[Federal Register: September 25, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 186)]
[Notices]
[Page 55372-55374]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25se03-25]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
Export Trade Certificate of Review
ACTION: Notice of application.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Export Trading Company Affairs (``OETCA''),
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, has
received an application for an Export Trade Certificate of Review. This
notice summarizes the conduct for which certification is sought and
requests comments relevant to whether the Certificate should be issued.
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 E-mail at oetca@ita.doc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of the Export Trading Company Act
of 1982 (15 U.S.C. 4001-21) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to
issue Export Trade Certificates of Review. A Certificate of Review
protects the holder and the members identified in the Certificate from
state and federal government antitrust actions and from private, treble
damage antitrust actions for the export conduct specified in the
Certificate and carried out in compliance with its terms and
conditions. Section 302(b)(1) of the Act and 15 CFR 325.6(a) require
the Secretary to publish a notice in the Federal Register, identifying
the applicant and summarizing its proposed export conduct.
Request for Public Comments
Interested parties may submit written comments relevant to the
determination whether a Certificate should be issued. If the comments
include any privileged or confidential business information, it must be
clearly marked and a nonconfidential version of the comments
(identified as such) should be included. Any comments not marked
privileged or confidential business information will be deemed to be
nonconfidential. An original and five copies, plus two copies of the
nonconfidential version, should be submitted no later than 20 days
after the date of this notice to: Office of Export Trading Company
Affairs, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce,
Room 1104H, Washington, DC 20230, or transmit by E-mail at oetca@ita.doc.gov. Information submitted by any person is exempt from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).
However, nonconfidential versions of the comments will be made
available to the applicant if necessary for determining whether or not
to issue the Certificate. Comments should refer to this application as
``Export Trade Certificate of Review, application number 03-00006.'' A
summary of the application follows.
[[Page 55373]]
Summary of the Application
Applicant: Western Fruit Exporters, L.L.C. (``WFE''), 105 South
18th Street, Suite 205, Yakima, Washington 98901, Contact:
Donald K. Franklin, Attorney, Telephone: (206) 777-7421.
Application No.: 03-00006.
Date Deemed Submitted: September 8, 2003.
WFE is a Limited Liability Company formed under the laws of the
State of Washington. Members (in addition to applicant): Eola Cherry
Company, Inc., Gervais, OR; Diana Fruit Co., Inc., Santa Clara, CA;
Johnson Foods Co., Inc., Sunnyside, WA; and Oregon Cherry Growers,
Inc., Salem, OR.
WFE seeks a Certificate to cover the following specific Export
Trade, Export Markets, and Export Trade Activities and Methods of
Operations.
I. Export Trade
1. Products
Brine sweet cherries in any stage of processing and finished
maraschino cherry products in any stage of packaging.
2. Services
Inspection, quality control, marketing and promotional services.
3. Technology Rights
Proprietary rights to all technology associated with Products or
Services, including, but not limited to: Patents, trademarks, service
marks, trade names, copyrights, neighboring (related) rights, trade
secrets, know-how, and sui generic forms of protection for databases
and computer programs.
4. Export Trade Facilitation Services (as they relate to the Export of
Products, Services and Technology Rights)
All export trade-related facilitation services, including, but not
limited to: Consulting and trade strategy; sales and marketing; export
brokerage; foreign marketing research; foreign market development;
overseas advertising and promotion; product research and design, based
on foreign buyer and consumer preferences; communication and processing
of export orders; inspection and quality control; transportation;
freight forwarding and trade documentation; insurance; billing of
foreign buyers; collection (letters of credit and other financial
instruments); provision of overseas sales and distribution facilities
and overseas sales staff, legal, accounting and tax assistance;
management information systems development and application; assistance
and administration related to participation in government export
assistance programs.
