CSMS Message: 99-001149

TO : ALL ABI BROKERS.
FROM : HQ QUOTA

SUBJECT : ELVIS REQUIREMENTS-SRI LANKA

DATE : 12/17/1999

BOARD: OTO4
POSTED BY: HQ QUOTA
RETENTION: 999

0350092
DECEMBER 16, 1999

CATEGORY: TEX

TO: ALL PORT DIRECTORS

FROM: DIRECTOR, TRADE PROGRAMS

RE: VBT-99-2: "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 SRI LANKA"

PASS TO: ASSISTANT PORT DIRECTORS, NATIONAL IMPORT SPECIALIST(S),
IMPORT SPECIALISTS, CUSTOMS OFFICERS SUCH AS INSPECTORS,
ENTRY SUPERVISORS AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES SUCH AS
BROKERS AND IMPORTERS

A CITA DIRECTIVE DATED, DECEMBER 14, 1999, EFFECTIVE ON
JANUARY 1, 2000, DIRECTED U.S. CUSTOMS 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, 831-859, INCLUDING PART CATEGORIES AND MERGED CATEGORIES,
PRODUCED OR MANUFACTURED IN SRI LANKA AND EXPORTED ON AND AFTER
JANUARY 1, 2000 FOR WHICH THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA HAS NOT ISSUED
AN APPROPRIATE EXPORT VISA AND ELECTRONIC VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM
(ELVIS) TRANSMISSION FULLY DESCRIBED BELOW. SHOULD ADDITIONAL
CATEGORIES, PART-CATEGORIES OR MERGED CATEGORIES BECOME SUBJECT TO
IMPORT QUOTAS, 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 SHIPMENT OF THE AFOREMENTIONED TEXTILE
PRODUCTS. A CIRCULAR STAMPED MARKING IN BLUE INK WILL APPEAR ON THE
FRONT OF THE ORIGINAL INVOICE. THE ORIGINAL VISA SHALL NOT BE STAMP
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.

VISA REQUIREMENTS

EACH VISA STAMP SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

1. 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 ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION
(ISO)(THE CODE FOR SRI LANKA IS "LK"), AND A SIX DIGIT SERIAL NUMBER
IDENTIFYING THE SHIPMENT; E.G., 0LK123456.

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

3. THE ORIGINAL SIGNATURE OF THE ISSUING OFFICIAL AUTHORIZED BY THE
GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA.

4. THE CORRECT CATEGORY(S), PART CATEGORY(S), MERGED CATEGORY(S),
QUANTITY(S) AND UNIT(S) OF QUANTITY IN THE SHIPMENT IN THE UNIT(S) OF
QUANTITY PROVIDED FOR IN ANNEX A OF THE EXPORT VISA ARRANGEMENT, IN
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CORRELATION, AND IN THE HARMONIZED
TARIFF SCHEDULE OF THE UNITED STATES ANNOTATED, OR SUCCESSOR DOCUMENT
AND 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. (FOR
EXAMPLE, QUOTA CATEGORY 347/348 MAY BE VISAED AS "CAT. 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").

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, 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
THE SHIPMENT, ENTRY SHALL BE PERMITTED AND ONLY THE AMOUNT ENTERED
SHALL BE CHARGED TO ANY APPLICABLE QUOTA.

THE CATEGORIES AND UNITS OF MEASURE SHALL BE THOSE LISTED IN ANNEX A
OF THE EXPORT VISA ARRANGEMENT AND AS DETERMINED BY THE U.S. CUSTOMS
SERVICE.

IF THE VISA IS NOT ACCEPTABLE THEN A NEW CORRECT VISA MUST BE OBTAIN
FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA OR A VISA WAIVER MAY BE ISSUED BY THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AT THE REQUEST OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI
LANKA 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
ANY QUOTA REQUIREMENT. VISA WAIVERS WILL ONLY BE ISSUED FOR
CLASSIFICATION PURPOSES OR FOR ONE-TIME SPECIAL PURPOSE SHIPMENTS THAT
ARE NOT PART OF AN ONGOING COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.

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

ONLY THE ACTUAL QUANTITY IN THE SHIPMENT AND THE CORRECT CATEGORY WILL
BE CHARGED TO THE APPLICABLE RESTRAINT LEVEL.

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

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL MAKE AVAILABLE TO THE
GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA, UPON REQUEST, INFORMATION ON THE AMOUNTS
AND CATEGORIES INVOLVED FOR ALL ITEMS SUBJECT TO QUOTA ADMINISTERED
BY THE U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE.

THE COMPLETE NAME AND ADDRESS OF A COMPANY PERFORMING THE MAJOR
PRODUCTION STEPS IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF THE TEXTILE PRODUCT
COVERED BY THE VISA SHALL BE PROVIDED ON THE TEXTILE VISA DOCUMENT.

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 CODE
SPECIFIED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION
(ISO) (THE CODE FOR SRI LANKA IS "LK"), AND A SIX DIGIT SERIAL NUMBER
IDENTIFYING THE SHIPMENT; E.G. 0LK123456.

