[Federal
Register: December 6, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 233)]
[Notices]
[Page
72609-72611]
From
the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06de05-12]
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DEPARTMENT
OF COMMERCE
International
Trade Administration
Export
Trade Certificate of Review
ACTION:
Notice of application.
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SUMMARY:
Export Trading Company Affairs (``ETCA''), 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 Anspacher, Director, Export
Trading
Company Affairs, International Trade Administration, by
telephone
at (202) 482-5131 (this is not a toll free number) or E-mail
[[Page
72610]]
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
7021H, 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 05-00002.'' A
summary
of the application follows.
Summary
of the Application
Applicant: California Tomato Export Group
(``CTEG''), 230
Thunderbird
Drive, Aptos, California 95003; Contact: Rodger Wasson,
Consultant;
Telephone: (831) 254-5405.
Application No.: 05-00002.
Date Deemed Submitted: November 21, 2005.
Members (in addition to applicant): CTEG
is a newly formed export
joint
venture comprising the following members: Ingomar Packing
Company,
Los Banos, CA; Los Gatos Tomato Products, Huron, CA; and SK
Foods,
Lemoore, CA.
CTEG seeks a Certificate to engage in the
Export Trade Activities
and
Methods of Operation described below in the following Export Trade
and
Export Markets:
Export
Trade
Products
CTEG plans to export processed tomato
products. Products that are
included
are tomato paste, diced tomatoes, canned foodservice tomatoes,
canned
retail tomatoes, and formulated glass retail products.
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
CTEG seeks certification for the following
activities and exchanges
of
information:
CTEG and/or one or more of its Members may
on behalf of and with
the
advice and assistance of its Members:
1.
Export Promotion of Processed Tomatoes
a. Research, develop and conduct promotion
and public relations
activities
to develop demand for the exported products of the member
companies;
b. Seek export promotional funds jointly
to combine efforts to
promote
the companies' exports aimed at expanding existing markets and
creating
new markets;
c. Develop and disseminate industry news
reports of interest to
foreign
buyers. Provide information collectively to prospective export
buyers
regarding items such as crop inventory and structure of the U.S.
processed
tomato industry; and
d. Organize joint representation at world
tomato conferences;
2.
Investment
Invest jointly in export infrastructure,
activities, and
operations,
such as:
a. Bill and collect from foreign buyers and
provide collective
accounting,
tax, legal and consulting assistance and services;
b. Write contracts for export payment
terms;
c. Organize and conduct joint
representation at tomato industry
conferences
where foreign buyers are present;
d. Develop and maintain a
website/newsletter and marketing
brochures
with product and crop information for the benefit of foreign
customers;
e. Purchase/rent warehouse facilities to
conduct export operations;
f. Combine purchases of inputs for export
operations;
g. Negotiate and enter into agreements
with providers of
transportation
services for the export of processed tomato products;
h. Consolidate CTEG shipments to export
markets;
i. Administer phytosanitary protocols to
qualify the processed
tomato
products for export markets;
3.
Funding
Apply for and utilize export assistance
and incentive programs, as
well
as arrange financing through bank holding companies, governmental
programs,
and other arrangements;
4.
Export Market Development
a. Design and develop foreign marketing
strategies for CTEG's
export
markets; and
b. Design, develop, and market generic
corporate and/or CTEG labels
for
export;
5.
Export Sales Prices
Establish export sale prices, minimum export
sale prices, target
export
sales prices and/or minimum target export sale prices, and other
terms
of sale;
6.
Joint Bidding
Engage in joint bidding or other joint
selling arrangements for
export
processed exported tomatoes and allocate export sales resulting
from
such arrangements;
7.
Quantities
Agree on quantities of processed tomatoes
to be exported, provided
each
member shall be required to dedicate only such quantity or
quantities
as each such member shall independently determine;
8.
