Federal
Register: March 26, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 57)]
[Notices]
[Page
14081-14083]
From
the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26mr07-27]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT
OF COMMERCE
International
Trade Administration
Export
Trade Certificate of Review
ACTION:
Notice of Issuance of an Export Trade Certificate of Review,
Application
No. 06-00003.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY:
On March 16, 2007, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued an
Export
Trade Certificate of Review to the American Sugar Alliance
(``ASA'').
This notice summarizes the conduct for which certification
has
been granted.
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Anspacher, Director, Export
[[Page
14082]]
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. 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 (2005).
Export Trading Company Affairs (``ETCA'')
is issuing this notice
pursuant
to 15 CFR 325.6(b), which requires the U.S. Department of
Commerce
to publish a summary of the certification 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
Sugar and syrups of U.S. origin, as
defined in Chapter Four (Rules
of
Origin) of the North American Free Trade Agreement, (``U.S.-origin
sugar'')
in any of the following categories:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.S. Code Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1701.11.01.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has
polarization of 99.4 but not
exceeding
99.5 degrees.
1701.11.02.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has
polarization of 96 but not
exceeding
99.4 degrees.
1701.11.03.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has
polarization of 96 degrees.
1701.12.01.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has
polarization of 99.4 but not
exceeding
99.5 degrees.
1701.12.02.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has
polarization of 96 but not
exceeding
99.4 degrees.
1701.12.03.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has polarization
of 96 degrees.
1701.91.01.................... Containing added flavoring or coloring
matter.
1701.99.01.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has
polarization of 99.5 but not
exceeding
99.7 degrees.
1701.99.02.................... Sugar, with a dry sucrose content that
has
polarization of 99.7 but not
exceeding 99.9
degrees.
1701.99.99.................... Others.
1701.90.01.................... Refined liquid sugar and inverted sugar.
1806.10.01.................... With a sugar content weighting not less
than 90%.
2106.90.05.................... Flavored syrups or with added coloring
matters
(except syrups which have a
sugar content
less than 90%).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Export
Markets
Mexico.
Export
Trade Activities and Methods of Operation
Purpose
The ASA will allocate Certificates of
Prior Approval (``CPAs'')
through
which Mexico will permit duty-free entry of U.S.-origin sugar
into
Mexico under the tariff-rate quota (``TRQ'') for U.S.-origin sugar
through
December 31, 2007, as set forth below.
The ASA will allocate CPAs to any sugar
beet processor or cane
sugar
refiner in the United States that is listed as a Producer below.
CPA
Administration
The ASA will allocate all CPAs at one
time. In the event that any
CPAs
are returned to ASA for any reason, ASA will reallocate those CPAs
among
interested Producers. The allocation, and any reallocations, will
be
completed before December 16, 2007.
Certificate
System
Under the procedures for the TRQ published
on October 16, 2006 in
the
Mexican Diario Oficial, an importer in Mexico must file by December
15,
2007 with the Mexican Government a CPA issued by ASA to obtain a
license
to allow U.S.-origin sugar to enter into Mexico free of duty
under
the TRQ. The ASA will allocate CPAs among all Producers who
express
an interest in obtaining the CPAs based on each Producer's
share
of total U.S. sugar refining capacity in 2006, as reported to
ASA.
The ASA shall issue CPAs to such Producers.
CPAs issued by ASA shall be freely
transferable by Producers.
Transfers
of CPAs after they are issued by ASA will be subject to the
normal
application of the antitrust laws.
Information
Collection and Exchange
ASA may ask Producers individually for
their production capacity
figures
for 2006 for the purposes of allocating the CPAs. Producers may
supply
that information to ASA, and ASA may allocate CPAs to Producers
based
on this information.
If production capacity information is
collected by ASA, it will be
collected
and collated, and the allocations of CPAs will be made, by an
employee
or employees of ASA who are not employed by any member of the
ASA
Executive Committee or any Producer. As of the effective date of
the
Certificate, such employee or employees shall be the only persons
who
will have access to the collected production capacity information.
Any exchange of Producers' production
capacity information or CPA
allocation
with other Producers, by Producers, ASA, any ASA member, or
any
other person is activity that is not protected under this
Certificate.
Cooperation
With the U.S. and Mexican Governments
The ASA will consult with the U.S.
Government and the Government of
Mexico
when necessary and provide to them whatever information may be
useful
in order to facilitate cooperation between the governments
concerning
the implementation and operation of the CPA System.
Furthermore,
directly or through the U.S. Government, the ASA will
endeavor
to accommodate any information requests from the Government of
Mexico
(while protecting confidential information entrusted to the
ASA),
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).
Members
(Within the Meaning of Section 325.(1) of the Regulations)
Members (in addition to ASA):
ASA Executive Committee (American
Sugarbeet Growers Association,
American
Sugar Cane League, Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc., Gay &
Robinson,
Inc., Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., Rio Grande Valley
Sugar
Growers Inc., Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, U.S.
Beet
Sugar Association), and
Producers (Amalgamated Sugar Company LLC,
American Sugar Refining
Inc.,
American Crystal Sugar Company and Sidney Sugars (a subsidiary of
American
Crystal Sugar Co.), Florida
[[Page
14083]]
Crystals
Corporation, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, Imperial
Sugar
Company, Michigan Sugar Company, Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative,
Southern
Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative and Spreckels Sugar Company
(a
subsidiary of Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative), U.S. Sugar
Corporation,
Western Sugar Cooperative and Wyoming Sugar Company LLC).
Protection
Provided by Certificate of Review
This Certificate protects the ASA, its
Executive Committee, the
Producers
and the directors, officers, employees and representatives
acting
on behalf of the ASA, the ASA Executive Committee and the
Producers
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 of Review 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
ASA, the ASA Executive Committee, any Producer 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, domestic production capacity, 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. If ASA determines that the collection
or disclosure of any non-
public,
company-specific information is necessary for the allocation of
CPAs
to Producers, ASA must seek an amendment of this Certificate to
add
such export conduct to this Certificate.
3. ASA, the ASA Executive Committee and
the Producers 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
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
ASA, the ASA Executive
Committee
and the Producers 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 ASA 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 ASA, the ASA Executive Committee or the Producers or (b) the
legality
of such business plans of ASA, the ASA Executive Committee or
the
Producers 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
American
Sugar Alliance.
The effective date of the Certificate is
March 16, 2007. A copy of
the
Certificate will be kept in the International Trade
Administration's
Freedom of Information Records Inspection Facility,
Room
4100, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: March 20, 2007.
Jeffrey
C. Anspacher,
Director,
Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. E7-5498 Filed 3-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING
CODE 3510-DR-P