the aforementioned

textile products. A circular stamped marking in blue ink will appear

on the front of the original invoice. The original visa shall not be

stamped on duplicate copies of the invoice. The original invoice

with the original visa stamp will be required to enter the shipment

into the United States. Duplicates of the invoice and/or visa may

not be used for this purpose.

Visa Requirements

Each visa stamp shall include the following information:

1. The visa number. The visa number shall be in the standard

nine digit letter format, beginning with one numeric digit for the

last digit of the year of export, followed by the two character

alpha code specified by the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) (the code for Sri Lanka is ``LK''), and a six

digit serial number identifying the shipment; e.g., 0LK123456.

2. The date of issuance. The date of issuance shall be the day,

month and year on which the visa was issued.

3. The original signature of the issuing official authorized by

the Government of Sri Lanka.

4. The correct category(s), part category(s), merged

category(s), quantity(s) and unit(s) of quantity in the shipment in

the unit(s) of quantity provided for in Annex A of the Export Visa

Arrangement, in the U.S. Department of Commerce Correlation, and in

the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated, or

successor document and shall be reported in the spaces provided

within the visa stamp (e.g., ``Cat. 340-510 DOZ'').

Quantities must be stated in whole numbers. Decimals or

fractions will not be accepted. Merged category quota merchandise

may be accompanied by either the appropriate merged category visa or

the correct category visa corresponding to the actual shipment. (For

example, quota Category 347/348 may be visaed as ``Cat. ``347/348''

or if the shipment consists solely of Category 347 merchandise, the

shipment

[[Page 71121]]

may be visaed as ``Cat. 347,'' but not as ``Cat. 348'').

U.S. Customs shall not permit entry if the shipment does not

have a visa, or if the visa number, date of issuance, signature,

category, quantity or units of quantity are missing, incorrect,

illegible, or have been crossed out or altered in any way. If the

quantity indicated on the visa is less than that of the shipment,

entry shall not be permitted. If the quantity indicated on the visa

is more than that of the shipment, entry shall be permitted and only

the amount entered shall be charged to any applicable quota.

The categories and units of measure shall be those listed in

Annex A of the Export Visa Arrangement and as determined by the U.S.

Customs Service.

If the visa is not acceptable then a new correct visa must be

obtained from the Government of Sri Lanka or a visa waiver may be

issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce at the request of the

Government of Sri Lanka and presented to the U.S. Customs Service

before any portion of the shipment will be released. The waiver, if

used, only waives the requirement to present a visa with the

shipment. It does not waive any quota requirement. Visa waivers will

only be issued for classification purposes or for one-time special

purpose shipments that are not part of an ongoing commercial

enterprise.

If the visaed invoice is deficient, the U.S. Customs Service

will not return the original document after entry, but will provide

the importer a certified copy of that visaed invoice for use in

obtaining a new correct visaed invoice or a visa waiver.

Only the actual quantity in the shipment and the correct

category will be charged to the applicable restraint level.

If a shipment from Sri Lanka has been allowed entry into the

commerce of the United States with either an incorrect visa or no

visa and redelivery is requested but is not made, the shipment will

be charged to the correct category limit whether or not a

replacement visa or visa waiver is provided.

The Government of the United States will make available to the

Government of Sri Lanka, upon request, information on the amounts

and categories involved for all items subject to quota administered

by the U.S. Customs Service.

The complete name and address of a company performing the major

production steps in the manufacturing process of the textile

products covered by the visa shall be provided on the textile visa

document.

ELVIS Requirements

A. Each ELVIS message will include the following information:

i. The visa number as defined above.

ii. The date of issuance. The date of issuance shall be the day,

month and year on which the visa was issued.

iii. The correct category(s), part category(s), merged

category(s), quantity(s) and unit(s) of quantity of the shipment in

the unit(s) of quantity provided for in the U.S. Department of

Commerce Correlation and in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States Annotated or successor documents.

iv. The quantity of the shipment in the correct units of

quantity

v. The manufacturer ID number (MID). The MID shall begin with

``LK,'' followed by the first three characters from each of the

first two words of the name of the manufacturer, followed by the

largest number on the address line up to the first four digits,

followed by three letters from the city name.

