[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 216 (Monday, November 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 60306]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29979]



[[Page 60306]]

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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool, 
Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and 
Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Mauritius

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: 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 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 the Mauritius and exported during the period January 1, 
1999 through December 31, 1999 are based on limits notified to the 
Textiles Monitoring Body pursuant to 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 1999 limits. The limits for 
Categories 338/339 and 347/348 have been reduced for carryforward 
applied in 1998.
    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, wool, man-made 
fiber, silk blend and other vegetable fiber textiles and textile 
products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in 
Mauritius 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knit Group
345, 438, 445, 446, 645 and 646, as a       199,072 dozen.
 group.
Levels not in a group
237.......................................  256,715 dozen.
335/835...................................  102,046 dozen.
336.......................................  120,083 dozen.
338/339...................................  458,792 dozen.
340/640...................................  782,369 dozen of which not
                                             more than 476,248 dozen
                                             shall be in Categories 340-
                                             Y/640-Y \1\.
341/641...................................  541,965 dozen.
347/348...................................  965,737 dozen.
351/651...................................  237,995 dozen.
352/652...................................  2,018,188 dozen of which not
                                             more than 1,715,462 dozen
                                             shall be in Category 352.
442.......................................  12,177 dozen.
604-A \2\.................................  427,959 kilograms.
638/639...................................  552,852 dozen.
647/648/847...............................  745,486 dozen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Category 340-Y: only HTS numbers 6205.20.2015, 6205.20.2020,
  6205.20.2046, 6205.20.2050 and 6205.20.2060; Category 640-Y: only HTS
  numbers 6205.30.2010, 6205.30.2020, 6205.30.2050 and 6205.30.2060.
\2\ Category 604-A: only HTS number 5509.32.0000.

    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 December 19, 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 of 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. 98-29979 Filed 11-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F