[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 73 (Monday, April 15, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 16458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9256]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota
Announcement Number 3
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: A special import quota for upland cotton equal to 43,242,096
kilograms (95,332,580 pounds) is established in accordance with section
103B(a)(5)(F) of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended (the 1949
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 3, effective February 7, 1996, and is set
forth in subheading 9903.52.03, subchapter III, chapter 99 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).
DATES: The quota was established on February 7, 1996, and applies to
upland cotton purchased not later than May 6, 1996 (90 days from the
date the quota was established), and entered into the United States not
later than August 4, 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,
P.O. Box 2415, Washington, DC 20013-2415 or call (202) 720-8841.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1949 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 February 1, 1996. Therefore, a quota referenced
as the Secretary of Agriculture's Special Cotton Import Quota
Announcement Number 3, effective February 7, 1996, is hereby
established.
The HTS provides for only twenty special cotton import quota
subheadings. 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. Because twenty special cotton import quotas
have already been announced, the existing subheading numbers and
Secretary's announcement designations are being repeated for new quotas
that may be announced; however, the new quota amounts and effective
dates will be different.
The quota amount, 43,242,096 kilograms (95,332,580 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--September 1995 through November 1995. 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: 7 U.S.C. 1444-2 (a) and U.S. Note 6(a), Subchapter
III, Chapter 99 of the HTS.
Signed at Washington, DC, on April 8, 1996.
Dan Glickman,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-9256 Filed 4-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P
