[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 3, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51777-51778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-24600]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

University of Rhode Island, Notice of Decision on Application for 
Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instrument

    This decision is made pursuant to Section 6(c) of the Educational, 
Scientific, and Cultural Materials Importation Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89-
651, 80 Stat. 897; 15 CFR part 301). Related records can be viewed 
between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM in Room 4211, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
14th and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
    Docket Number: 95-028. Applicant: University of Rhode Island, 
Narragansett, RI 02882. Instrument: Chlorophyll Fluorescence Measuring 
System, Model PAM 101. Manufacturer: 

[[Page 51778]]
Heinz Walz GmbH, Germany. Intended Use: See notice at 60 FR 24838, May 
10, 1995.
    Comments: None received. Decision: Approved. No instrument or 
apparatus of equivalent scientific value to the foreign instrument, for 
such purposes as it is intended to be used, could have been made 
available to the applicant without excessive delay within the meaning 
of Subsection 301.5(d)(4) of the regulations at the time the foreign 
article was ordered (February 8, 1995).
    Reasons: Subsection 301.5 (d)(4), of the regulations provides as 
follows:
    ``Excessive delivery time. Duty-free entry of the instrument 
shall be considered justified without regard to whether there is 
being manufactured in the United States an instrument of equivalent 
scientific value for the intended purposes if excessive delivery 
time for the domestic instrument would seriously impair the 
accomplishment of the applicant's intended purposes. ... In 
determining whether the difference in delivery times cited by the 
applicant justifies duty-free entry on the basis of excessive 
delivery time, the Director shall take into account (A) the normal 
commercial practice applicable to the production of the general 
category of instrument involved; (B) the efforts made by the 
applicant to secure delivery of the instruments (both foreign and 
domestic) in the shortest possible time; and (C) such other factors 
as the Director finds relevant under the circumstances of a 
particular case.''

    In response to a purchase order dated November 16, 1993, a domestic 
manufacturer quoted an instrument with a July 15, 1994 delivery 
schedule. The foreign manufacturer quoted delivery within 6 weeks of 
initial order. At the time of order (February 8, 1995), the foreign 
article was a standard catalog instrument, several of which had already 
been constructed, tested, and delivered. The instrument proposed by the 
domestic manufacturer was to be a standard catalog instrument requiring 
modification to accommodate the applicant's needs.
    Problems on the part of the domestic manufacturer delayed the 
delivery schedule, first to January 1995, then to July 1995. As a 
result, the applicant declined purchase of the domestic instrument. The 
applicant identified important funding constraints (requiring purchase 
of the instrument by April 1995) which precluded purchase of the 
domestic instrument. Subsequently, the applicant claims that the 
domestic company had gone out of business.
    The National Institutes of Health in its memorandum dated July 11, 
1995, advised that although an acceptable domestic source had been 
identified, it was in the process of developing the instrument and to 
date had manufactured no instrument for delivery.
    Accordingly, we find that the domestic manufacturer's inability to 
deliver a comparable instrument within the time required by the 
applicant's project funding requirements amounts to ``excessive 
delivery'' within the meaning of 301.5(d)(4). A delay of 6 months or 
more would have seriously impaired the accomplishment of the 
applicant's purposes.


Frank W. Creel,
Director, Statutory Import Programs Staff.
[FR Doc. 95-24600 Filed 10-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-F