[Federal Register: October 17, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 201)]
[Notices]               
[Page 64094-64095]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17oc02-35]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 47-2002]

 
Foreign-Trade Zone 21--Charleston, SC; Application for Foreign-
Trade Subzone Status, Flint Ink North America Corporation, (Pigments, 
Inks, and Varnish Products), Beaufort, SC

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the South Carolina State Ports Authority, grantee of FTZ 
21, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the manufacturing and 
distribution facilities (pigments, inks, and varnish products) of Flint 
Ink North America Corporation (Flint Ink) in Beaufort, South Carolina. 
The application was submitted pursuant to the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, 
as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the regulations of the Board (15 
CFR part 400). It was formally filed on October 7, 2002.
    The Flint Ink facilities are located at 224 Parker Drive, Beaufort, 
South Carolina (69,200 square feet of enclosed space on 27 acres). The 
facilities (33 employees) are used to manufacture, test, package, and 
warehouse pigments, inks, and varnish products primarily for use by the 
graphic arts industry.
    Foreign-sourced materials account for approximately 10 to 50 
percent of the finished-product value of Flint Ink's current products, 
and may include items from the following categories: petroleum oils and 
mineral oils, distillates; hydrogen chloride and chlorosulfuric acid; 
sodium and potassium hydroxides; chlorides, chloride oxides, chloride 
hydroxides, bromides, bromide oxides, iodides and iodide oxides; 
nitrites and nitrates; acyclic alcohols and their derivatives; phenols 
and phenol-alcohols; ketones, quinines, and their derivatives; 
polycarboxylic acids and their derivatives; carboxylic acids and their 
derivatives; amine function compounds; carboxyamide-function compounds 
and amide-function compounds of carbonic acid; heterocyclic compounds, 
and nucleic acids and their salts; nucleic acids and their salts, and 
other heterocyclic compounds; synthetic organic coloring matter, 
preparations based thereon, and synthetic organic products used as 
fluorescent brightening agents or luminophores; other coloring matter; 
printing ink, writing or drawing ink, and other inks; artificial waxes 
and prepared waxes; rosin, resin, and derivatives thereof; reaction 
initiators, reaction accelerators, and catalytic preparations; polymers 
of vinyl chloride or other halogenated olefins in primary forms; 
polymers of vinyl acetate or other vinyl esters, and other vinyl 
polymers, in primary forms; petroleum resins, coumarone-indene resins, 
polyterpenes, polysulfides, polysulfones, and other products in primary 
forms; and cellulose and its chemical derivatives in primary forms.
    Zone procedures would allow the company to choose the duty rates 
that apply to the finished products (the primary initial finished 
product has a duty rate of 1.8% ad valorem; potential finished products 
have rates ranging from duty-free to 9.2%) rather than the duty rates 
that would otherwise apply to the foreign-sourced materials noted above 
(duty-free to 9.2%; average of 7%). This savings from inverted tariffs 
would be the primary benefit derived from subzone status. FTZ 
procedures would also exempt Flint Ink from Customs duty payments on 
foreign materials used in production for export. In addition, Flint Ink 
states that it would realize logistical/procedural and other benefits. 
FTZ status may also make a site eligible for benefits provided under 
state/local programs. The application indicates that the savings from 
zone procedures will help improve the plant's international 
competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ 
Staff has been designated examiner to investigate the application and 
report to the Board.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the

[[Page 64095]]

Board's Executive Secretary at one of the following addresses:
    1. Submissions Via Express/Package Delivery Services: Foreign-
Trade-Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Franklin Court 
Building--Suite 4100W, 1099 14th St. NW., Washington, DC 20005; or
    2. Submissions Via the U.S. Postal Service: Foreign-Trade-Zones 
Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, FCB--Suite 4100W, 1401 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20230.
    The closing period for their receipt is December 16, 2002. Rebuttal 
comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period 
may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period to December 31, 
2002.
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at the Office of the Foreign-Trade 
Zones Board's Executive Secretary at address Number 1 listed above, and 
at the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, 5300 
International Boulevard, Suite 201-C, Charleston, SC 29418.

    Dated: October 10, 2002.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-26415 Filed 10-16-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P