CSMS Message: 97-000380

TO : ALL ABI BROKERS.
FROM : CARLA ZZ-DONOFRIO

SUBJECT : ELVIS-MALAYSIA

DATE : 04/15/97

APRIL 11, 1997

SPE-2 FO:TC:I:E CDD

CATEGORY: TEX

TO : ALL PORT DIRECTORS, CUSTOMS MANAGEMENT CENTER (CMC)
DIRECTORS AND STRATEGIC TRADE CENTER (STC) DIRECTORS

FROM : DIRECTOR, TRADE COMPLIANCE

PASS TO: ALL IMPORT SPECIALISTS, NATIONAL IMPORT SPECIALISTS,
ENTRY OFFICERS, INSPECTORS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE
SPECIALISTS AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

SUBJECT: TBT-97-042 CONSOLIDATION AND AMENDMENT OF EXPORT VISA
REQUIREMENTS TO INCLUDE THE ELECTRONIC VISA INFORMATION
SYSTEM FOR CERTAIN COTTON, WOOL, MAN-MADE FIBER, SILK
BLEND AND OTHER VEGETABLE FIBER TEXTILES AND TEXTILE
PRODUCTS PRODUCED OR MANUFACTURED IN MALAYSIA.

COUNTRY: MALAYSIA

BACKGROUND:

A CITA DIRECTIVE DATED APRIL 11, 1997 CONSOLIDATED AND AMENDED
THE EXPORT VISA REQUIREMENTS TO INCLUDE THE ELECTRONIC VISA
INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR TEXTILE AND TEXTILE PRODUCTS IN CATEGORIES
200-239, 300-369, 400-469, 600-670, AND 831-859 PRODUCED OR
MANUFACTURED IN MALAYSIA.

ACTION:

PURSUANT TO A DIRECTIVE, DATED APRIL 11, 1997 FROM THE COMMITTEE
FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS (CITA), EFFECTIVE
MAY 1, 1997, CUSTOMS IS DIRECTED TO PROHIBIT ENTRY INTO THE
CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES (I.E., THE 50 STATES, THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO) FOR
CONSUMPTION AND WITHDRAWAL FROM WAREHOUSE FOR CONSUMPTION OF
COTTON, WOOL, MAN-MADE FIBER, SILK BLEND AND OTHER VEGETABLE
FIBER TEXTILES AND TEXTILE PRODUCTS IN CATEGORIES 200-239, 300-
369, 400-469, 600-670 AND 831-859, INCLUDING PART CATEGORIES AND
MERGED CATEGORIES (SEE ANNEX A), PRODUCED OR MANUFACTURED IN
MALAYSIA AND EXPORTED ON AND AFTER MAY 1, 1997 FOR WHICH THE
GOVERNMENT OF MALAYSIA HAS NOT ISSUED AN APPROPRIATE EXPORT VISA,
EXEMPT CERTIFICATE OR ELECTRONIC VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM (ELVIS)
TRANSMISSION FULLY DESCRIBED BELOW. SHIPMENTS COVERING
MERCHANDISE IN CATEGORIES 800-810 AND 863-899 DO NOT REQUIRE A
VISA. SHOULD ADDITIONAL CATEGORIES, PART CATEGORIES OR MERGED
CATEGORIES BECOME SUBJECT TO IMPORT QUOTA THE ENTIRE CATEGORY(S),
PART CATEGORY(S) OR MERGED CATEGORY(S) SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE
COVERAGE OF THIS ARRANGEMENT.

A VISA MUST ACCOMPANY EACH COMMERCIAL SHIPMENT OF THE
AFOREMENTIONED TEXTILE PRODUCTS. A CIRCULAR STAMPED MARKING IN
BLUE INK WILL APPEAR ON THE FRONT OF THE ORIGINAL COMMERCIAL
INVOICE. THE ORIGINAL VISA SHALL NOT BE STAMPED ON DUPLICATE
COPIES OF THE INVOICE. THE ORIGINAL INVOICE WITH THE ORIGINAL
VISA STAMP WILL BE REQUIRED TO ENTER THE SHIPMENT INTO THE UNITED
STATES. DUPLICATES OF THE INVOICE AND
OR VISA MAY NOT BE USED
FOR THIS PURPOSE.

EACH VISA STAMP SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

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 COUNTRY CODE SPECIFIED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
FOR STANDARDIZATION (ISO) (THE CODE FOR MALAYSIA IS ``MY''), AND
A SIX DIGIT NUMERICAL SERIAL NUMBER IDENTIFYING THE SHIPMENT;
E.G., 7MY123456.

