[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 46 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10826-10827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5863]
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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS
Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Certain Wool
Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in the Slovak Republic
March 5, 1997.
AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).
ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing
export visa requirements.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naomi Freeman, International Trade
Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of
Commerce, (202) 482-4212.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended;
section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C.
1854); Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
In an exchange of notes dated November 18, 1996 and January 31,
1997, the Governments of the United States and the Slovak Republic
agreed to establish a new Export Visa Arrangement for certain wool
textile products, produced or manufactured in the Slovak Republic and
exported on and after April 1, 1997. Goods exported during the period
April 1, 1997 through April 30, 1997 shall not be denied entry for lack
of a visa. All goods exported after April 30, 1997 must be accompanied
by an appropriate export visa.
In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the
Commissioner of Customs to prohibit entry of certain textile products,
produced or manufactured in the Slovak Republic and exported to the
United
[[Page 10827]]
States for which the Government of the Slovak Republic has not issued
an appropriate export visa.
A facsimile of the export visa stamp is on file at the U.S.
Department of Commerce in Room 3100.
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 61 FR 66263, published on December 17, 1996).
Interested persons are advised to take all necessary steps to
ensure that textile products that are entered into the United States
for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, will meet
the visa requirements set forth in the letter published below to the
Commissioner of Customs.
Dated: March 5, 1997.
Troy H. Cribb,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements
March 5, 1997.
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), the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act, the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
(ATC), and the Export Visa Arrangement, effected by exchange of
notes dated November 18, 1996 and January 31, 1997 between the
Governments of the United States and the Slovak Republic; and in
accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 11651 of March 3,
1972, as amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on April
1, 1997, entry into the Customs territory of the United States
(i.e., the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico) for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for
consumption of wool textile products in Categories 410, 433, 435 and
443, produced or manufactured in Slovakia and exported on and after
April 1, 1997 for which the Government of the Slovak Republic has
not issued an appropriate export visa fully described below. Should
merged categories or part categories become subject to import quota
the merged or part categories shall be automatically included in the
coverage of this arrangement. Merchandise in the merged or part
category(s) exported on or after the date the merged or part
category(s) becomes subject to import quotas shall require a visa.
Goods exported during the period April 1, 1997 through April 30,
1997 shall not be denied entry for lack of an export visa.
A visa must accompany each commercial shipment of the
aforementioned textile products. A circular stamped marking in blue
ink will appear on the front of the original commercial invoice or
successor document. The original visa shall not be stamped on
duplicate copies of the invoice. The original invoice with the
original visa stamp will be required to enter the shipment into the
United States. Duplicates of the invoice and/or visa may not be used
for this purpose.
Each visa stamp shall include the following information:
1. The visa number. The visa number shall be in the standard
nine digit letter format, beginning with one numeric digit for the
last digit of the year of export, followed by the two character
alpha country code specified by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) (the code for Slovakia is ``SK''), and a six
digit numerical serial number identifying the shipment; e.g.,
7SK123456.
2. The date of issuance. The date of issuance shall be the day,
month and year on which the visa was issued.
3. The original signature of the issuing official and the
printed name of the issuing official of the Government of the Slovak
Republic.
4. The correct category(s), merged category(s), part
category(s), quantity(s) and unit(s) of quantity in the shipment as
set forth in the U.S. Department of Commerce Correlation and in the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, annotated or
successor documents shall be reported in the spaces provided within
the visa stamp (e.g., ``Cat. 340-510 DOZ'').
Quantities must be stated in whole numbers. Decimals or
fractions will not be accepted. Merged category quota merchandise
may be accompanied by either the appropriate merged category visa or
the correct category visa corresponding to the actual shipment
(e.g., Categories 347/348 may be visaed as 347/348 or if the
shipment consists solely of 347 merchandise, the shipment may be
visaed as ``Cat. 347,'' but not as ``Cat. 348.''). If, however, a
merged quota category such as 340/640 has a quota sublimit on
Category 340, then there must be a ``Category 340'' visa for the
shipment if it includes Category 340 merchandise.
U.S. Customs shall not permit entry if the shipment does not
have a visa, or if the visa number, date of issuance, signature,
printed name of the signer, category, quantity or units of quantity
are missing, incorrect or illegible, or have been crossed out or
altered in any way. If the quantity indicated on the visa is less
than that of the shipment, entry shall not be permitted. If the
quantity indicated on the visa is more than that of the shipment,
entry shall be permitted and only the amount entered shall be
charged to any applicable quota.
The complete name and address of a company actually involved in
the manufacturing process of the textile product covered by the visa
shall be provided on the textile visa document.
If the visa is not acceptable then a new correct visa or a visa
waiver must be presented to the U.S. Customs Service before any
portion of the shipment will be released. A visa waiver may be
issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce at the request of the
Embassy in Washington for the Government of Slovakia. The waiver, if
used, only waives the requirement to present a visa with the
shipment. It does not waive the quota requirements. Visa waivers
will only be issued for classification purposes or for one time
special purpose shipments that are not part of an ongoing commercial
enterprise.
If the visaed invoice is deficient, the U.S. Customs Service
will not return the original document after entry, but will provide
a certified copy of that visaed invoice for use in obtaining a new
correct original visaed invoice, or a visa waiver.
If import quotas are in force, U.S. Customs Service shall charge
only the actual quantity in the shipment to the correct category
limit. If a shipment from Slovakia has been allowed entry into the
commerce of the United States with either an incorrect visa or no
visa, and redelivery is requested but cannot be made, the shipment
will be charged to the correct category limit whether or not a
replacement visa or waiver is provided.
Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and
not for resale, regardless of value, and properly marked commercial
sample shipments valued at U.S.$250 or less do not require an export
visa for entry and shall not be charged to agreement levels, if
applicable.
A facsimile of the visa stamp is enclosed.
The actions taken concerning the Government of the Slovak
Republic with respect to imports of textiles and textile products in
the foregoing categories have been determined by the Committee for
the Implementation of Textile Agreements to involve foreign affairs
functions of the United States. Therefore, these directions to the
Commissioner of Customs, which are necessary for the implementation
of such actions, fall within the foreign affairs exception to the
rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1). This letter will be
published in the Federal Register.
Sincerely,
Troy H. Cribb,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc. 97-5863 Filed 3-7-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P
