Apparel Manufacturers Questionnaires

INSTRUCTION BOOKLET FOR
APPAREL MANUFACTURERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE
PURCHASES OF CERTAIN DENIM FROM BENEFICIARY
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

GENERAL INFORMATION, INSTRUCTIONS, AND
DEFINITIONS
Investigation Nos. AGOA-002 and AGOA-003

Further information
Contacts: For questions or further information, please contact Andrea Boron
(001 202-205-3433; [email protected]) or Kimberlie Freund (001
202-708-5402; [email protected]) of the Commission’s Office of
Industries.
Additional copies of the questionnaire: For additional copies of the
questionnaire and background information on the investigations, you may
contact Andrea Boron or Kimberlie Freund, use photocopies of this form, or
download a copy from the Commission’s website at
http://www.usitc.gov/ind_econ_ana/research_ana/Ongoing_Inv/index.htm.
Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information on this matter by contacting
the Commission’s TDD terminal on 001 202-205-1810.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Background.—On December 20, 2006, the President signed into law amendments to section 112 of the
African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721) (AGOA), included in Public Law 109-432, that
require the Commission to make certain determinations relating to the commercial availability of regional
fabric or yarn for use in lesser developed beneficiary (LDB) sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, and the
use of such fabric that is determined to be available. Section 112(c)(2)(C) of AGOA deemed denim articles
provided for in subheading 5209.42.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to be
available in commercial quantities in the amount of 30 million square meter equivalents during the period
October 1, 2006 - September 30, 2007 (fiscal year 2007). In September 2007, the Commission determined,
pursuant to section 112(c)(2)(B)(ii), that such denim fabric will be available in commercial quantities
during fiscal year 2008, and will be available in the amount of 21,303,613 square meter equivalents. The
Commission transmitted its determination and report in that investigation to the President on September 25,
2007 (Commission investigation No. AGOA-07-001, now re-designated as investigation No. AGOA-001,
Commercial Availability of Fabric & Yarns in AGOA Countries: Certain Denim, Commission Publication
3950, September 2007), available at http://hotdocs.usitc.gov/docs/pubs/agoa/pub3950.pdf.
Section 112(c)(2)(B)(iii) of AGOA now requires the Commission to determine the extent to which the
denim fabric deemed to be available during fiscal year 2007 for use in LDB SSA countries was used in the
production of apparel articles receiving preferential treatment under AGOA that entered the United States
during fiscal year 2007. The Commission is also required to determine whether the subject denim fabric
will be available in commercial quantities during fiscal year 2009 for use by LDB SSA countries in the
production of apparel articles receiving preferential treatment under AGOA, and, if so, the quantity that will
be so available. This questionnaire will be used to gather information to help the Commission make the
required determinations regarding the use and availability of the subject denim fabric.
Due date of questionnaire.—Return the completed questionnaire to the United States International Trade
Commission by no later than March 20, 2008.
Confidentiality.—The commercial and financial data furnished in response to this questionnaire that reveal
the individual operations of your firm will be treated as confidential business information by the
Commission to the extent that such data are not otherwise available to the public; such data will not be
published in a manner that will reveal the individual operations of your firm and will not be disclosed except
as may be required by law. Section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 provides that the Commission may not
release information that qualifies as confidential business information (under Commission Rule 201.6 (19
CFR ' 201.6)) unless the party submitting the confidential business information had notice, at the time of
submission, that such information would be released by the Commission, or such party subsequently
consents to the release of the information. The Commission may include some or all of the confidential
business information submitted in the course of these investigations in the reports it sends to the U.S.
Trade Representative (USTR) and the President. Information submitted in this questionnaire response
and throughout these investigations may be used by the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel
who are acting in the capacity of Commission employees, for developing or maintaining the records of this
investigation or related proceedings for which this information is submitted, or in internal audits and
investigations relating to the programs and operations of the Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Appendix
3.
Following transmittal of its report to the USTR and the President, the Commission intends to prepare a
public version of its report. Any confidential business information received by the Commission in these
investigations and used in preparing the confidential version of the reports will not be published in the
public version in a manner that would reveal the operations of the firm supplying the information. Data
your firm submits in response to the Commission’s questionnaire may be aggregated with data submitted

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by other firms, but such aggregated data will not be published in a manner that would reveal the individual
operations of your firm.
INSTRUCTIONS
Verification.—The information submitted in the enclosed questionnaire is subject to verification and
follow-up by the Commission staff. To facilitate possible verification of data, please keep all supporting
documents used in the preparation of the questionnaire response.
Answer all questions.—Do not leave any question or section blank unless a questionnaire expressly directs
you to skip over certain questions or sections. If the answer to any question is Anone,@ write Anone.@ If
information is not readily available from your records in exactly the form requested, furnish
carefully prepared estimates—designated as such by the letter AE@—and explain the basis of your
estimates. Answers to questions and any necessary comments or explanations should be supplied in the
space provided or on separate sheets attached to the appropriate page of the questionnaire(s). If your firm
is completing more than one questionnaire in connection with this investigation (i.e., a producers’,
importers’, and/or purchasers’ questionnaire), you need not respond to duplicated questions in the
questionnaires.
Filing instructions.—Questionnaires may be filed either electronically or in paper form.

