[Federal Register: January 10, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 7)]
[Notices]
[Page 1441-1442]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10ja03-28]
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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. 02-00003.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade
Certificate of Review to Corn Refiners Association (``CRA''). This
notice summarizes the conduct for which certification has been granted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey C. Anspacher, Director, Office
of Export Trading Company Affairs, International Trade Administration,
by telephone at (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. sections 4001-21) authorizes the Secretary of
Commerce to issue Export Trade Certificates of Review. The regulations
implementing title III are found at 15 CFR part 325 (2001). 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 the 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
Export Trade
High fructose corn syrup (``HFCS'') in the following two forms: 42
percent fructose and 55 percent fructose and enriched HFCS (greater
than 55 percent fructose).
Export Markets
HFCS for which tariff-rate quota (TRQ) rights are allocated will be
exported only to Mexico.
Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation
Purpose
The CRA will manage the system as set forth below for allocating
rights to ship under tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) permitting duty-free
entry of U.S. HFCS into Mexico.
The CRA shall permit any producer of HFCS in the United States to
become a member of the association for purposes of receiving TRQ rights
under this system and shall seek an amendment of this Certificate to
make such a producer a member under this Certificate.
TRQ Administrator
The CRA will contract with an independent third-party administrator
who will bear responsibility for administering the TRQ System, subject
to general oversight and supervision by the Board of Directors of the
CRA. The administrator may not be otherwise related to the CRA or any
member or in any way engaged in the production, distribution or sale of
HFCS.
TRQ System
The administrator shall allocate TRQ rights based on the share each
member's U.S. HFCS production capacity represents of total U.S. HFCS
production capacity. The administrator may advise each member
individually of the quantity of TRQ rights allocated to that member. In
accordance with those allocations, the administrator shall, upon the
request of a member, issue to the member evidence of TRQ rights to ship
a specified quantity of U.S. HFCS duty-free to Mexico up to the
outstanding total of the member's allocation.
Evidence of TRQ rights issued by the administrator shall be freely
transferable. Transfers of TRQ rights are subject to the normal
application of the antitrust laws.
Confidential Information
Each member may provide to the administrator information regarding
its capacity to produce HFCS in the United States for the purpose of
calculating the member's allocation of TRQ rights.
Any non-public, company-specific business information or data
submitted by an applicant for membership, by a member, or by any other
person in connection with the TRQ System shall be marked
``confidential'' and submitted to the administrator, who shall maintain
its confidentiality. The administrator shall not disclose such
confidential information to any member other than the submitter, or to
any officers, agents, or employees of any member other than the
submitter, and shall not disclose such confidential information to any
other person except to another neutral third party as necessary to make
the determination for which the information was submitted, to allocate
TRQ quantities, or in connection with reports to the U.S. Department of
Commerce as required by the Certificate or the arbitration of a
dispute.
Cooperation with the U.S. and Mexican Governments
The CRA will provide to the U.S. Government and the Government of
Mexico whatever information and consultations may be useful in order to
facilitate cooperation between the governments concerning the
implementation and operation of the TRQ System. Furthermore, directly
or through the U.S. Government, the CRA will endeavor to accommodate
any information requests from the Government of Mexico (while
protecting confidential information entrusted to the administrator),
and will consult with the Government of Mexico as appropriate. All such
information and consultations shall be subject to the provision on
Confidential Information (above) and the Terms and Conditions (below).
Definition
Neutral third-party, as used in this Certificate of Review, means a
party not related to CRA or any member and who is not engaged in the
production, distribution or sale of HFCS.
[[Page 1442]]
Members (Within the Meaning of Section 325.(1) of the Regulations)
Members (in addition to the CRA): A.E. Staley Manufacturing
Company, Decatur, Illinois (subsidiary of Tate & Lyle plc, London,
United Kingdom); Archer Daniels Midland Company, Decatur, Illinois;
Cargill, Incorporated, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Corn Products
International, Inc., Westchester, Illinois; National Starch and
Chemical Company, Bridgewater, New Jersey (subsidiary of ICI plc,
London, United Kingdom); Penford Corporation, Bellevue, Washington; and
Roquette America, Inc., Keokuk, Iowa (subsidiary of Roquette
Fr[egrave]res, Lestrem, France).
Protection Provided by Certificate
This Certificate protects the CRA, its members, and directors,
officers, and employees acting on behalf of the CRA and its members
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.
Terms and Conditions of Certificate
1. In engaging in export trade activities and methods of operation,
neither CRA, any member, the administrator, nor any neutral third-party
shall intentionally disclose, directly or indirectly, to any member
(including parent companies, subsidiaries, or other entities related to
any member) any information regarding any other member's costs,
production, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, domestic
customers, capacity to produce HFCS for domestic sale, domestic orders,
terms of domestic marketing or sale, or U.S. business plans,
strategies, or methods, unless such information is already generally
available to the trade or public.
2. CRA and its members 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 of Commerce
believes that the information or documents are required to determine
that the export trade, export trade activities and methods of operation
of a person protected by this Certificate of Review continue to comply
with the standards of section 303(a) of the Act.
Effective Period of Certificate
This Certificate continues in effect from the effective date
indicated below until it is relinquished, modified, or revoked as
provided in the Act and the regulations.
Other Conduct
Nothing in this Certificate prohibits the CRA and its members from
engaging in conduct not specified in this Certificate, but such conduct
is subject to the normal application of the antitrust laws.
Disclaimer
The issuance of this Certificate of Review to CRA by the Secretary
of Commerce with the concurrence of the Attorney General under the
provisions of the Act does not constitute, explicitly or implicitly, an
endorsement or opinion by the Secretary of Commerce or by the Attorney
General concerning either (a) the viability or quality of the business
plans of CRA or its members or (b) the legality of such business plans
of CRA or its members under the laws of the United States (other than
as provided in the Act) or under the laws of any foreign country.
The application of this Certificate to conduct in export trade
where the United States Government is the buyer or where the United
States Government bears more than half the cost of the transaction is
subject to the limitations set forth in section V.(D.) of the
``Guidelines for the Issuance of Export Trade Certificates of Review
(Second Edition),'' 50 FR 1786 (January 11, 1985).
In accordance with the authority granted under the Act and the
Regulations, this Certificate of Review is hereby issued to the Corn
Refiners Association, Inc.
The effective date of the Certificate is December 30, 2002. 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: December 30, 2002.
Jeffrey C. Anspacher,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-451 Filed 1-9-03; 8:45 am]