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1 April 18, 1991 Mr. Ding Mou-Shih Representative Coordination Council for North American Affairs 4201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 Dear Mr. Ding: I refer to the administrative arrangement between our authoriti-es regarding the textile visa system effected by exchange of le-tters in Washington dated August 16 and September 20, 1972, asamended. Since that time, as our textile trade has developed and expanded, there have been a number of amendments to this administrativearrangement. In the interest of clarity and to consolidate thevarious changes into a single document, we have developed a com-prehensive new text. I propose that the administrative arrangement be amended to readin its entirety as follows: VISA ARRANGEMENT Between the Coordination Council for North American Affairs and the American Institute in Taiwan concerning Textiles and Textile Products 1. Definition: A. For the purpose of this arrangement, the term "textiles" mea-ns textiles and textile products of cotton, wool and man-made f-ibers, other vegetable fibers, blends of any of the foregoing f-ibers and blends containing silk, but does not include garmentswhich contain 70 percent or more silk by weight (unless they al-so contain 17% or more by weight wool), or products other thangarments which contain 85 percent or more silk by weight, as de-fined in the agreement between the American Institute in Taiwanand the Coordination Council for North American Affairs relatingto trade in textiles. B. The term "category" includes part categories and merged cate-gories as established in the textile agreement. 2. Visa Requirements: A. The Coordination Council for North American Affairs or theirauthorized agents shall issue a visa for each shipment of texti-les or textile articles of Taiwan origin and exported to the Un-ited States, regardless of value (except as specified in paragr-aph N), of cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend and other v-egetable fiber textiles and textile products in categories 200-239, 300-369, 400-469, 600-670, 800-899, including part categori-es and merged categories. The visa shall be presented to the U.S. Customs Service before entry, or withdrawal from warehouse forconsumption, into the Customs territory of the United States (t-he 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico). B. In the future, should additional categories, merged categori-es or part categories be added to the textile agreement or bec-ome subject to import quotas, the entire category, part categoryor categories shall be automatically included in the coverage ofthis visa arrangement. Merchandise exported on or after the datethe category(s) is added to the agreement or becomes subject toimport quotas shall require a visa specifying the new designati-on. C. The Coordination Council for North American Affairs shall pr-ovide the American institute in Taiwan with two original, clear,reproducible copies of the visa stamp which shall be the stampdesignated for use throughout the entire period the visa arrang-ement is in effect, and two originals of the signatures of theofficials authorized to sign visas. The stamp, and any subseque-nt changes thereto, must be approved by the American Institutein Taiwan. The Coordination Council for North American Affairsshall notify the American Institute in Taiwan of any changes ofauthorized officials. D. A shipment shall be visaed by the stamping of the original c-ircular visa in blue ink on the front of the original commercialinvoice (known as the 'textile export visa') . The original visashall not be stamped on duplicate copies of the invoice. The or-iginal of the invoice with the original visa stamp will be requ-ired to enter the shipment into the United States. Duplicates ofthe invoice and/or visa may not be used for this purpose. E. Each visa stamp shall include the following information: i. 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 code specified by the International O-rganization for Standardization [ISO] (the code for Taiwanis ("TW"), and a six digit numerical serial number identi-fying the shipment; e.g., 1TW123456. ii. The date of issuance: The date of issuance shall be the d-ay, month and year on which the visa was issued. iii. The signature of the issuing official(s): The signature s-hall be that of the issuing official(s) of Taiwan. iv. The correct category(s), merged category(s), part category(s), quantity(s), and unit(s) of quantity in the shipment in the unit(s) of quantity provided for in the U.S. Depar-tment of Commerce Correlation and in the Harmonized TariffSchedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA or succes-sor documents) shall be reported in the spaces provided w-ithin the visa stamp (e.g., "Cat. 340 - 510 DZ"). Quantit-ies must be stated in whole numbers. Decimals or fractionswill not be accepted. Merged category quota merchandise m-ay be accompanied by either the appropriate merged catego-ry visa or the correct category visa corresponding to the actual shipment. For example, quota category 347/348 may be visaed as 347/348 or, if the shipment consists solely of category 347 merchandise, the shipment may be visaed as"Cat. 347," but not as "Cat. 348." F. If the quantity indicated on the visa is less than that of t-he shipment, entry shall not be permitted. G. If the quantity indicated on the visa is more than that of t-he shipment, entry shall be permitted and only the amount enter-ed shall be charged. H. The visa will not be accepted and entry will not be permittedif the shipment ry quota may be does not have a visa, or if thevisa number, date of issuance, signature, category, quantity orunits of quantity are missing, incorrect, illegible or have beencrossed out or altered in any way. I. The categories and quantities shall be those determined by t-he U.S. Customs Service. The