OPTIONS FOR SUBMITTING THE QUESTIONNAIRES ELECTRONICALLY
The attached questionnaire is in “fillable” MS Word form format. It is also available at
http://www.usitc.gov/ind_econ_ana/research_ana/Ongoing_Inv/index.htm. You may
complete the questionnaire electronically, print it out, and submit it in paper form
(described below), or you may submit it electronically through one of the following means:
• Compact disc (CD).—Copy your questionnaire onto a CD, include a signed certification page (page 1)
(either in paper form or scanned PDF copied onto CD), and send to:
United States International Trade Commission
Office of Industries, Room 513
500 E Street, SW
Washington, DC 20436
USA
It is strongly recommended that you use an express mail service. U.S. mail sent to government offices
undergoes additional processing which not only results in substantial delays in delivery but may also
damage CDs.
• E-mail.—E-mail your questionnaire to [email protected] or [email protected]; include
in the e-mail subject line: CBI Questionnaire, INV. NO. AGOA-002/003. Please note that submitting
your questionnaire by e-mail may subject your firm’s confidential business information to transmission
over an unsecure environment and to possible disclosure. If you choose this option, the Commission warns
you that any risk involving possible disclosure of such information is assumed by the submitter and not by
the Commission.
Note: If you choose to submit this questionnaire electronically, please also include a
scanned PDF of the signed certification page (page 1). Your questionnaire will not be
accepted into the record without a signed certification page.

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OPTIONS FOR FILING IN PAPER FORM
• Express mail service/Courier.—Send to the address above.
• Fax.—Fax to 001 202 205 2150.
• U.S. mail.—Mail to the address above. This option is not recommended. U.S. mail sent to government
offices undergoes additional processing to screen for hazardous materials; this additional processing
results in substantial delays in delivery.

DEFINITIONS
Subject denim.—The subject denim fabric is classified in subheading 5209.42.00 of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) (2007) (Rev. 1). The subject denim is made of a woven fabric
containing 85 percent or more by weight of cotton, and is known as a bottom weight fabric weighing more
than 200 grams per square meter. It is constructed of a 3-thread or 4-thread twill, including broken twill,1
weave. The fabric is woven of yarns of different colors and is warp-faced, meaning the warp yarns, or those
yarns that run vertically in the construction of a fabric, make up the appearance of the outside of the fabric.
The warp yarns are all the same color and the filling yarns (those yarns that run horizontally in a woven
fabric) may be unbleached, bleached, dyed gray, or dyed a lighter shade of color than the warp yarns. Thus
the color of the warp yarns largely determines the color of the fabric; blue denim is blue because the warp
yarns are dyed blue. Twill woven fabric is characterized by the appearance of a diagonal line running from
the bottom left to the top right of the fabric or vice versa.
Subject Denim Apparel.—Ready to wear apparel made of the subject denim fabric, as defined above.
Firm.—An individual proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation (including any
subsidiary corporation), business trust, cooperative, trustee in bankruptcy, or receiver under decree of any
court.
Related firm.—A firm that your firm solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled; a firm that
solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled your firm; and/or a firm that was solely or jointly
owned, managed, or otherwise controlled by a firm that also solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise
controlled your firm.
Establishment.—Each facility of a firm involved in the production, importation, and/or purchase of the
subject denim (as defined above), including auxiliary facilities operated in conjunction with (whether or not
physically separate from) such facilities.
Beneficiary SSA countries.— Countries eligible for apparel benefits under the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA), including: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad,
Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

1 A 3-thread or 4-thread, warp-faced, twill weave is constructed by two warp yarns (for a 3-thread twill) and
three warp yarns (for a 4-thread twill) passing over one filling yarn and progressing by one to the right or the left, thus
creating the diagonal line prevalent in denim fabric. A broken twill is a type of twill fabric characterized by a zig-zag
effect, such as herringbone, where the diagonal line does not run the entire length of the fabric.

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Lesser developed beneficiary SSA countries (LDB SSA countries).— Lesser developed countries eligible
for apparel benefits under AGOA, including: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde,
Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Purchases.—Purchases from all sources, including direct imports from foreign producers.
Purchase quantities.—Quantities reported should be net of returns.

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