[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 215 (Friday, November 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59947-59948]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29835]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton and 
Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Qatar

November 3, 1998.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing 
limits.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Unger, 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.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.

    The import restraint limits for textile products, produced or 
manufactured in Qatar and exported during the period January 1, 1999 
through December 31, 1999 are based on limits notified to the Textiles 
Monitoring Body pursuant to

[[Page 59948]]

the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).
    In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the 
Commissioner of Customs to establish the limits for the 1999 period. 
The 1999 limit for Categories 347/348 has been reduced for carryforward 
applied to the 1998 limit.
    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 62 FR 66057, published on December 17, 1997). 
Information regarding the 1999 CORRELATION will be published in the 
Federal Register at a later date.
D. Michael Hutchinson,
Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile 
Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements
November 3, 1998.

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, 1999, entry into the United States for consumption and 
withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of cotton and man-made 
fiber textile products in the following categories, produced or 
manufactured in Qatar and exported during the twelve-month period 
beginning on January 1, 1999 and extending through December 31, 
1999, in excess of the following levels of restraint:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Category                   Twelve-month restraint limit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
340/640...................................  477,565 dozen.
341/641...................................  220,415 dozen.
347/348...................................  513,906 dozen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 1998 shall be 
charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see 
directive dated November 6, 1997) 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 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 to the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).
    Sincerely,
D. Michael Hutchinson,
Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile 
Agreements.
[FR Doc. 98-29835 Filed 11-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F