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), PART CATEGORY(S), MERGED CATEGORY(S),
QUANTITY(S) AND UNIT(S) OF QUANTITY OF THE SHIPMENT IN THE UNIT(S) OF
QUANTITY PROVIDED FOR 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 NUMBER (MID). THE MID SHALL BEGIN WITH "LK,"
FOLLOWED BY THE FIRST THREE CHARACTERS FROM EACH OF THE FIRST TWO
WORDS OF THE NAME OF THE MANUFACTURER, FOLLOWED BY THE LARGEST NUMBER
ON THE ADDRESS LINE UP TO THE FIRST FOUR DIGITS, FOLLOWED BY THREE
LETTERS FROM THE CITY NAME.

B. ENTRY OF A SHIPMENT SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED:

I. IF AN ELVIS TRANSMISSION HAS NOT BEEN RECEIVED FOR THE SHIPMENT
FROM SRI LANKA;

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 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 SRI LANKA IS REQUIRED BEFORE
A SHIPMENT THAT HAS BEEN DENIED ENTRY FOR ONE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES
DESCRIBED ABOVE WILL BE RELEASED.

D. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH, A VISA WAIVER MAY BE
ACCEPTED, AT THE DISCRETION OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, IN
LIEU OF AN ELVIS TRANSMISSION, IF THE SHIPMENT QUALIFIES AS A
ONE-TIME SPECIAL PURPOSE SHIPMENT THAT IS NOT PART OF AN ONGOING
COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.

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.

F. IF A SHIPMENT FROM SRI LANKA IS 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 IS NOT MADE, THE SHIPMENT WILL BE CHARGED TO THE CORRECT CATEGORY
LIMIT WHETHER OR NOT A REPLACEMENT VISA OR WAIVER IS PROVIDED OR A NO
ELVIS MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED.

G. THE U.S. CUSTOMS WILL PROVIDE THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA WITH A
REPORT ON VISA UTILIZATION WHICH IS ACCESSIBLE AT ANY TIME. THIS
REPORT WILL CONTAIN:

A. VISA NUMBER
B. CATEGORY NUMBER
C. UNIT OF MEASURE
D. QUANTITY CHARGED TO QUOTA
E. ENTRY NUMBER
F. ENTRY LINE NUMBER

SHIPMENTS NOT REQUIRING VISAS OR ELVIS TRANSMISSIONS

MERCHANDISE IMPORTED FOR THE PERSONAL USE OF THE IMPORTER AND NOT FOR
RESALE, REGARDLESS OF VALUE, AND PROPERLY MARKED COMMERCIAL SAMPLE
SHIPMENTS VALUED $800 OR LESS DO NOT REQUIRE A VISA OR AN ELVIS
TRANSMISSION FOR ENTRY AND SHALL NOT BE CHARGED TO AGREEMENT LEVELS.

OTHER PROVISIONS

A. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED FOR ABOVE, ANY SHIPMENT WHICH IS NOT ACCOMPANIED
BY A VALID AND CORRECT VISA AND ELVIS TRANSMISSION SHALL BE DENIED
ENTRY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES UNLESS THE GOVERNMENT OF
SRI LANKA AUTHORIZES THE ENTRY AND ANY CHARGES TO THE AGREEMENT
LEVELS.

B. AFTER A SIX-MONTH TEST PHASE IS COMPLETED, BOTH GOVERNMENTS WILL
CONDUCT A JOINT ASSESSMENT AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE
ELIMINATION OF THE VISA STAMP ON THE COMMERCIAL INVOICE.

C. EFFECTIVE ON JANUARY 1, 2000, NEITHER A VISA NOR AN ELVIS
TRANSMISSION WILL BE REQUIRED FOR PRODUCTS INTEGRATED IN THE SECOND
STAGE OF THE INTEGRATION OF TEXTILES AND CLOTHING INTOGATT 1994
FROM WTO MEMBER COUNTRIES (SEE DIRECTIVE DATED SEPTEMBER 3, 1998).
A VISA AND ELVIS TRANSMISSION WILL CONTINUE TO BE REQUIRED
FOR NON-INTEGRATED PRODUCTS.

D. THE VISA STAMP REMAINS UNCHANGED.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE ESTABLISHED MERGED CATEGORIES:

331/631
333/633
334/634
335/835
336/636/836
338/339
340/640
341/641
342/642/842
345/845
347/348/847
350/650
351/651
352/652
359-C/659-C
638/639/838
645/646
647/648

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE ESTABLISHED PART CATEGORIES:

359-C (COTTON COVERALLS AND OVERALLS)
359-O (OTHER COTTON APPAREL)
369-D (COTTON DISHTOWELS)
369-O (OTHER COTTON MANUFACTURES)
369-S (COTTON SHOP TOWELS)
659-C (MAN-MADE FIBER OVERALLS AND COVERALLS)
659-O (OTHER MAN-MADE FIBER APPAREL)

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS TELEX, CONTACT TERRIE
MOBLEY AT (202) 927-5385 OR ERIN RILEY AT (202) 927-0292 IN THE
QUOTA/VISA MANAGEMENT BRANCH.

/S/
JOYCE METZGER FOR
ELIZABETH G. DURANT