Trade.gov - ETCA - Export Trade Certificate

Office of Trade Policy & Analysis

Browse by Subject

Our Offices

Export Trading Company Affairs (ETCA)

The Export Trade Certificate of Review Program - The Competitive Edge for U.S. Exporters

Sample 4

Applicant, a Kentucky corporation, has applied to the Secretary of Commerce for an amended Certificate of Review under Title III of the Export Trading Company Act of 1982, 15 U.S.C. && 4011-4021, (the Act), and its implementing regulations, 15 C.F.R. pt. 325 (1999), (the Regulations).

The application was deemed submitted on XXX and a summary of the application was published in the Federal Register on XXX.

The Secretary of Commerce and the Attorney General have reviewed the application and other information in their possession. Based on analysis of this information, the Secretary of Commerce has determined, and the Attorney General concurs, that the Export Trade and Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation set forth below meet the four standards set forth in Section 303(a) of the Act.

Accordingly, under the authority of the Act and the Regulations, Applicant is certified to engage in the Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation described below in the following Export Trade and Export Markets.

Export Trade

Products

1. Products
Artists acrylic paints and decorative finishes manufactured or distributed by Applicant.

2. Services
All services related to the export of Products.

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, Services and Technology Rights)
Export Trade Facilitation Services, including, but not limited to: professional services in the area of government relations assistance with state and federal export programs; foreign trade and business protocol; consulting; market research and analysis; collection of information on trade opportunities; marketing; negotiations; joint ventures; shipping and export management; export licensing; advertising; documentation and services related to compliance with custom requirements; insurance and finance; bonding; warehousing; export trade promotion; legal assistance; trade show exhibitions; organizational development; management and labor strategies; transfer of technology; transportation; and facilitating the formation of shippers' associations.

II. Export Markets

The export markets include all parts of the world except the United States (the fifty states of the United States, 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

Applicant may engage in the following activities with respect to Export Markets:

1. Provide and/or arrange for the provision of Export Trade Facilitation Services;

2. Engage in promotion and marketing activities and collect and distribute information on trade opportunities in the Export Markets;

3. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive and/or non-exclusive agreements with distributors, foreign buyers, and/or sale representatives in Export Markets, provided that Applicant does not enter into more than one agreement, for its entire product line or any portion thereof, in any given territory in the Export Markets pursuant to which its distributors, foreign buyers, and/or sales representatives are prohibited from carrying the products of Applicant's competitors, and such prohibition only applies to:(1) those products of Applicant's competitors that directly compete with the product line or portion thereof to be sold under the agreement; and (2) the territory covered by the agreement;

4. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-exclusive licensing agreements regarding its Products, Services, or Technology Rights with Export Intermediaries or other persons selling its Products in Export Markets;

5. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-exclusive sales agreements with Export Intermediaries, or other persons selling its Products for the transfer of title to Products, Services, and/or Technology Rights in Export Markets;

6. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-exclusive pricing and/or consignment agreements for the sale and shipment of its Products and Services to Export Markets;

7. Allocate export sales, export orders and/or divide Export Markets, among Export Intermediaries, or other persons for the sale, licensing and/or transfer of title to its Products, Services, and/or Technology Rights;

8. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce territorial and customer restraints on Export Intermediaries, or other persons regarding the sale, licensing and/or transfer of title to its Products, Services, and/or Technology Rights for sale in Export Markets;

9. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-exclusive agreements for the tying of its Products and Services, the setting of prices, and/or the distribution, shipping or handling of its Products or Services in the Export Markets;

10. Terminate, amend or enforce contractual or other relationships with Export Intermediaries or other persons who refuse to agree or adhere to restraints on their activities related to the export of its Products;

11. Enter into, terminate, and amend or enforce agreements to invest in overseas warehouses for the purpose of storing exported Products until transferred to the foreign purchaser;

12. To invest in overseas facilities for the purpose of making minor product or packaging modifications necessary to insure compatibility of the Product with the requirements of the foreign market;

13. Represent U.S. Suppliers of its Products at trade shows and solicit agents and distributors for its Products in the Export Markets;

14. Refuse to quote prices for, or to market or sell, Products or Services to an Export Market or Markets, or to distributors, buyers and/or sales representatives who directly or indirectly market or sell to an Export Market or Markets;

15. Sell, or offer to sell Products at different prices for direct or indirect sale to an Export Market or Markets as compared to prices for direct or indirect sale to domestic markets; and

16. Affix labels or other forms of identification to Product which identify the Products and indicate whether such Products are for direct or indirect sale only in an Export Market or Markets.

IV. Terms and Conditions of Certificate

1. In engaging in Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation, Applicant will not intentionally disclose, directly or indirectly, to any Supplier any information about any other Supplier's costs, production, capacity, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, or U.S. business plans, strategies, or methods that is not already generally available to he trade or public.

2. Applicant will comply with the requests made by the Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce 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.

V. Definitions

1. "Export Intermediary" means a person who acts as a distributor, sales representative, sales or marketing agent, or broker, or who performs similar functions including providing or arranging for the provision of the Export Trade Facilitation Services.

2. "Supplier" means a person who produces, provides, or sells any Product and/or a Service.

VI. Protection Provided By Certificate

This certificate protects Applicant, its members and 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.

VII. 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.

VIII. Other Conduct

Nothing in this Certificate prohibits Applicant from engaging in conduct not specified in this Certificate, but such conduct is subject to the normal application of the antitrust laws.

IX. Disclaimer

The issuance of this Certificate of Review to Applicant 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 or by the Attorney General concerning either (a) the viability or quality of the business plans of Deco Art, Inc. or (b) the legality of such business plans of Deco Art, Inc. 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 Fed. Reg. 1786 (January 11th, 1985).

In accordance with the authority granted under the Act and Regulations, this Certificate of Review is hereby granted to Applicant.

Last Updated: 8/25/15 5:46 PM