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

[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]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION: Notice of application.

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;

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]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P

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