[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 238 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 77348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31388]


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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

December 5, 2000.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing 
limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2001.

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.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, 
2001 through December 31, 2001 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 2001 limits.
    As required by the African Growth and Opportunity Act, these limits 
shall be eliminated within 30 days after the U.S. Trade Representative 
determines that Mauritius has adopted an effective visa system to 
prevent unlawful transshipment of textile and apparel articles and the 
use of counterfeit documents relating to the importation of the 
articles into the United States.
    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 64 FR 71982, published on December 22, 1999). 
Information regarding the 2001 CORRELATION will be published in the 
Federal Register at a later date.

Richard B. Steinkamp,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 5, 2000.

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, 2001, 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, 2001 and extending through December 31, 2001, in excess 
of the following levels of restraint:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Category                   Twelve-month restraint limit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knit Group
345, 438, 445, 446, 645 and 646, as a       238,802 dozen.
 group.
Levels not in a group
237.......................................  307,948 dozen.
335/835...................................  122,412 dozen.
336.......................................  144,048 dozen.
338/339...................................  576,681 dozen.
340/640...................................  938,509 dozen of which not
                                             more than 571,294 dozen
                                             shall be in Categories 340-
                                             Y/640-Y \1\.
341/641...................................  650,126 dozen.
347/348...................................  1,213,889 dozen.
351/651...................................  285,492 dozen.
352/652...................................  2,420,963 dozen of which not
                                             more than 2,057,821 dozen
                                             shall be in Category 352.
442.......................................  12,566 dozen.
604-A \2\.................................  484,035 kilograms.
638/639...................................  663,186 dozen.
647/648/847...............................  894,265 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 2000 shall be 
charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see 
directive dated September 13, 1999) 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,

Richard B. Steinkamp,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 00-31388 Filed 12-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F