U.S. Customs Service classifies allimports into the Customs territory of the United States in comp-liance with applicable U.S. laws and regulations. J. If the visa does not comply with the requirements set forthin this arrangement, a new visa must be obtained from the Coord-ination council for North American Affairs or their authorizedagents or a waiver may be issued by the U.S. Department of Comm-erce at the request of the Coordination Council for North Ameri-can Affairs or their authorized agents in Washington, DC., andpresented to the U.S. Customs Service before any portion of theshipment will be released. The waiver, if used, only waives therequirement to present a visa with the shipment. It does not wa-ive the quota requirement. Visa waivers will only be issued forclassification disputes or for one time special purpose shipmen-ts that are not part of an ongoing commercial enterprise. K. If the visaed invoice is deficient, the U.S. Customs Servicewill not return the original document after entry, but will pro-vide a certified copy of that visaed invoice for use in obtaini-ng a new correct original visaed invoice or a visa waiver. Thenew visa number must begin with the numeric digit correspondingwith the last digit of the year of export as stated in E(i). L. The American Institute in Taiwan will make available to theCoordination Council for North American Affairs, upon request,information on the amounts and categories involved in the visawaiver process and for all items subject to the quota administ-ered by the U.S. Customs Service. M. The date of export is the actual date the merchandise finallyleaves the territory represented by the Coordination Council forNorth American Affairs. For merchandise exported by vessel, thisis the day on which the carrier departs the last port in tat te-rritory. N. Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer andnot for resale, regardless of value, and properly marked commer-cial sample shipments valued at U.S. $250 or less do not requirea visa or exempt certification for entry and shall not be charg-ed to the agreement levels. All other commercial shipments of t-he above mentioned require a visa or exempt certification for e-ntry. 3. Annex I lists all the part-category and merged category visasrequired for entry. Annex II lists all the exempt products w-hich will require a "Non-Quota Exempt Certification." 4. Either authority may terminate, in whole or in part, this ad-ministrative arrangement by giving 1.80 days written notice to the other. This letter and your reply confirming the contents thereof on b-ehalf of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs w-ill constitute an administrative arrangement between the Coordi-nation Council for North American Affairs and the American Inst-itute in Taiwan. Sincerely, (Signed) Natale H. Bellocchi Chairman of the Board and Managing Director ANNEX I Part-categories Descriptions below are for general reference only Other miscellaneous products may also be included 359-C - Coveralls & Overalls 359-H - Headwear 359-O - Other 369-L - Luggage 369-S - Shoptowels 369-O - Other 640-O - Other Shirts 640-Y - Shirts with two or more colors in the warp and/or filling 641-O - Other Blouses 641-Y - Blouses with two or more colors in the warp and/or filling 659-C - Coveralls & Overalls 659-H - Headwear 659-5 - Swimwear 659-O - Other 669-P - Polypropylene Bags 669-T - Tents and Tarpaulins 669-O - Other 670-H - Handbags 670-L - Luggage 670-O - Other Merged Categories 225/317/326 300/301/607 613/4/5/7 619/20 625/6/7/8/9 333/4/5 338/9 347/8 350/650 352/652 359-C/659-C 359-H/659-H 445/6 447/8 633/4/5 633/4 638/9 645/6 647/8 369-L/670-L/870 ANNEX II EXEMPT PRODUCTS REQUIRING EXEMPT CERTIFICATION 1. Pincushions 2. Embroideries (needle work), of man-made fibers with designsembroidered with wool thread. 3. Handmade carpets, i.e. in which the pile was inserted or kno-tted by hand. 4. Christmas or Easter ornaments having a non-textile core or anon-textile structural frame and man-made fiber textile cove-ring. 5. Martial arts uniforms, such as kung fu, karate, and judo uni-forms. 6. Toy (novelty) animals, birds or insects with a plastic wire,or other non-textile core that are covered or decorated with textile thread or fiber. 7. Traditional Chinese caps 8. Traditional Chinese garments: Jackets-three-quarter length or shorter, of woven fabrics, u-sually with Chinese figures in the weave but may be plain/wo-ven otherwise figured or printed. They have a low Mandarin c-ollar, long sleeves and full frontal openings, with "frog" t-ype closures (looped fastenings made of braid, cording, etc.,used with a matching knot or toggle of the same material.)Fur or imitation fur-lined jackets-which may or may not be r-eversible and are otherwise identical in appearance and cons-truction with the jackets described above. Vests-sleeveless garments extending from the neck area to wa-ist with or without pockets at the waist. They are otherwise identical in appearance and construction with the jackets de-scribed above. ED-8 0-04 17 May 1, 1991 Ambassador Natale H. Bellocchi Chairman of the Board and Managing Director American Institute in Taiwan 1700 N. Moore Street, Suite 1700 Arlington, VA 22209 Dear Ambassador Bellocchi: I wish to refer to your letter of April 18,1991, concerning theadministrative arrangement between our authorities regarding thetextile visa system effected by exchange of letters in Washingt-on dated August 16 and September 20,1972, as amended. Your lett-er proposes a comprehensive new text to clarify and consolidatethe various changes of the administrative arrangement. I agree that this letter of acceptance together with your letterof April,1991 shall constitute an administrative arrangement be-tween the American Institute in Taiwan and the Coordination Cou-ncil for North American Affairs. Sincerely yours, (Signed) Mou-Shih Ding Representative