Announcement of Import Limits and Guaranteed Access Levels for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Costa Rica

AGENCY:

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION:

Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing limits and guaranteed access levels.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Naomi Freeman, International Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4212. 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 (202) 927-5850, or refer to the U.S. Customs website at http://www.customs.gov. For information on embargoes and quota re-openings, call (202) 482-3715.

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 and Guaranteed Access Levels (GALs) for textile products, produced or manufactured in Costa Rica and exported during the period January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2001 are based on limits notified to the Textiles Monitoring Body pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the Commissioner of Customs to establish limits and guaranteed access levels for 2001. These specific limits and guaranteed access levels do not apply to goods that qualify for quota-free entry under the Trade and Development Act of 2000. 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 64 FR 71982, published on December 22, 1999). Information regarding the 2001 CORRELATION will be published in the Federal Register at a later date. Requirements for participation in the Special Access Program are available in Federal Register notice 63 FR 16474, published on April 3, 1998.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 13, 2000.

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, 2001, entry into the United States for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of cotton, wool and man-made fiber textile products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in Costa Rica and exported during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1, 2001 and extending through December 31, 2001, in excess of the following restraint limits:

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 2000 shall be charged to the applicable category limits for that year (see directive dated September 13, 1999) 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.

Also pursuant to the ATC, and under the terms of the Special Access Program, as set forth in 63 FR 16474 (April 3, 1998), you are directed to establish guaranteed access levels for properly certified cotton, wool and man-made fiber textile products in the following categories which are assembled in Costa Rica from fabric formed and cut in the United States and re-exported to the United States from Costa Rica during the period beginning on January 1, 2001 and extending through December 31, 2001:

Any shipment for entry under the Special Access Program which is not accompanied by a valid and correct certification in accordance with the provisions of the certification requirements established in the directive of May 15, 1990 (55 FR 21074), as amended, shall be denied entry unless the Government of Costa Rica authorizes the entry and any charges to the appropriate specific limit. Any shipment which is declared for entry under the Special Access Program but found not to qualify shall be denied entry into the United States.

These specific limits and guaranteed access levels do not apply to goods that qualify for quota-free entry under the Trade and Development Act of 2000.

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 U.S.C.553(a)(1).