[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 73 (Monday, April 15, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16457-16458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9255]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of the Secretary


Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota 
Announcement Number 2

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: A special import quota for upland cotton equal to 43,242,096 
kilograms (95,332,580 pounds) is established in accordance with section 
103B(a)(5)(F) of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended (the 1949 
Act), under Presidential Proclamation 6301 of June 7, 1991. The quota 
is referenced as the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import 
Quota Announcement Number 2, effective January 31, 1996, and is set 
forth in subheading 9903.52.02, subchapter III, chapter 99 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).

DATES: The quota was established on January 31, 1996, and applies to 
upland cotton purchased not later than April 29, 1996 (90 days from the 
date the quota was established), and entered into the United States not 
later than July 28, 1996 (180 days from the date the quota was 
established).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janise Zygmont, Farm Service Agency, 
United States Department of Agriculture, room 3756-S, Ag Code 0515, 
P.O. Box 2415, Washington, DC 20013-2415 or call (202) 720-8841.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1949 Act requires that a special cotton 
import quota be determined and announced immediately if, for any 
consecutive 10-week period, the Friday through Thursday average price 
quotation for the lowest-priced U.S. growth, as quoted for Middling 
1\3/32\ inch cotton, C.I.F. northern Europe (U.S. Northern Europe 
price), adjusted for the value of any cotton user marketing 
certificates issued, exceeds the Northern Europe price by more than 
1.25 cents per pound. This condition was met during the consecutive 10-
week period that ended January 25, 1996. Therefore, a quota referenced 
as the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota 
Announcement Number 2, effective January 31, 1996, is hereby 
established.
    The HTS provides for only twenty special cotton import quota 
subheadings. Each subheading corresponds to a Secretary of 
Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota Announcement specifying that 
a particular amount of upland cotton may be imported during a 
particular 180-day period. Because twenty special cotton import quotas 
have already been announced, the existing subheading numbers and 
Secretary's announcement designations are being repeated for new quotas 
that may be announced; however, the new quota amounts and effective 
dates will be different.

[[Page 16458]]

    The quota amount, 43,242,096 kilograms (95,332,580 pounds), is 
equal to 1 week's consumption of upland cotton by domestic mills at the 
seasonally-adjusted average rate of the most recent 3 months for which 
data are available--September 1995 through November 1995. The special 
cotton import quota identifies a quantity of imports that is not 
subject to the over-quota tariff rate of a tariff-rate quota. The quota 
is not divided by staple length or by country of origin. The quota does 
not affect existing tariff rates or phytosanitary regulations. The 
quota does not apply to Extra Long Staple cotton.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1444-2 (a) and U.S. Note 6(a), Subchapter 
III, Chapter 99 of the HTS.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on April 8, 1996.
Dan Glickman,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-9255 Filed 4-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P