01-29910. Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Romania

November 27, 2001.

AGENCY:

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION:

Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing limits.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 1, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Naomi Freeman, International Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce [phone]. 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 [phone], or refer to the U.S. Customs website at http://www.customs.gov. For information on embargoes and quota re-openings, refer to the Office of Textiles and Apparel website at http://otexa.ita.doc.gov.

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 Romania and exported during the period January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002 are based on the limits notified to the Textiles Monitoring Body pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). These limits do not apply to goods entered under the Outward Processing Program, as defined in the notice and letter to the Commissioner of Customs published in the Federal Register on December 14, 1999 (see 64 FR 69746). Any shipment for entry under the Outward Processing Program which is not accompanied by valid certification in accordance with the provisions established in the notice and letter to the Commissioner of Customs, published in the Federal Register on December 14, 1999 (see 64 FR 69744), shall be denied entry. However, the Government of Romania may authorize the entry and charges to the appropriate specific limits by the issuance of a valid visa. Also see 49 FR 493, as amended, published on January 4, 1984. Pursuant to the provisions of the ATC, the third stage of the integration of textile and apparel products into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 will take place on January 1, 2002 (see 60 FR 21075, published on May 1, 1995). Accordingly, certain previously restrained categories have been modified and their limits have been revised, and a previously restrained category has been eliminated. Integrated products will no longer be subject to quota. In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the Commissioner of Customs to establish the 2002 limits. 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 65 FR 82328, published on December 28, 2000). Information regarding the 2002 CORRELATION will be published in the Federal Register at a later date.

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

November 27, 2001.

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, 2002, entry into the United States for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of cotton, wool and man-made fiber textiles and textile products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in Romania and exported during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1, 2002 and extending through December 31, 2002, in excess of the following levels of restraint:

Category	Twelve-month limit
313	2,899,725 square meters.
314	2,174,794 square meters.
315	5,233,646 square meters.
333	207,232 dozen.
334	501,022 dozen.
335	257,485 dozen.
338/339	1,133,143 dozen.
340	494,611 dozen.
341	200,862 dozen.
347/348	884,405 dozen.
352	315,275 dozen.
359pt. 1	1,130,885 kilograms.
360	2,922,519 numbers.
361	1,948,347 numbers.
369pt. 2	428,581 kilograms.
410	183,962 square meters.
433/434	10,189 dozen.
435	10,658 dozen.
442	12,343 dozen.
443	95,220 numbers.
444	44,888 numbers.
447/448	24,754 dozen.
604	1,756,083 kilograms.
638/639	1,103,357 dozen.
640	151,748 dozen.
647/648	261,947 dozen.
666pt. 3	199,327 kilograms.
1 Category 359pt.: all HTS numbers except 6115.19.8010, 6117.10.6010, 6117.20.9010, 6203.22.1000, 6204.22.1000, 6212.90.0010, 6214.90.0010, 6406.99.1550, 6505.90.1525, 6505.90.1540, 6505.90.2060 and 6505.90.2545.
2  Category 369pt.: all HTS numbers except 4202.12.4000, 4202.12.8020, 4202.12.8060, 4202.22.4020, 4202.22.4500, 4202.22.8030, 4202.32.4000, 4202.32.9530, 4202.92.1500, 4202.92.3016, 4202.92.6091, 5601.10.1000, 5601.21.0090, 5701.90.1020, 5701.90.2020, 5702.10.9020, 5702.39.2010, 5702.49.1020, 5702.49.1080, 5702.59.1000, 5702.99.1010, 5702.99.1090, 5705.00.2020, 5805.00.3000, 5807.10.0510, 5807.90.0510, 6301.30.0010, 6301.30.0020, 6302,51.1000, 6302.51.2000, 6302.51.3000, 6302.51.4000, 6302.60.0010, 6302.60.0030, 6302.91.0005, 6302.91.0025, 6302.91.0045, 6302.91.0050, 6302.91.0060, 6303.11.0000, 6303.91.0010, 6303.91.0020, 6304.91.0020, 6304.92.0000, 6305.20.0000, 6306.11.0000, 6307.10.1020, 6307.10.1090, 6307.90.3010, 6307.90.4010, 6307.90.5010, 6307.90.8910, 6307.90.8945, 6307.90.9905, 6307.90.9982, 6406.10.7700, 9404.90.1000, 9404.90.8040 and 9404.90.9505.
3 Category 666pt.: all HTS numbers except 5805.00.4010, 6301.10.0000, 6301.40.0010, 6301.40.0020, 6301.90.0010, 6302.53.0010, 6302.53.0020, 6302.53.0030, 6302.93.1000, 6302.93.2000, 6303.12.0000, 6303.19.0010, 6303.92.1000, 6303.92.2010, 6303.92.2020, 6303.99.0010, 6304.11.2000, 6304.19.1500, 6304.19.2000, 6304.91.0040, 6304.93.0000, 6304.99.6020, 6307.90.9984, 9404.90.8522 and 9404.90.9522.

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 2001 shall be charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see directive dated December 5, 2000) 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.

These limits do not apply to goods entered under the Outward Processing Program, as defined in the letter to the Commissioner of Customs, dated December 8, 1999 (see 64 FR 69746).

Any shipment for entry under the Outward Processing Program which is not accompanied by a valid certification in accordance with the provisions established in the letter to the Commissioner of Customs, dated December 9, 1999 (see 64 FR 69744), shall be denied entry. However, the Government of Romania may authorize the entry and charges to the appropriate specific limits by the issuance of a valid visa. Also see directive dated December 29, 1983, as amended, (49 FR 493). Any shipment which is declared for entry under the Outward Processing Program but found not to qualify shall be denied entry into the United States.

Products to be integrated into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 on January 1, 2002 (listed in the Federal Register notice published on May 1, 1995, 60 FR 21075) which are exported during 2001 shall be charged to the applicable 2001 limits to the extent of any unfilled balances. After January 1, 2002, should those 2001 limits be filled, such products shall no longer be charged to any limit.

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).

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.