THE DATE OF ISSUANCE. THE DATE OF ISSUANCE SHALL BE THE DAY,
MONTH AND YEAR ON WHICH THE VISA WAS ISSUED.

THE ORIGINAL SIGNATURE OF THE ISSUING OFFICIAL OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF MALAYSIA.

THE CORRECT CATEGORY(S), MERGED CATEGORY(S), PART CATEGORY(S),
QUANTITY(S) AND UNIT(S) OF QUANTITY IN THE SHIPMENT AS SET FORTH
IN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CORRELATION AND IN THE
HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE OF THE UNITED STATES, ANNOTATED, SHALL
BE REPORTED IN THE SPACES PROVIDED WITHIN THE VISA STAMP (E.G.,
``CAT. 340-510 DOZ'').

QUANTITIES MUST BE STATED IN WHOLE NUMBERS. DECIMALS OR
FRACTIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. MERGED CATEGORY QUOTA
MERCHANDISE MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY EITHER THE APPROPRIATE MERGED
CATEGORY VISA OR THE CORRECT CATEGORY VISA CORRESPONDING TO THE
ACTUAL SHIPMENT (E.G., CATEGORIES 347-348 MAY BE VISAED AS
347-348 OR IF THE SHIPMENT CONSISTS SOLELY OF CATEGORY 347
MERCHANDISE, THE SHIPMENT MAY BE VISAED AS ``CATEGORY 347,'' BUT
NOT AS ``CATEGORY 348'').

U.S. CUSTOMS SHALL NOT PERMIT ENTRY IF THE SHIPMENT DOES NOT HAVE
A VISA, OR IF THE VISA NUMBER, DATE OF ISSUANCE, SIGNATURE,
CATEGORY, QUANTITY OR UNITS OF QUANTITY ARE MISSING, INCORRECT OR
ILLEGIBLE, OR HAVE BEEN CROSSED OUT OR ALTERED IN ANY WAY. IF
THE QUANTITY INDICATED ON THE VISA IS LESS THAN THAT OF THE
SHIPMENT, ENTRY SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED. IF THE QUANTITY
INDICATED ON THE VISA IS MORE THAN THAT OF THE SHIPMENT, ENTRY
SHALL BE PERMITTED AND ONLY THE AMOUNT ENTERED SHALL BE CHARGED
TO ANY APPLICABLE QUOTA.

IF THE VISA IS NOT ACCEPTABLE THEN A NEW VISA MUST BE OBTAINED
FROM THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT OR A VISA WAIVER MAY BE ISSUED BY
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AT THE REQUEST OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF MALAYSIA AND PRESENTED TO THE U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE BEFORE ANY
PORTION OF THE SHIPMENT WILL BE RELEASED. THE WAIVER, IF USED,
ONLY WAIVES THE REQUIREMENT TO PRESENT A VISA WITH THE SHIPMENT.
IT DOES NOT WAIVE THE QUOTA REQUIREMENT.

IF THE VISAED INVOICE IS DEFICIENT, THE U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE WILL
NOT RETURN THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT AFTER ENTRY, BUT WILL PROVIDE A
CERTIFIED COPY OF THAT VISAED INVOICE FOR USE IN OBTAINING A NEW
CORRECT ORIGINAL VISAED INVOICE, OR A VISA WAIVER.

IF A SHIPMENT FROM MALAYSIA HAS BEEN ALLOWED ENTRY INTO THE
COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES WITH EITHER AN INCORRECT VISA OR NO
VISA, AND REDELIVERY IS REQUESTED BUT CANNOT BE MADE, THE
SHIPMENT WILL BE CHARGED TO THE CORRECT CATEGORY LIMIT WHETHER OR
NOT A REPLACEMENT VISA OR WAIVER IS PROVIDED.

ELVIS REQUIREMENTS:

A. EACH ELVIS MESSAGE WILL 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 COUNTRY CODE SPECIFIED BY THE
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION (ISO) (THE
CODE FOR MALAYSIA IS ``MY''), AND A SIX DIGIT NUMERICAL
SERIAL NUMBER IDENTIFYING THE SHIPMENT; E.G., 7MY123456.

