[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 26, 1996)] [Notices] [Page 60085] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 96-30168] ======================================================================== Notices Federal Register ________________________________________________________________________ This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency statements of organization and functions are examples of documents appearing in this section. ======================================================================== Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 229 / Tuesday, November 26, 1996 / Notices [[Page 60085]] DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota Announcement Number 20 AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: A special import quota for upland cotton equal to 44,983,440 kilograms (99,171,591 pounds) is established in accordance with section 136(b) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (the 1996 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 20, effective January 11, 1997, and is set forth in subheading 9903.52.20, subchapter III, chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS). DATES: The quota is effective as of January 11, 1997, and applies to upland cotton purchased not later than April 10, 1997 (90 days from the date the quota is established), and entered into the United States not later than July 9, 1997 (180 days from the date the quota is established). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janise Zygmont, Farm Service Agency, United States Department of Agriculture, Stop 0515, P.O. Box 2415, Washington, DC 20013-2415 or call (202) 720-8841. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1996 Act requires that a special import quota for upland cotton 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 October 17, 1996. Therefore, a quota referenced as the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota Announcement Number 20, effective January 11, 1997, is hereby established. Because there are only 20 subheadings available for designating upland cotton special import quotas in subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTS, only 20 such quotas can be in effect at one time. 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. The special import quota described in this notice cannot take effect until HTS subheading 9903.52.20 becomes available upon the expiration of the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota Announcement Number 20, effective July 15, 1996, through January 10, 1997. Therefore, the special import quota described in this notice opens on January 11, 1997, the day after the previous special import quota 20 ends. The quota amount, 44,983,440 kilograms (99,171,591 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--June 1996 through August 1996. The special 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: Sec. 136, P.L. 104-127 and U.S. Note 6(a), Subchapter III, Chapter 99 of the HTS. Signed at Washington, D.C., on November 18, 1996. DAN GLICKMAN, Secretary. [FR Doc. 96-30168 Filed 11-25-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-05-P