[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4240-4241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-2128]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota 
Announcement Number 2

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: A special import quota for upland cotton equal to 44,607,955 
kilograms (98,343,787 pounds) is established in accordance with section 
136(b) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 
(the 1996 Act) under Presidential Proclamation 6301 of June 7, 1991. 
The quota is referenced as the Secretary of Agriculture's Special 
Cotton Import Quota Announcement Number 2, effective January 25, 1997, 
and is set forth in subheading 9903.52.02, subchapter III, chapter 99 
of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).

DATES: The quota is effective as of January 25, 1997, and applies to 
upland cotton purchased not later than April 24, 1997 (90 days from the 
date the quota is established), and entered into the United States not 
later than July 23, 1997 (180 days from the date the quota is 
established).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janise Zygmont, Farm Service Agency, 
United States Department of Agriculture, Stop 0515, P.O. Box 2415, 
Washington, DC 20013-2415 or call (202) 720-8841.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1996 Act requires that a special import 
quota for upland cotton be determined and announced immediately if, for 
any consecutive 10-week period, the Friday through Thursday average 
price quotation for the lowest-priced U.S. growth, as quoted for 
Middling 1\3/32\ inch cotton, C.I.F. northern Europe (U.S. Northern 
Europe price), adjusted for the value of any cotton user marketing 
certificates issued, exceeds the Northern Europe price by more than 
1.25 cents per pound. This condition was met during the consecutive 10-
week period that ended October 31, 1996. Therefore, a quota referenced 
as the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota 
Announcement Number 2, effective January 25, 1997, is hereby 
established.
    Because there were only 20 subheadings available for designating 
upland cotton special import quotas in subchapter III of chapter 99 of 
the HTS

[[Page 4241]]

at the time this quota was announced, only 20 such quotas could be in 
effect at one time. Each subheading corresponds to a Secretary of 
Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota Announcement specifying that 
a particular amount of upland cotton may be imported during a 
particular 180-day period. The special import quota described in this 
notice cannot take effect until HTS subheading 9903.52.02 becomes 
available upon the expiration of the Secretary of Agriculture's Special 
Cotton Import Quota Announcement Number 2, effective July 29, 1996, 
through January 24, 1997. Therefore, the special import quota described 
in this notice opens on January 25, 1997, the day after the previous 
special import quota 2 ends.
    The quota amount, 44,607,955 kilograms (98,343,787 pounds), is 
equal to 1 week's consumption of upland cotton by domestic mills at the 
seasonally-adjusted average rate of the most recent 3 months for which 
data are available--July 1996 through September 1996. The special 
import quota identifies a quantity of imports that is not subject to 
the over-quota tariff rate of a tariff-rate quota. The quota is not 
divided by staple length or by country of origin. The quota does not 
affect existing tariff rates or phytosanitary regulations. The quota 
does not apply to Extra Long Staple cotton.

    Authority: Sec. 136, P.L. 104-127 and U.S. Note 6(a), Subchapter 
III, Chapter 99 of the HTS.

    Signed at Washington, DC., on January 22, 1997.
Dan Glickman,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-2128 Filed 1-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P