II. THE DATE OF ISSUANCE. THE DATE OF ISSUANCE SHALL BE
THE DAY, MONTH AND YEAR ON WHICH THE VISA WAS ISSUED.

III. THE CORRECT CATEGORY(S), MERGED CATEGORY(S), PART
CATEGORY(S), QUANTITY(S) AND UNIT(S) OF QUANTITY IN THE
SHIPMENT AS SET FORTH IN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
CORRELATION AND IN THE HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE OF THE
UNITED STATES, ANNOTATED OR SUCCESSOR DOCUMENTS.

IV. THE QUANTITY OF THE SHIPMENT IN THE CORRECT UNITS OF
QUANTITY.

V. THE MANUFACTURER ID CODE.

B. ENTRY OF A SHIPMENT SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED:

I. IF AN ELVIS TRANSMISSION HAS NOT BEEN RECEIVED FOR THE
SHIPMENT FROM THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN;

II. IF THE ELVIS TRANSMISSION FOR THAT SHIPMENT IS MISSING
ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

A. VISA NUMBER
B. CATEGORY OR PART CATEGORY
C. QUANTITY
D. UNIT OF MEASURE
E. DATE OF ISSUANCE
F. MANUFACTURER ID NUMBER

III. IF THE ELVIS TRANSMISSION FOR THE SHIPMENT DOES NOT
MATCH THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY THE IMPORTER OR THE
CUSTOMS BROKER ACTING AS AN AGENT ON BEHALF OF THE IMPORTER,
WITH REGARD TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

A. VISA NUMBER
B. CATEGORY OR PART CATEGORY
C. UNIT OF MEASURE

IV. IF THE QUANTITY BEING ENTERED IS GREATER THAN THE
QUANTITY TRANSMITTED.

V. IF THE VISA NUMBER HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN USED, EXCEPT IN
THE CASE OF A SPLIT SHIPMENT, OR CANCELED, EXCEPT WHEN AN
ENTRY HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE USING THE VISA NUMBER.

C. A NEW, CORRECT ELVIS TRANSMISSION FROM THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
IS REQUIRED BEFORE A SHIPMENT THAT HAS BEEN DENIED ENTRY FOR ONE
OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES MENTIONED IN PARAGRAPH B.I-V WILL BE
RELEASED. VISA WAIVERS WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED FOR LEGITIMATE
CLASSIFICATION PURPOSES, OR FOR PARAGRAPH B.I-V IF THE SHIPMENT
QUALIFIES AS A ONE-TIME SPECIAL PURPOSE SHIPMENT THAT IS NOT PART
OF AN ONGOING COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.

D. A NEW, CORRECT ELVIS TRANSMISSION FROM THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
IS REQUIRED FOR ENTRIES MADE USING A VISA WAIVER UNDER THE
PROCEDURES AS PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED.

E. SHIPMENTS WILL NOT BE RELEASED FOR FORTY-EIGHT HOURS IN THE
EVENT OF A SYSTEM FAILURE. IF SYSTEM FAILURE EXCEEDS FORTY-EIGHT
HOURS, FOR THE REMAINING PERIOD OF THE SYSTEM FAILURE THE U.S.
CUSTOMS SERVICE WILL RELEASE SHIPMENTS ON THE BASIS OF THE PAPER
VISAED DOCUMENT.

IF IMPORT QUOTAS ARE IN FORCE, U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE SHALL CHARGE
ONLY THE ACTUAL QUANTITY IN THE SHIPMENT TO THE CORRECT CATEGORY
LIMIT. IF A SHIPMENT FROM MALAYSIA HAS BEEN ALLOWED ENTRY INTO
THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES WITH AN INCORRECT VISA, NO
VISA, AN INCORRECT ELVIS TRANSMISSION, OR NO ELVIS TRANSMISSION,
AND REDELIVERY IS REQUESTED BUT CANNOT BE MADE, THE SHIPMENT WILL
BE CHARGED TO THE CORRECT CATEGORY LIMIT WHETHER OR NOT A
REPLACEMENT VISA OR WAIVER IS PROVIDED OR A NEW ELVIS MESSAGE IS
TRANSMITTED.

