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 Bangladesh and exported during the period January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2001 are based on the 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 the limits for the 2001 period. The 2001 limits have been reduced for carryforward applied to the 2000 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 64 FR 71982, published on December 22, 1999). Information regarding the 2001 CORRELATION will be published in the Federal Register at a later date.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

November 15, 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, man-made fiber, silk blend and other vegetable fiber textile products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in Bangladesh and exported during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1, 2001 and extending through December 31, 2001, in excess of the following levels of restraint:

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 December 1, 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.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has determined that these actions fall within the foreign affairs ( printed page 69911) exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).

Sincerely,

Richard B. Steinkamp,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

65 FR 69910