[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38659-38660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3490]


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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Cancellation of Visa, ELVIS, Guaranteed Access Level (GAL) 
Certification, and Exempt Certification Requirements for Member 
Countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO)

June 29, 2005.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner, Bureau of Customs and 
Border Protection canceling visa, quota reporting, and staged entry 
requirements for WTO member countries for goods exported prior to 
January 1, 2005.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Philip J. Martello, Director, Trade 
and Data Division, 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 published in the Federal Register on 
December 17, 2004 (see 69 FR 75516), the United States terminated all 
visas, ELVIS transmissions, GAL certifications, and exempt 
certification requirement with trading partners who are members of the 
WTO and stated that such visa arrangements would not apply to goods 
exported from the country of origin on and after January 1, 2005.
    Effective on July 1, 2005, the United States is terminating the 
requirements for textile visas, ELVIS transmissions, exempt 
certifications, guaranteed access level certifications, quota 
reporting, and staged entry (see 69 FR 72181, published on December 13, 
2004.) for entry of goods subject to the WTO Agreement on Textiles and 
Clothing quotas that were exported prior to January 1, 2005. For 
countries that are not WTO members, that have continuing textile quotas 
and visa (and ELVIS) arrangements under bilateral agreements, visas 
will continue to be required for entry of goods exported prior to 
January 1, 2005. The termination of textile visa requirements and quota 
reporting also applies to the quotas which expired prior to January 1, 
2005 for China, and staged entry for overshipments of quotas which 
expired prior to January 1, 2005. However, the quota for socks in 
categories 332/432/632part, exported from China during the October 29, 
2004 - October 28, 2005 period, remains in effect.
    In the letter below, CITA instructs the Bureau of Customs and 
Border Protection to cancel all requirements for visas, ELVIS 
transmissions, GAL certifications, exempt certifications, quota 
reporting, and staged entry for goods exported from the country of 
origin prior to January 1, 2005. For goods that are the product of 
countries that are not members of the WTO, applicable requirements for 
quotas, visas, ELVIS transmissions, GAL certifications, and exempt 
certifications will remain in effect.

James C. Leonard III,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

June 29, 2005.

Commissioner,
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Washington, D.C. 20229.
    Dear Commissioner: This directive amends, but does not cancel, 
the directive issued to you on December 14, 2004. That directive 
canceled all previous directives concerning requirements for visa, 
ELVIS transmissions, Guaranteed Access Level (GAL) Certifications, 
and Exempt Certifications, issued to you by the Chairman, Committee 
for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, for the following 
countries,

[[Page 38660]]

covering cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend and non-cotton 
vegetable fiber textile and textile products subject to the 
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, effective for goods exported 
from those countries on and after January 1, 2005 from Bahrain, 
Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican 
Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, 
Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, 
Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Macedonia, Nepal, Oman, 
Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, 
Singapore, Slovak Republic, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, 
Turkey, UAE, and Uruguay. It also amends, but does not cancel, the 
directive issued to you on December 9, 2004 concerning staged entry.
    Effective on July 1, 2005, you are directed to cancel all 
requirements for visa, ELVIS, exempt certification, guaranteed 
access level certification, quota reporting, and staged entry for 
entry of goods exported prior to January 1, 2005. It will cover all 
textile and apparel exports from the aforementioned list of WTO 
member countries, except for the quota for socks from China exported 
from the country of origin prior to January 1, 2005. Visa and ELVIS 
transmissions will no longer be required for cotton socks from China 
in Category 332, exported prior to January 1, 2005.
    The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreement has 
determined that this action falls within the foreign affairs 
exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).
    Sincerely,
James C. Leonard III,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc.E5-3490 Filed 7-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S