[Federal Register: September 25, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 186)]
[Notices]
[Page 49000-49002]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25se01-27]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
Export Trade Certificate of Review
ACTION: Notice of Issuance of an Export Trade Certificate of Review,
Application No. 01-00003.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade
Certificate of Review to Sun Valley Rice Co., LLC. (``Sun Valley''),
Arbuckle, California, effective September 19, 2001. This notice
summarizes the conduct for which certification has been granted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vanessa M. Bachman, Acting Director,
Office of Export Trading Company Affairs, International Trade
Administration, 202-482-5131 (this is not a toll-free number) or by E-
mail at oetca@ita.doc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of the Export Trading Company Act
of 1982 (15 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce
to issue Export Trade Certificates of Review. The regulations
implementing Title III are found at 15 CFR part 325 (2000).
The Office of Export Trading Company Affairs (``OETCA'') is issuing
this notice pursuant to 15 CFR 325.6(b), which requires the Department
of Commerce to publish a summary of a Certificate in the Federal
Register. Under Section 305(a) of the Act and 15 CFR 325.11(a), any
person aggrieved by the Secretary's determination may, within 30 days
of the date of this notice, bring an action in any appropriate district
court of the United States to set aside the determination on the ground
that the determination is erroneous.
DESCRIPTION OF CERTIFIED CONDUCT
I. Export Trade
1. Products
California rice and rice products (rough rice, brown rice, milled,
under milled, or unpolished rice, coated rice, oiled rice, enriched
rice, rice bran, rice polish, head rice, broken rice, second head rice,
brewers rice, screenings, rice flour, rice hulls).
2. Services
All services related to the export of Products.
[[Page 49001]]
3. Technology Rights
All intellectual property rights associated with Products or
Services, including, but not limited to: patents, trademarks, services
marks, trade names, copyrights, neighboring (related) rights, trade
secrets, know-how, and sui-generis forms of protection for databases
and computer programs.
4. Export Trade Facilitation Services (as They Relate to the Export of
Products)
Export Trade Facilitation Services, including, but not limited to:
Consulting and trade strategy, arranging and coordinating delivery of
Products to port of export; arranging for inland and/or ocean
transportation; allocating Products to vessel; arranging for storage
space at port; arranging for warehousing, stevedoring, wharfage,
handling, inspection, fumigation, freight forwarding; insurance and
financing; documentation and services related to compliance with
customs' requirements; sales and marketing; export brokerage; foreign
marketing and analysis; foreign market development; overseas
advertising and promotion; Products research and design based upon
foreign buyer and consumer preferences; inspection and quality control;
shipping and export management; export licensing; provisions of
overseas sales and distribution facilities and overseas sales staff;
legal; accounting and tax assistance; development and application of
management information systems; trade show exhibitions; professional
services in the area of government relations and assistance with
federal and state export assistance programs (e.g., Export Enhancement
and Market Promotion programs); joint ventures; invoicing(billing)
foreign buyers; collecting (letters of credit and other financial
instruments) payment for Products; and arranging for payment of
applicable commissions and fees.
II. Export Markets
The Export Markets include all parts of the world except the United
States (the fifty states of the United States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American
Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands).
III. Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation
To engage in Export Trade in the Export Markets, The Sun Valley
Rice Company, LLC, on a transaction-by-transaction basis, may:
1. Exchange information with Suppliers or other entities
individually regarding availability of and prices for Products for
export, and inventories and near-term production and delivery schedules
for purposes of determining the availability of Products for purchase
and export and coordinating export of Products with its distributors
and customers in the Export Markets;
2. Confer with Suppliers, on a one-to-one basis, about the
possibility of offers to and purchases by Sun Valley for a specific
export sales opportunity;
3. Solicit Suppliers to offer/sell Products through the certified
activities of Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC;
4. Solicit orders from potential foreign distributors and
purchasers for sale of Products in Export Markets;
5. Prepare and submit offers of Products to potential foreign
distributors, purchasers, and other entities for sale in Export
Markets;
6. Establish the price and quantity of Products for sale in Export
Markets and set other terms for any export sale;
7. Negotiate and enter into agreements for sale of products in
Export Markets;
8. Enter into agreements to purchase Products from one or more
Suppliers to fulfill specific sale obligations, which may include
agreements whereby Suppliers agree to deal exclusively with Sun Valley
Rice Company, LLC, for sale of the Products in a particular Export
Market or Markets and/or whereby Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, agrees
to purchase exclusively any particular Supplier's (or Suppliers')
Products for resale in the Export Market;
9. Assign sales of Products to, and/or divide export orders among,
Suppliers or other persons based on orders, export markets,
territories, customers, or any other basis Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC
deems fit;
10. Broker and take title to the Products;
11. Enter into agreements with one or more Export Trade
Intermediaries or export trade purchasers for the purchase of Products,
which may be agreements whereby Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, agrees to
deal exclusively with an entity or customer in a particular Export
Market, and/or by which that customer or intermediary agrees to deal
exclusively with Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC and/or agrees not to
purchase from Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC's, competitors in any Export
Market, unless so authorized;
12. Apply for and utilize government export assistance and
incentive programs;
13. Participate in the bidding process and award of tender proceeds
under ``The Association for the Administration of Rice Quotas, Inc.''
(part of the US/EU Enlargement Agreement) as may be amended or
succeeded providing for EU rice tarriff-rate quotas signed on July 22,
1996;
14. Refuse to purchase Products or provide information regarding
export sales of Products to any Supplier(s) or other entities for any
reason Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, deems fit;
15. Refuse to sell Products, to quote prices of Products, to
provide information regarding Products, or to market or to sell
Products to any customers or distributors in the Export Markets, or in
any countries or geographic areas in the Export Markets; and
16. Meet with Suppliers or other entities periodically to discuss
general matters specific to the activities approved in this certificate
(not related to price and supply arrangements between Applicant and the
individual Suppliers) such as relevant facts concerning the Export
Markets (e.g., demand conditions, transportation costs and prices in
the export markets), or the possibility of joint marketing, bidding or
selling arrangements in the Export Markets.
IV. Definitions
``Supplier'' means a person that produces, provides, or sells
Products and/or Services.
``Export Intermediary'' means a person who acts as distributor,
sales representative, sales or marketing agent, or broker, or who
performs similar functions including or arranging for the provision of
Export Trade Facilitation Services.
V. Terms and Conditions of Certificate
1. In engaging in the above Export Trade Activities and Methods of
Operation, The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, shall not intentionally
disclose, directly or indirectly, to any Supplier, any information
about any other Supplier's costs, production, capacity, inventories,
domestic prices, domestic sales, terms of domestic marketing or sales,
or U.S. business plans, strategies, or methods that is not already
generally available to the trade or public.
2. The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, will comply with requests made
by the Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the Secretary or the Attorney
General for information or documents relevant to conduct under the
Certificate. The Secretary of Commerce will request such information or
documents when either the Attorney General or the Secretary believes
that the information or documents are required to determine that the
Export Trade and/or the Export Trade Activities and Methods of
[[Page 49002]]
Operation of a person protected by this Certificate of Review continue
to comply with the standards of section 303(a) of the Act.
VI. Protection Provided by Certificate
This Certificate protects The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, its
directors, officers, and employees acting on its behalf, from private
treble damage actions and government criminal and civil suits under
U.S. federal and state antitrust laws for the export conduct specified
in the Certificate and carried out during its effective period in
compliance with its terms and conditions. A copy of this certificate
will be kept in the International Trade Administration's Freedom of
Information Records Inspection facility Room 4102, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20230.
Dated: September 20, 2001.
Vanessa M. Bachman,
Acting Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 01-23965 Filed 9-24-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P