Ukraine Visa Arrangement Concerning Textiles And Textile Articles

VISA ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF UKRAINE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONCERNING TEXTILES AND TEXTILE ARTICLES

1. DEFINITIONS:

A. For the purpose of this arrangement, the term "textiles" means textiles and textile products of cotton, wool and man-made fibers, other vegetable fibers, blends of any of the foregoing fibers and blends containing silk, but does not include garments which contain 70 percent or more silk by weight (unless they also contain over 17 percent by weight wool), or products other than garments which contain 85 percent or more silk by weight.

B. The term "Category" signifies a class of textiles or textile products which may be subject to quota restriction. The term "category" includes part categories and merged categories as established in the bilateral agreement.

C. A "visa" is a stamp issued by the Government of the country of origin of the textile exported to the United States, or its representative, which describes the shipment, certifies the country of origin, and authorizes the shipment to be charged against any applicable quota.

2. VISA REQUIREMENTS:

A. The Government of Ukraine shall issue a visa for each shipment of textiles, as defined in section one above, produced or manufactured in Ukraine and exported to the United States regardless of value, in categories under restraint. The visa shall be presented to the U.S. Customs Service before entry for consumption, or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption, into the Customs territory of the United States (the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico).

B. Should additional categories, merged categories or part categories be added to the bilateral agreement or become subject to import quotas the entire category or categories shall be automatically included in the coverage of the visa arrangement. Merchandise exported on or after the date the category(s) is added to the agreement or becomes subject to import quotas shall require a visa.

C. A shipment shall be visaed by the stamping of the original circular visa in blue ink on the front of the original commercial invoice. The original visa shall not be stamped on duplicate copies of the invoice. The original of the 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.

D. Each visa stamp 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 Ukraine is "UA"), and a six digit numeric serial number identifying the shipments; E.G., 7UA123456.

II. The date of issuance: The date of issuance shall be the day, month and the year on which the visa was issued.

III. The signature of the issuing official and printed name of the issuing official: The signature shall be that of the issuing official of the Government of Ukraine. Also on the visa shall be the printed name of that same official.

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. Department of Commerce Correlation and the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedules (HTS) shall be reported in the spaces provided within the visa stamp, (e.g., "Cat. 434 - 210 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 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". If, however, a merged quota category such as 340/640 has a quota sublimit on category 340, then there must be a "cat 340" visa for the shipment if it includes category 340.

E. If the quantity indicated on the visa is less than that of the shipment, entry shall not be permitted.

F. 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.

G. Entry will not be permitted, except as noted in paragraph 2.K., if the shipment does not have a visa, or if the visa number, date of issuance, signature, printed name of signer, category, quantity or units of quantity are missing, incorrect, illegible or have been crossed out or altered in any way.

H. The complete name and address of a company actually involved in the manufacturing process of the textile product covered by the visa shall be provided on the textile visa document.

I. The categories and quantities shall be those determined by the U.S. Customs Service.

J. If a visa is not acceptable then a new correct visa or a visa waiver must be presented to the U.S. Customs Service before any portion of the shipment will be released. A visa waiver may be issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, at the request of the Government of Ukraine. A visa waiver only waives the requirement to present a visa at entry, it does not waive the quota requirements.

K. 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.

L. If a shipment from Ukraine 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 visa waiver is provided.

M. The Government of the United States of America will make available to the Government of Ukraine upon request, information on the amounts and categories involved in the visa waiver process for all items subject to quota administered by the U.S. Customs Service including items covered in paragraph 2(L) above.

N. The date of export is the actual date the merchandise finally leaves the country of origin. For merchandise exported by vessel, this is the day on which the carrier departs the last port in the country of origin.

0. The Government of Ukraine shall provide the Government of the United States with three original, clear, reproducible, copies of the visa stamp which shall be the stamp designated for use throughout the entire period the visa arrangement is in effect, and three originals of the signatures of the officials authorized to sign visas. The stamp, and any subsequent changes thereto, must be approved by the Government of the United States. The Government of Ukraine shall notify the Government of the United States at least forty-five days prior to a change in officials authorized to sign the visa.

P. Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and not for resale, regardless of value, and properly marked commercial sample shipments valued at US $250 or less do not require a visa for entry and shall not be charged to agreement levels. All other commercial shipments of the above mentioned require a visa for entry.

Q. Either Government may terminate, in whole or in part, this administrative arrangement by giving ninety days written notice to the other.

In witness whereof the undersigned being duly authorized by their respective governments, have signed this agreement.

Done at Washington, in duplicate this 14th day of May 1997 in the English and Ukrainian languages, each text being equally authentic.

Ambassador Rita D. Hayes

For the Government of the United States

Andriy I. Goncharuk, Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade

For the Government of Ukraine

This link will send you to the US Department of Commerce Office of Textiles and Apparel's agreements page for current quota restraints, weekly performance reports, a contact point for inquiries, and other updated information.

Textiles and Apparel Agreements Link