[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12977-12978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6804]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Reconfirmation of a Previous Directive Concerning Visa and Quota 
Requirements for Textiles and Textile Products Entered as Sets

March 15, 2002.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs reconfirming 
a previous directive.

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 18, 2002.

[[Page 12978]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Walsh, International Trade 
Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, (202) 482-3400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Authority: Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended; 
Section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 
1854).

    In a notice and letter to the Commissioner of Customs published 
in the Federal Register on August 24, 1989 (54 FR 35223), CITA 
directed the U.S. Customs Service to apply all otherwise applicable 
visa and quota requirements to textiles and textile products which 
are classified as components of a set. This directive applied to all 
items which, if imported separately, would have required a visa and 
the reporting of quota. Recently, there has been uncertainty 
concerning the continuing applicability of this directive. The 
letter published below reconfirms the previously published 
directive.
D. Michael Hutchinson,
Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile 
Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

March 15, 2002.

Commissioner of Customs,
Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.
    This letter reconfirms the directive of August 18, 1989 that 
clarified the intent of the Committee for the Implementation of 
Textile Agreements on the applicability of visa requirements and 
quota reporting of textiles and textile products entered as 
components of sets under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 3 of 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS).
    Effective on March 18, 2002, the directive of August 18, 1989 is 
reissued as follows:
    Under the terms of Section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, 
as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); and in accordance with the provisions of 
Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended; all applicable 
visa and quota requirements will apply for textiles and textile 
products which are classified as components of a set. This rule 
applies to all items which, if imported separately, would have 
required a visa and the reporting of quota.
    Effective on March 18, 2002, you are directed to prohibit entry 
for consumption or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption into 
the United States (i.e., the 50 states, the District of Columbia and 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) of any textile item for which 
classification is claimed as sets under GRI 3 of the HTS, where a 
separate textile category currently exists or comes into existence 
requiring separate reporting of the components forming those sets.
    Entry shall be permitted if all visa and quota requirements are 
met.
    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.02-6804 Filed 3-18-02; 9:54 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-S