Foreign-Trade Zone 99Wilmington, DE; Application for Subzone Zeneca Inc., Pharmaceuticals Plant Newark, DE

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 26-94]

Foreign-Trade Zone 99--Wilmington, DE; Application for Subzone

Zeneca Inc., Pharmaceuticals Plant Newark, DE

An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board

(the Board) by the Delaware Development Office, on behalf of the State

of Delaware, grantee of FTZ 99, requesting special-purpose subzone

status for the pharmaceutical manufacturing facility of Zeneca Inc.

(Zeneca), in Newark, Delaware, adjacent to the Wilmington Customs port

of entry area. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions

of 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

June 22, 1994.

Zeneca Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zeneca Group PLC

(U.K.), a bioscience company comprising three global businesses--

pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and seeds, and specialty products.

Zeneca Group was created as part of the 1993 worldwide reorganization

of Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (U.K.) along industry lines.

Zeneca's plant (2 bldgs. on 156 acres/520,700 sq. ft.) is located

at 587 Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, Delaware, some 10 miles west of

Wilmington. The facility (530 employees) is used to produce and/or

distribute a wide range of pharmaceuticals, including CEFOTAN

(antibiotic), HIBICLENS (antiseptic), DIPRIVAN

(anesthetic), TENORETIC and TENORMIN (hypertension

treatment); and NOLVADEX and ZOLADEX (anti-cancer).

The application also requests approval for the production of

MERREM (antibiotic), for which a plant expansion is currently

underway. In addition, the company is requesting to use zone procedures

for drugs currently in development that may also be produced at the

Newark facility; including ARIMIDEX, CASODEX and

TOMUDEX (anti- cancer); PALUDRINE (anti-malarial);

and SEROQUEL (schizophrenia treatment). The active

ingredients for a number of these products are or would be sourced

abroad. For those products currently produced in the U.S., foreign-

sourced materials account for some 30 percent of finished product

value.

Zone procedures would exempt Zeneca from Customs duty payments on

foreign materials used in production for export. On domestic sales, the

company would be able to choose the duty rates that apply to the

finished products (3.7%-6.9%). The duty rates on foreign-sourced items

range from 3.7% to 8.7%. At the outset, zone savings would primarily

involve choosing the finished product duty rate for NOLVADEX

(6.3%) rather than the rate for the foreign active ingredient,

tamoxifen (6.6%). The application indicates that the savings from zone

procedures will help improve the firm'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 Board's Executive

Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is

September 6, 1994. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted

during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-

day period to September 21, 1994.

A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be

available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce District Office, Suite 201, 660 American

Avenue, King of Prussia, PA 19406,

Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S.

Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20230.

Dated: June 28, 1994.

John J. DaPonte, Jr.,

Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 94-16603 Filed 7-7-94; 8:45 am]

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