Export Trade Certificate of Review

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Export Trading Company Affairs, 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: W. Dawn Busby, Director, Office of

Export Trading Company Affairs, International Trade Administration,

(202) 482-5131. This is not a toll-free number.

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 of whether a Secretary of Commerce should issue a

Certificate to the applicant. An original and five (5) copies of such

comments 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 1800H, Washington,

D.C. 20230. Information submitted by any person is exempt from

disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).

Comments should refer to this application as ``Export Trade Certificate

of Review, application number 94-00007.''

Summary of the Application

Applicant: Florida Citrus Exports, L.C., 74th Avenue, Vero Beach,

Florida 32966.

Contact: Mr. John M. Himmelberg, Esquire, Telephone: (202) 955-

3000.

Application No.: 94-00007.

Date Deemed Submitted: November 16, 1994.

Members (in addition to applicant): Florida Fresh Citrus Sales,

Inc., Wabasso, Florida; Golden River Fruit Co., Vero Beach, Florida;

Leroy E. Smith's Sons, Inc., Vero Beach, Florida; Ocean Spray

Cranberries, Inc., Vero Beach, Florida; Seald-Sweet Growers, Inc., Vero

Beach, Florida.

Florida Fresh Citrus Sales, Inc. seeks a Certificate to cover the

following specific Export Trade, Export Markets, and Export Trade

Activities and Methods of Operations.

Export Trade

1. Products. Fresh, frozen and processed citrus and citrus

products.

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, trade

secrets, and know-how.

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 of government export assistance programs, such as

the Export Enhancement and Market Promotion programs.

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).

Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation

In connection with the promotion and sale of Members' Products into

the Export Markets, the FCE and/or one or more of its Members may:

1. Design and execute foreign marketing strategies for its Export

Markets;

2. Prepare joint bids, establish export prices for Members'

Products and Services and establish terms of sale in the Export

Markets;

3. Allocate export sales, international buyers and/or export

markets among Members on the basis of each Member's independent

commitment of Products, and/or its individual export marketing plan in

relation to FCE's corporate plan;

4. Grant sales and distribution rights for the Products, whether or

not exclusive, into designated Export Markets to foreign agents or

importers (``exclusive'' meaning that the FCE and Members 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 FCE in the Export Markets and none of its

competitors);

5. Design, develop and market generic corporate labels;

6. Engage in joint promotional activities directly targeted at

developing the Export markets, such as: arranging trade shows and

marketing trips; providing advertising services; providing brochures,

industry newsletters and other forms of product, service and industry

information; conducting international market and product research;

procuring international marketing, advertising and promotional

services; and sharing the cost of these joint promotional activities

among the Members;

7. Conduct product and packaging research and development

exclusively for the export of the Products, such as meeting foreign

regulatory requirements and foreign buyer specifications and

identifying and designing for foreign buyer and consumer preferences;

8. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and other

foreign persons regarding non-tariff trade barriers in the Export

Markets, such as packaging requirements, establishing and operating

fumigation facilities and providing specialized packing operations and

other quality control procedures to be followed by its Members in the

export of Products into the Export Markets;

9. Advise and cooperate with agencies of the U.S. Government in

establishing procedures regulating the export of Members' Products,

Services and/or Technology Rights into the Export Markets;

10. Negotiate and enter into purchase agreements with buyers in the

Export Markets regarding the export prices, quantities, type and

quality of Products, time periods, and the terms and conditions of

sale;

11. Broker or take title to the Products;

12. Purchase Products from non-Member producers whenever necessary

to fulfill specific sales obligations;

13. Solicit non-Member producers to become Members;

14. Communicate and process export orders;

15. Assist each Member in maintaining the quality standards

necessary to be successful in the Export Markets;

16. Provide Export Trade Facilitation Services with respect to

Products, Services and Technology Rights;

17. Provide, 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, storage and warehousing, stevedoring,

wharfage and handling, insurance, forwarder services, trade

documentation and services, customs clearance, financial instruments

and foreign exchange;

18. Negotiate freight rate contracts with individual carriers and

carrier conferences either directly or indirectly through shippers

associations and/or freight forwarders;

19. Arrange financing through bank holding companies, governmental

financial assistance programs and other arrangements;

20. Bill and collect from foreign buyers and provide accounting,

tax, legal and consulting assistance and services;

21. Enter into exclusive agreements with Non-Members to provide

Export Trade Services and Trade Facilitation Services;

22. Design, implement and administer Foreign Sales Corporations in

accordance with the Internal Revenue Code;

23. Open and operate overseas sales and distribution offices and

companies to facilitate the sales and distribution of the Products in

the Export Markets;

24. Apply for and utilize applicable export assistance and

incentive programs which are available within the governmental and

private sectors, such as the USDA Export Enhancement and Market

Promotion programs;

25. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and

foreign persons to develop countertrade arrangements;

26. Refuse to deal with or provide quotations to other Export

Intermediaries for sales of the Members' Products into the Export

Markets;

27. Require common marking and identification of its Members'

Products sold in the Export Markets;

28. Exchange information with and among the Members as necessary to

carry out the Export Trade Facilitation Services and Export Trade

Activities and Methods of Operation, including:

(a) Information about sales and marketing efforts and strategies in

the Export Markets, including pricing; projected demand in the Export

Markets for Products; customary terms of sale, prices and availability

of Products independently committed by Members for sales in the Export

Markets; prices and sales of Products in the Export Markets; and

specifications by buyers and consumers in the Export Markets;

(b) Information about the price, quality, quantity, source and

delivery dates of Products available from the Members for export;

(c) Information about terms and conditions of contracts for sales

in the Export Markets to be considered and/or bid on by the FCE;

(d) Information about joint bidding, selling arrangements for the

Export Markets and the allocations of export sales resulting from such

arrangements among the Members' including information regarding the

allocation methods used and each Member's percentage of the total

committed volume of all Members;

(e) Information about expenses specific to exporting to and within

the Export Markets, including transportation, transshipments,

intermodal shipments, insurance, inland freight to port, port storage,

commissions, export sales, documentation, financing and customs duties

or taxes;

(f) Information about U.S. and foreign legislation and regulations,

including Federal marketing order programs that may affect sales to the

Export Markets; and

(g) Information about the FCE's or its Members' export operations,

including sales and distribution networks established by the FCE or its

Members in the Export Markets, and prior export sales by Members,

including export price information.

Each Member will independently determine the quantity of the

Products that it will make available for direct sale into the Export

Markets. Members will be responsible for advising the FCE in a timely

manner regarding the Products to be made available for export, and the

quantities and time periods in which they will be made available.

Dated: November 28, 1994.

W. Dawn Busby,

Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.

[FR Doc. 94-29634 Filed 12-1-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P