Establishment of an Import Limit for Certain Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Belarus

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment of an Import Limit for Certain Man-Made Fiber

Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Belarus

December 17, 1999.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

a limit.

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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 this

limit, 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.

A notice published in the Federal Register on September 27, 1999

(64 FR 51962) announced that the Government of the United States had

requested consultations with the Government of Belarus with respect to

glass fiber fabric in Category 622, produced or manufactured in

Belarus, and that, if no solution was agreed upon in consultations with

the Government of Belarus, the Government of the United States reserved

its right to establish a twelve-month limit of not less than 6,480,552

square meters for the entry for consumption and withdrawal from

warehouse for consumption of glass fiber fabric in Category 622,

produced or manufactured in Belarus.

As no solution was agreed upon in consultations, the Government of

the United States has decided to limit imports in this category for the

twelve-month period beginning on September 17, 1999 and extending

through September 16, 2000.

The United States remains committed to finding a mutual solution

concerning Category 622. Should such a solution be reached in

consultations with the Government of Belarus, further notice will be

published in the Federal Register.

This limit may be revised if Belarus becomes a member of the World

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

agreement to Belarus.

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 which is

published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 17, 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; you are directed to prohibit, effective

on January 1, 2000, entry into the United States for consumption and

withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of glass fiber fabric

products in Category 622, produced or manufactured in Belarus and

exported during the twelve-month period beginning on September 17,

1999 and extending through September 16, 2000, in excess of

6,480,552 square meters.\1\.

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\1\ The limit has not been adjusted to account for any import

exported after September 16, 1999.

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Textile products in Category 622 which have been exported to the

United States prior to September 17, 1999 shall not be subject to

this directive.

Textile products in this category which have been released from

the custody of the U.S. Customs Service under the provisions of 19

U.S.C. 1448(b) or 1484(a)(1) prior to the effective date of this

directive shall not be denied entry under this directive.

This limit may be revised if Belarus becomes a member of the

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

agreement to Belarus.

Import charges will be provided at a later date.

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 this action falls 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. 99-33227 Filed 12-21-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-M