[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 60087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30172]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota
Announcement Number 16
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: A special import quota for upland cotton equal to 44,403,388
kilograms (97,892,793 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 16, effective December 14,
1996, and is set forth in subheading 9903.52.16, subchapter III,
chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTS).
DATES: The quota is effective as of December 14, 1996, and applies to
upland cotton purchased not later than March 13, 1997 (90 days from the
date the quota is established), and entered into the United States not
later than June 11, 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 September 19, 1996. Therefore, a quota
referenced as the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import
Quota Announcement Number 16, effective December 14, 1996, is hereby
established.
Because there are only 20 subheadings available for designating
upland cotton special import quotas in subchapter III of chapter 99 of
the HTS, only 20 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 special
import quota described in this notice cannot take effect until HTS
subheading 9903.52.16 becomes available upon the expiration of the
Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota Announcement
Number 16, effective June 17, 1996, through December 13, 1996.
Therefore, the special import quota described in this notice opens on
December 14, 1996, the day after the previous special import quota 16
ends.
The quota amount, 44,403,388 kilograms (97,892,793 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--May 1996 through July 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, Pub. L. 104-127 and U.S. Note 6(a),
Subchapter III, Chapter 99 of the HTS.
Signed at Washington, D.C., on November 18, 1996.
Dan Glickman,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-30172 Filed 11-25-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P
