[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79344-79345]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32290]


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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Man-
Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile 
Products Produced or Manufactured in India and Extension of Suspension 
of Group II Restriction for Certain Man-Made Fiber Textile Products 
Produced or Manufactured in India

December 13, 2000.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing 
limits and extending suspension of the Group II restriction for certain 
products from India.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Arnold, 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.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 India and exported during the period January 1, 2001 
through December 31, 2001 are based on limits notified to the Textiles 
Monitoring Body pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and 
Clothing (ATC).
    In addition, a document published in the Federal Register on 
December 16, 1999 (64 FR 70219) announced the extension of the 
suspension of the Group II restriction for rayon filament yarn in HTS 
number 5403.31.0040 in Category 606 from India for the period January 
1, 2000 through December 31, 2000. Also see 62 FR 60826, published on 
November 13, 1997.
    The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has 
decided to extend the suspension for an additional twelve-month period 
beginning on January 1, 2001 and extending through December 31, 2001. A 
visa is still required for this product.
    In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the 
Commissioner of Customs to establish the 2001 limits and extend the 
suspension of the Group II restriction. The 2001 limits for certain 
categories have been reduced for carryforward applied to the 2000 
limits.
    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 64 FR 71982, published on December 22, 1999. 
Information regarding the 2001

[[Page 79345]]

CORRELATION will be published in the Federal Register at a later date.

Richard B. Steinkamp,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 13, 2000.
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, 2001, entry into the United States for consumption and 
withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of cotton, man-made fiber, 
silk blend and other vegetable fiber textiles and textile products 
in the following categories, produced or manufactured in India and 
exported during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1, 2001 
and extending through December 31, 2001, in excess of the following 
levels of restraint:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Category                   Twelve-month restraint limit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Levels in Group I
218.......................................  19,121,200 square meters.
219.......................................  85,101,905 square meters.
313.......................................  51,161,252 square meters.
314.......................................  10,131,179 square meters.
315.......................................  17,016,322 square meters.
317.......................................  47,375,063 square meters.
326.......................................  10,479,527 square meters.
334/634...................................  171,092 dozen.
335/635...................................  761,700 dozen.
336/636...................................  1,089,580 dozen.
338/339...................................  4,401,129 dozen.
340/640...................................  2,324,008 dozen.
341.......................................  4,723,878 dozen of which not
                                             more than 2,834,325 dozen
                                             shall be in Category 341-Y
                                             \1\.
342/642...................................  1,542,444 dozen.
345.......................................  241,702 dozen.
347/348...................................  777,632 dozen.
351/651...................................  326,043 dozen.
363.......................................  56,499,852 numbers.
369-D \2\.................................  1,595,943 kilograms.
369-S \3\.................................  870,514 kilograms.
641.......................................  1,795,799 dozen.
647/648...................................  1,042,804 dozen.
Group II
200, 201, 220-227, 237, 239pt.\4\, 300,     141,637,412 square meters
 301, 331-333, 350, 352, 359pt.\5\, 360-     equivalent.
 362, 600-604, 606 \6\, 607, 611-629, 631,
 633, 638, 639, 643-646, 649, 650, 652,
 659pt.\7\, 666, 669pt.\8\, 670, 831, 833-
 838, 840-858 and 859pt.\9\, as a group.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Category 341-Y: only HTS numbers 6204.22.3060, 6206.30.3010,
  6206.30.3030 and 6211.42.0054.
\2\ Category 369-D: only HTS numbers 6302.60.0010, 6302.91.0005 and
  6302.91.0045.
\3\ Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.
\4\ Category 239pt.: only HTS number 6209.20.5040 (diapers).
\5\ Category 359pt.: all HTS numbers except 6406.99.1550.
\6\ Category 606: all HTS numbers except 5403.31.0040 (for
  administrative purposes Category 606 is designated as 606(1)).
\7\ Category 659pt.: all HTS numbers except 6406.99.1510 and
  6406.99.1540.
\8\ Category 669pt.: all HTS numbers except 5601.10.2000, 5601.22.0090,
  5607.49.3000, 5607.50.4000 and 6406.10.9040.
\9\ 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.

    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 2000 shall be 
charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see 
directive dated December 10, 1999) 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 addition, effective on January 1, 2001, man-made fiber 
textile products in HTS 5403.31.0040 in Category 606, in Group II, 
produced or manufactured in India and exported during the twelve-
month period beginning on January 1, 2001 and extending through 
December 31, 2001, shall not be subject to the Group II quota 
established for the 2001 period. A visa is still required for this 
product.
    For U.S. Customs' administrative purposes, the remaining HTS 
numbers in Category 606 shall be designated Category 606(1) \10\.
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    \10\ Category 606(1): all HTS numbers except 5403.31.0040 
(Category 606(2)).
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    Also effective on January 1, 2001, you are directed to require, 
entry/entry summary procedures and you shall continue to count 
imports for consumption and withdrawals from warehouse for 
consumption of textile products in HTS number 5403.31.0040 in 
Category 606(2) \11\, produced or manufactured in India and exported 
during the periods January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2000 and 
January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2001.
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    \11\ Category 606(2): only HTS number 5403.31.0040.
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    Inasmuch as these imports may later be charged against the Group 
II level, it is important that an accurate count be taken.
    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 of the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).


    Sincerely,
Richard B. Steinkamp,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc. 00-32290 Filed 12-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F