[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 9, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11435-11437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-5688]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service


Uruguay Round Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of product coverage and trigger levels for safeguard 
measures provided for in the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture.

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SUMMARY: This notice lists the updated quantity trigger levels for 
products

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which may be subject to additional import duties under the safeguard 
provisions of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. It also 
includes the quantity level applicable to each of those products.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 9, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathy S. McKinnell, Multilateral Trade 
Negotiations Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, room 5530-South 
Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250-1022 or 
telephone at (202) 720-6064.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article 5 of the Uruguay Round Agreement on 
Agriculture provides that additional import duties may be imposed on 
imports of products subject to tariffication during the Uruguay Round 
if certain conditions are met. The agreement permits additional duties 
to be charged if the price of an individual shipment of imported 
products falls below the average price for similar goods imported 
during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage. It also permits 
additional duties to be imposed if the volume of imports of an article 
exceeds the average of the most recent 3 years for which data are 
available by 5, 10, or 25 percent, depending on the article. These 
additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which minimum or 
current access commitments were made during the Uruguay Round 
negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity, may be 
applied at any given time to an article.
    Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires that the 
President cause to be published in the Federal Register the 
agricultural products subject to safeguards, the price and quantity 
trigger levels which will be applied to these products, and the 
relevant period for the quantity based safeguard for each product. On 
Wednesday, January 4, 1995, the Secretary of Agriculture provided the 
above information including the definition of each product in the 
Notice of Safeguard Action published in the Federal Register at 60 FR 
427. The President delegated this duty to the Secretary of Agriculture 
in Presidential Proclamation No. 6763, dated December 23, 1994. The 
Secretary of Agriculture further delegated the duty to the 
Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, 7 CFR 2.43(a)(2). The 
quantity trigger levels must be updated annually based upon import 
levels during the most recent 3 years. The Annex to this notice 
contains the updated quantity trigger levels. Additional information on 
the levels of the additional duties and how they will be applied is 
provided in subchapter IV of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States. These duties became effective January 1, 
1995.

Notice

    As provided in section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, 
consistent with Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture, the 
safeguard quantity trigger levels previously notified are superceded by 
the levels indicated in the Annex to this notice.

    Issued at Washington, DC this 2d day of March, 1999.
Patrick M. Steel,
Acting Associate Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.

Annex

    The definitions of these products were provided in the Notice of 
Safeguard Action published in the Federal Register, at 60 FR 427 on 
Wednesday, January 4, 1995.

Quantity Based Safeguard Trigger:
    Beef.........................  891,203 mt.
    Mutton.......................  12,051 mt.
    Cream........................  5,729,263 liters.
    Evaporated or Condensed Milk.  2,956,168 kilograms.
    Nonfat Dry Milk..............  3,313,542 kilograms.
    Dried Whole Milk.............  1,864,488 kilograms.
    Dried Cream..................  650 kilograms.
    Dried Whey/Buttermilk........  222,488 kilograms.
    Butter.......................  6,193,405 kilograms.
    Butter Oil and Butter          5,812,414 kilograms.
     Substitutes.
    Dairy Mixtures...............  2,224,071 kilograms.
    Blue Cheese..................  3,183,782 kilograms.
    Cheddar Cheese...............  11,139,531 kilograms.
    American Type Cheese.........  3,939,843 kilograms.
    Edam/Gouda Cheese............  6,621,244 kilograms.
    Italian-Type Cheese..........  15,148,033 kilograms.
    Swiss Cheese with Eye          33,559,160 kilograms.
     Formation.
    Gruyere Process Cheese.......  7,687,097 kilograms.
    Lowfat Cheese................  3,874,332 kilograms.
    NSPF Cheese..................  49,366,596 kilograms.
    Peanuts......................  49,248 mt.
    Peanut Butter/Paste..........  23,084 mt.
    Raw Cane Sugar...............  2,366,204 mt.
    Refined Sugar and Syrups.....  25,484 mt.
    Blended Syrups...............  0 mt.
    Articles Over 65% Sugar......  0 mt.
    Articles Over 10% Sugar......  80,282 mt.
    Sweetened Cocoa Powder.......  2,445 mt.
    Chocolate Crumb..............  15,324,776 kilograms.
    Lowfat Chocolate Crumb.......  78 kilograms.
    Infant Formula Containing      45,383 kilograms.
     Oligosaccharides..
    Mixes and Doughs.............  5,424 mt.
    Mixed Condiments and           253 mt.
     Seasonings.
    Ice Cream....................  49,353 liters.
    Animal Feed Containing Milk..  1,622,296 kilograms.
    Short Staple Cotton..........  17,211,112 kilograms.
    Harsh or Rough Cotton........  0 mt.
    Medium Staple Cotton.........  9,664 kilograms.
    Extra Long Staple Cotton.....  32,995 kilograms.

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    Cotton Waste.................  13,378 kilograms.
    Cotton, Processed, Not Spun..  383 kilograms.
 

[FR Doc. 99-5688 Filed 3-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P