EXEMPT CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

SHIPMENTS OF CERTIFIED HAND PRINTED BATIK, DEFINED AS FABRIC TO
WHICH THE DESIGN HAS BEEN APPLIED BY HAND IN UNITS OF THE
MALAYSIAN COTTAGE INDUSTRY, SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE QUOTA LEVELS
IF THEY ARE CERTIFIED PRIOR TO LEAVING MALAYSIA, BY THE PLACING
OF THE ORIGINAL RECTANGULAR-SHAPED STAMPED MARKING IN BLUE INK ON
THE FRONT OF THE ORIGINAL COMMERCIAL INVOICE. THE ORIGINAL
EXEMPT CERTIFICATION SHALL NOT BE AFFIXED TO DUPLICATE COPIES OF
THE INVOICE. THE ORIGINAL COPY OF THE INVOICE WITH THE ORIGINAL
EXEMPT CERTIFICATION WILL BE REQUIRED TO ENTER THE SHIPMENT INTO
THE UNITED STATES. DUPLICATE COPIES OF THE INVOICE AND
OR EXEMPT
CERTIFICATION MAY NOT BE USED.

TEXTILES AND TEXTILE ARTICLES PROVIDED FOR IN THE EXEMPT
CERTIFICATION SYSTEM ARE EXEMPT FROM THE LEVELS OF RESTRAINT, AND
VISA AND ELVIS REQUIREMENTS IF THEY ARE PROPERLY CERTIFIED, PRIOR
TO THE SHIPMENT LEAVING MALAYSIA.

EACH CERTIFICATION STAMP SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

1. DATE OF ISSUANCE
2. SIGNATURE OF ISSUING OFFICIAL
3. THE BASIS FOR THE EXEMPTION, WHICH SHALL BE NOTED AS:
A. HAND PRINTED BATIK
B. THE NAME OF THE PARTICULAR TRADITIONAL FOLKLORE
HANDICRAFT PRODUCT (MALAYSIAN ITEM) AS CITED IN A
LIST TO BE AGREED UPON BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
UNITED STATES AND MALAYSIA.

SHOULD A SHIPMENT BE EXPORTED FROM MALAYSIA WITH AN INCORRECT
EXEMPT CERTIFICATION (I.E., THE DATE OF ISSUANCE, SIGNATURE OR
BASIS FOR EXEMPTION IS MISSING, INCORRECT OR ILLEGIBLE OR HAS
BEEN CROSSED OUT OR ALTERED IN ANY WAY), THEN THE EXEMPT
CERTIFICATION WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AND ENTRY SHALL NOT BE
PERMITTED UNTIL A REPLACEMENT CERTIFICATION IS ISSUED.

SHOULD A SHIPMENT BE EXPORTED FROM MALAYSIA WITHOUT AN EXEMPT
CERTIFICATION BEING ISSUED PRIOR TO THE DATE OF EXPORTATION OR IF
THE MERCHANDISE DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR THE EXEMPTION, THEN AN
EXEMPT CERTIFICATION WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AND ENTRY SHALL NOT BE
PERMITTED. IN SUCH A CASE, A VISA OR A VISA WAIVER MUST BE
OBTAINED, AND AN ELVIS TRANSMISSION SENT, PRIOR TO RELEASE OF ANY
PORTION OF THE SHIPMENT. IF QUOTAS ARE IN FORCE, THE SHIPMENT
WILL BE CHARGED TO THE APPROPRIATE QUOTA LEVEL.

OTHER PROVISIONS.

MERCHANDISE IMPORTED FOR THE PERSONAL USE OF THE IMPORTER AND NOT
FOR RESALE, REGARDLESS OF VALUE, AND PROPERLY MARKED COMMERCIAL
SAMPLE SHIPMENTS VALUED AT U.S.$250 OR LESS, DO NOT REQUIRE A
VISA, EXEMPT CERTIFICATION, OR ELVIS TRANSMISSION FOR ENTRY AND
SHALL NOT BE CHARGED TO AGREEMENT LEVELS, IF APPLICABLE.

ANY SHIPMENT WHICH IS NOT ACCOMPANIED BY A VALID AND CORRECT VISA
WITH AN ELVIS TRANSMISSION OR EXEMPT CERTIFICATION IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THE FOREGOING PROVISIONS SHALL BE DENIED ENTRY BY THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES UNLESS THE GOVERNMENT OF MALAYSIA
AUTHORIZES THE ENTRY AND ANY CHARGES TO THE AGREEMENT LEVELS.

THE VISA AND CERTIFICATION STAMPS REMAIN UNCHANGED.

INFORMATION:

IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS CONCERNING THIS VISA
REQUIREMENT, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT CARLA D'ONOFRIO AT
(202) 927-0424, JUNE PERGOLA AT(202)927-0705 OR BOB DORSETT (202)
927-7002.

PHILIP METZGER