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
In connection with the promotion and sale of Members' Products,
Services, and/or Technology Rights into the Export Markets, WFE and/or
one or more of Members may:
1. Design and execute foreign marketing strategies for Export
Markets;
2. Prepare joint bids, establish export prices for Members'
Products and Services, and establish terms of sale in Export Markets in
connection with potential or actual bona fide opportunities;
3. Grant sales and distribution rights for the Products, whether or
not exclusive, into designated Export Markets to foreign agents or
importers (``exclusive'' meaning that WFE and Member may agree not to
sell the Products into the designated Export Markets through any other
foreign distributor, and that the foreign distributor may agree to
represent only WFE and/or Member in the Export Markets and none of its
competitors);
4. Design, develop and market generic corporate labels for use in
Export Markets;
5. Engage in joint promotional activities directly targeted at
developing Export Markets, such as: arranging trade shows and marketing
trips; providing advertising services; providing brochures and industry
newsletters; providing product, service, and industry information;
conducting international market and product research; and procuring,
international marketing, advertising, and promotional services;
6. Share the cost of joint promotional activities among the
Members;
7. Conduct product and packaging research and development
exclusively for export in order to meet foreign regulatory
requirements, foreign buyer specifications, and foreign consumer
preferences;
8. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and other
foreign persons regarding non-tariff trade barriers in Export Markets
such as packaging requirements, and providing specialized packing
operations and other quality control procedures to be followed by WFE
and Member in the export of Products into the Export Markets;
9. Assist each other in maintaining the quality standards necessary
to be successful in Export Markets;
10. Provide Export Trade Facilitation Services with respect to
Products, Services and Technology (including such items as commodity
fumigation, refrigeration and storage techniques, and other quality
control procedures to be followed in the export of Products in the
Export Markets);
11. Advise and cooperate with agencies of the United States
Government in establishing procedures regulating the export of the
Members' Products, Services and/or Technology Rights in the Export
Markets;
12. Negotiate and enter into purchase agreements with buyers in
Export Markets regarding export prices, quantities, type and quality of
Products, time periods, and the terms and conditions of sale;
13. Broker or take title to Products intended for Export Markets;
14. Purchase Products from non-Member to fulfill specific sales
obligations, provided that WFE and/or Member shall make such purchases
only on a transaction-by-transaction basis and when the Members are
unable to supply, in a timely manner, the requisite Products at a price
competitive under the circumstances;
15. Solicit non-Member producers to become Members;
16. Communicate and process export orders;
17. Procure, negotiate, contract, and administer transportation
services for Products in the course of export, including overseas
freight transportation, inland freight transportation from the packing
house to the U.S. port of embarkment, leasing of transportation
equipment and facilities, storing and warehousing, stevedoring,
wharfage and handling, insurance, and freight forwarder services;
18. Arrange for trade documentation and services, customs
clearance, financial instruments, and foreign exchange;
19. Arrange financing through private financial entities,
government financial assistance programs and other arrangements;
20. Negotiate freight rate contracts with individual carriers and
carrier conferences, either directly or indirectly through shippers
associations and/or freight forwarders;
21. Bill and collect monies from foreign buyers; and arrange for or
provide accounting, tax, legal and consulting services in relation to
Export
[[Page 55374]]
Trade Activities and Methods of Operation;
22. Enter into exclusive agreements with non-Members to provide
Export Trade Services and Export Trade Facilitation Services;
23. Open and operate overseas sales and distribution offices and
companies to facilitate the sales and distribution of Products in the
Export markets;
24. Apply for and utilize applicable export assistance and
incentive programs available within governmental sectors;
25. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and other
foreign persons to develop counter-trade arrangements, provided that
this Certificate does not protect any conduct related to the sale of
goods in the United States that are imported as part of any counter-
trade transactions;
26. Refuse to deal with or provide quotations to other Export
Intermediaries for sales of Members' Products into Export Markets;
27. Require common marking and identification of Members' Products
sold in Export Markets; and
28. Exchange information as necessary to carry out Export Trade
Activities and Methods of Operation including:
(a) Information about sales, marketing efforts, and sales
strategies in Export Markets, including pricing; projected demand in
Export Markets for Products; customary terms of sale; and foreign buyer
and consumer product specifications;
(b) Information about the price, quality, quantity, source and
delivery dates of Products available from WFE and its Members for
export;
(c) Information about terms and conditions of contracts for sales
in Export Markets to be considered and/or bid on by WFE and/or Members;
(d) Information about joint bidding opportunities;
(e) Information about methods by which export sales are to be
allocated among WFE and/or Members;
(f) Information about expenses specific to exporting to and within
Export Markets, including transportation, transshipments, inter-modal
shipments, insurance, inland freight to port, port storage,
commissions, export sales, documentation, financing and customs duties
or taxes;
(a) Information about U.S. and foreign legislation and regulations,
including federal marketing order programs that may affect sales to
Export Markets;
(h) Information about WFE's or Members' export operations,
including sales and distribution networks established by WFE or Members
in Export Markets, and prior export sales by Members, including export
price information; and
(i) Information about claims or bad debts by WFE's or Members'
customers in Export Markets.
Dated: September 22, 2003.
Vanessa M. Bachman,
Acting Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-24251 Filed 9-24-03; 8:45 am]