Changes in Procedures for the Insular Possessions Watch Program

This action amends the ITA regulations, which govern duty- exemption allocations and duty-refund entitlements for watch producers in the United States' insular possessions (the Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa) and the Northern Mariana Islands. The amendments modify procedures for completion and use of the ``Permit to Enter Watches and Watch Movements into the Customs Territory of the United States'' (Form ITA-340); make the technical changes required by the passage of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act in 1994; eliminate the mid-year report (Form ITA-321P); change the percentage creditable towards the duty- refund of wages for non-91/5 watch and watch movement repairs and raise one of the percentages in the formula for calculating the duty-refund; revise the total quantity and respective territorial shares of insular watches and watch movements which would be allowed to enter the United States free of duty; remove from the percentage of non-91/5 wages creditable toward the duty-refund reference to watches and watch movements which are ineligible for duty-free treatment due only to value-limit reasons; raise the maximum value of components for watches; and make other changes necessary to consolidate and simplify the regulations.