[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 106 (Friday, May 31, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 27332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13649]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota 
Announcement Number 12

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: A special import quota for upland cotton equal to 41,858,494 
kilograms (92,282,258 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 12, effective May 20, 1996, and 
is set forth in subheading 9903.52.12, subchapter III, chapter 99 of 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).

DATES: The quota was established on May 20, 1996, and applies to upland 
cotton purchased not later than August 17, 1996 (90 days from the date 
the quota was established), and entered into the United States not 
later than November 15, 1996 (180 days from the date the quota was 
established).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janise Zygmont, Farm Service Agency, 
United States Department of Agriculture, room 3756-S, Ag Code 0515, PO 
Box 2415, Washington, DC 20013-2415 or call (202) 720-8841.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1996 Act requires that a special cotton 
import quota 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 April 4, 1996. Therefore, a quota referenced as 
the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota Announcement 
Number 12, effective May 20, 1996, is hereby established.
    Because there are only twenty subheadings available for designating 
upland cotton special import quotas in subchapter III of chapter 99 of 
the HTS, only twenty such quotas can 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 twenty-
first consecutive quota cannot be established until the earliest of the 
existing twenty quotas ends. Therefore, the special import quota 
described in this notice opened on May 20, 1996--the day after the 
quota 12 in existence at the time of the announcement ended.
    The quota amount, 41,858,494 kilograms (92,282,258 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--December 1995 through February 1996. The special 
cotton 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 May 21, 1996.
Dan Glickman,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-13649 Filed 5-30-96; 8:45 am]
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