B. Entry of a shipment shall not be permitted:

i. if an ELVIS transmission has not been received for the

shipment from Sri Lanka;

ii. if the ELVIS transmission for that shipment is missing any

of the following:

a. visa number

b. category or part category

c. quantity

d. unit of measure

e. date of issuance

f. manufacturer ID number;

iii. if the ELVIS transmission for the shipment does not match

the information supplied by the importer with regard to any of the

following:

a. visa number

b. category or part category

c. unit of measure;

iv. if the quantity being entered is greater than the quantity

transmitted;

v. if the visa number has previously been used, except in the

case of a split shipment, or canceled, except when an entry has

already been made using the visa number.

C. A new, correct ELVIS transmission from Sri Lanka is required

before a shipment that has been denied entry for one of the

circumstances described above will be released.

D. Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, a visa waiver may be

accepted, at the discretion of the U.S. Department of Commerce, in

lieu of an ELVIS transmission, if the shipment qualifies as a one-

time special purpose shipment that is not part of an ongoing

commercial enterprise.

E. Shipments will not be released for forty-eight hours in the

event of a system failure. If system failure exceeds forty-eight

hours, for the remaining period of the system failure, the U.S.

Customs Service will release shipments on the basis of the paper

visaed document.

F. If a shipment from Sri Lanka is allowed entry into the

commerce of the United States with an incorrect visa, no visa, an

incorrect ELVIS transmission, or no ELVIS transmission, and

redelivery is requested but is not made, the shipment will be

charged to the correct category limit whether or not a replacement

visa or waiver is provided or a new ELVIS message is transmitted.

G. The U.S. Customs will provide the Government of Sri Lanka

with a report on visa utilization which is accessible at any time.

This report will contain:

a. visa number

b. category number

c. unit of measure

d. quantity charged to quota

e. entry number

f. entry line number

Shipments not Requiring visas or ELVIS Transmissions

Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and

not for resale, regardless of value, and properly marked commercial

sample shipments valued $800 or less do not require a visa or an

ELVIS transmission for entry and shall not be charged to Agreement

levels.

Other provisions

Except as provided for above, any shipment which is not

accompanied by a valid and correct visa and ELVIS transmission shall

be denied entry by the Government of the United States unless the

Government of Sri Lanka authorizes the entry and any charges to the

agreement levels.

After a six-month test phase is completed, both governments will

conduct a joint assessment and make recommendations regarding the

elimination of the visa stamp on the commercial invoice.

Effective on January 1, 2000, neither a visa nor an ELVIS

transmission will be required for products integrated in the second

stage of the integration of textiles and clothing into GATT 1994

from WTO member countries (see directive dated September 30, 1998) A

visa and ELVIS transmission will continue to be required for non-

integrated products.

The visa stamp remains unchanged.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has

determined that this action falls 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.

Merged and Part Categories

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Designation in Conversion Factor to

Merged Category Agreement SME Unit

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331 and 631 331/631 2.90 dozen pairs

333 and 633 333/633 30.30 dozen

334 and 634 334/634 34.50 dozen

335 and 835 335/835 34.50 dozen

336, 636 and 836 336/636/836 37.90 dozen

338 and 339 338/339 6.00 dozen

340 and 640 340/640 20.10 dozen

341 and 641 341/641 12.10 dozen

342, 642 and 842 342/642/842 14.90 dozen

[[Page 71122]]

345 and 845 345/845 30.80 dozen

347, 348 and 847 347/348/847 14.90 dozen

350 and 650 350/650 42.60 dozen

351 and 651 351/651 43.50 dozen

352 and 652 352/652 11.30 dozen

359-C and 659-C 359-C/659-C 10.10 kilograms

638, 639 and 838 638/639/838 13.00 dozen

645 and 646 645/646 30.80 dozen

647 and 648 647/648 14.90 dozen

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Part Category Description

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359-C Cotton Coveralls and Overalls

359-O Other Cotton Apparel

369-D Cotton Dishtowels

369-O Other Cotton Manufactures

369-S Cotton Shop Towels

659-C Man-Made Fiber Overalls and Coveralls

659-O Other Man-Made Fiber Apparel

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[FR Doc. 99-32796 Filed 12-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F