CBP Update on the January 1, 2005 Elimination of Most Textile and Apparel Quotas
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on June 18, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on various trade and customs issues.
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This is Part II of a multi-part series of summaries on the June 18, 2004 COAC meeting and highlights CBP's update on issues related to U.S. government's preparations for the final phase-out of textile and apparel quotas for World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries on January 1, 2005. See future issues for additional summaries. (See ITT's Online Archives or 06/22/04 news, 04062205, for Part I.)
COAC Asks CBP to Continue Apparel Quota Preprocessing After Dec 31, 2004
At the June 18, 2004 meeting, COAC adopted a recommendation asking CBP to continue the quota preprocessing program (QPP) test for apparel on/after January 1, 2005. CBP officials responded by stating that CBP would take the issue under advisement and that they did not think that COAC's request would be a problem.
(CBP officials had previously stated that they had no plans to extend QPP beyond its December 31, 2004 expiration date, adding that they would be willing to listen to the trade community if there was interest in maintaining QPP for apparel that will remain subject to quota on/after January 1, 2005 (i.e., non-WTO countries like Vietnam, etc.) See ITT's Online Archives or 05/06/04 news, 04050605, for previous BP summary.
QPP permits certain quota entries (currently merchandise in HTS Chapters 61 and 62) to be filed, reviewed for admissibility, and to have their quota priority and status determined by CBP prior to arrival of the carrier, similar to the method of preliminary review by which non-quota entries are currently processed.)
CITA Expected to Soon Publish Details on January 1, 2005 Quota Elimination
According to CBP officials, CBP has held three meetings with the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) and CITA has developed two Federal Register notices related to the January 1, 2005 elimination of most textile and apparel quotas which are expected to be published within the next few weeks.