Foreign Buyer Negotiations
Participate in negotiations and enter into
agreements with foreign
buyers
(including governments and private persons) regarding:
a. The quantities, time periods, prices
and terms and conditions in
connection
with actual or potential bona fide export opportunities; and
b. Non-tariff trade barriers in the export
markets;
[[Page
72611]]
9.
Refusals to Deal
Refuse to quote prices for export
products, or to market or sell
export
products, to or for any customer in the export processed tomato
market,
or any countries or geographical areas in the export markets;
10.
Market and Customer Allocation
Allocate geographic areas or countries in
the export markets and/or
customers
in the export markets among members of the California Tomato
Export
Group;
11.
Exclusive and Nonexclusive Export Intermediaries
Enter into exclusive and nonexclusive
agreements appointing one or
more
export intermediaries for the sale of export products with price,
quantity,
territorial and/or customer restrictions. ``Export
Intermediary''
means a person who acts as a distributor, sales
representative,
sales or marketing agent, broker, or who performs
similar
functions including providing or arranging for the provision of
export
trade facilitation services;
12.
Meetings
Meet with members of the Certificate and
manager of the Certificate
present;
13.
Non-Member Activities
a. Enter into agreements with non-members,
whether or not
exclusive,
to provide export trade facilitation services;
b. Purchase tomatoes from non-members to
fulfill specific export
sales
obligations, provided that CTEG and/or its members 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. In no event
shall
a non-member be included in any deliberations concerning any
export
activities and operations; and
14.
Government Liaison
Advise and cooperate with the United
States and foreign governments
in:
a. Establishing procedures regulating the
export of processed
tomato
products, and
b. Fulfilling the phytosanitary and/or
funding requirements imposed
by
foreign governments for export of the processed tomato products.
CTEG may exchange the following
information with and among the
Members
as necessary to carry out export trade activities and methods
of
operation:
1. Information about export sales and
marketing efforts; selling
strategies,
contract and spot pricing in the export markets;
2. Information regarding projected demand
in the export markets;
3. Information about the customary terms
of sales in export
markets;
4. Information about export prices and
availability of competitor's
processed
tomato products for sale in the export markets;
5. Specifications for processed tomato
products by customers in the
export
markets;
6. Information about terms and conditions
of contracts for sale in
the
export markets to be considered and/or bid on by CTEG and its
members;
7. Information about the price, quality,
source, and delivery dates
of
processed tomato products available for export by CTEG members;
8. Information about joint bidding and/or
selling arrangements for
export
markets;
9. Information regarding terms,
conditions, and specifications of
particular
export contracts for sale or to be considered and/or bid on
by
the CTEG;
10. Information about expenses specific to
exporting to and within
the
export markets, sales and distribution networks established by CTEG
or
its members in export markets;
11. Information about export customer
credit terms and credit
history;
12. Information about United States and
foreign legislation and
regulations,
including federal marketing order programs, affecting
sales
to the export markets;
13. Information about joint bidding or
selling arrangements for the
export
markets and allocations of sales resulting from such
arrangements
among the members;
14. Information about expenses specific to
exporting to and within
the
export markets, including without limitation, transportation,
trans-or
intermodal shipments, insurance, inland freight to port, port
storage,
commissions, export sales, documentation; financing, customs,
duties,
and taxes;
15. Information about CTEG's or its
members' export operations,
including
without limitation, sales and distribution networks
established
by CTEG or its members in the export markets, and prior
export
sales by members (including export price information);
16. Information regarding the forecasted
quantity of processed
tomatoes
secured through contracts by each member for upcoming seasons;
17. Information regarding the potential
available supply of
processed
tomato products available for export and not committed to
domestic
markets in upcoming seasons; and
18. Information about global tomato crop
supply, including planting
intentions,
growing conditions, weather, disease, transportation,
consumer
trends, health news, regulatory impacts and information that
impacts
on the availability, conditions and costs to foreign buyers.
Dated: December 1, 2005.
Jeffrey
Anspacher,
Director,
Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR
Doc. E5-6872 Filed 12-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING
CODE 3510-DR-P