Letters in support of General Note 3(a) forwarded to Congress

Letters and Resolutions in support of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands government’s attempt to amend General Note 3(a) have been received and forwarded to U.S. Congressional Committees by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.

All the correspondence, addressed directly to the governor, will be used to illustrate business sector, community and private support for the federal congressional amendment.

The Saipan garment industry, which has been decimated by Asian price competition and the recent changes in practice for quota restrictions placed on foreign member nations of the World Trade Organization, stated a change from 50 percent to 30 percent for the local value-added requirement would alleviate its current inability to secure factory orders as easily as in earlier years.

The industry had sales totals of near $1 billion in 1999, 2000 and 2001, approximately $800 million in 2002, 2003, and 2004, $700 million in 2005 and 2006 sales totals should reach only $550 million this year.

The CNMI House and Senate passed a House Joint Resolution, H.J.R. 15-2, expressing support for the passage of the U.S. Senate introduced S. 1954 (“Insular Possessions Act of 2005”) introduced by Senator Larry Craig and Senator Daniel Akaka of the 109th U.S. Congress.

Letters in support of the value-added amendment under General Note 3(a) were forwarded from Robert Jones, chairman of the Strategic Economic Development Council (SEDC), Charles Cepeda, president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Lynn Knight, chairwoman of the Hotel Association of the N. Mariana Islands (HANMI), Garment Oversight Board chairman Timothy Bellas, CNMI Contractors Association president Emeritus Richard Szumeil, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) commander Barry Hirshbein, the Saipan Navy League, Marianas Visitors Authority acting managing director Tess Castro, and Bishop Tomas A. Camacho of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.

Every letter stated support for amending the special tariff privilege given to the CNMI in an attempt to bolster a sagging CNMI economy, while acknowledging positive changes in the industry regarding human rights issues, labor compliance and community involvement.

The Garment Oversight Board, established under a U.S. District Court entered settlement agreement of class action lawsuits in 2003, dispelled much misrepresentation recently printed in Ms. Magazine, as well as supported the amendment to save many of the industry jobs of workers the Garment Oversight Board was established to protect. (PR)