[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14077-14079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7614]



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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

[[Page 14078]]
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 96-00002.''

Summary of the Application

    Applicant: U.S. Leaf Tobacco Exporter, L.L.C., c/o Henry Babb, Jr., 
Esq., Narron, Holdford, Babb, Harrison & Rhodes, PA, Wilson, North 
Carolina 27894-0279, Contact: Laurence T. Sorkin, Esq., Telephone: 
(212) 701-3209.
    Application No.: 96-00006
    Date Deemed Submitted: March 18, 1996.
    Members (in addition to applicant): Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, 
Incorporated, Richmond, Virginia; DIMON International, Inc., Farmville, 
North Carolina; Unitob Inc., Greenville, North Carolina; Standard 
Commercial Corporation, Wilson, North Carolina; G.F. Vaughan Tobacco, 
Co., Inc., Lexington, Kentucky.

    Note: This application is made on behalf of the Members listed 
above, as well as any U.S. tobacco dealer which is a wholly owned or 
majority owned subsidiary of a Member or of its controlling entity. A 
list of the subsidiaries of each Member or its controlling entity is 
attached hereto as Attachment I.

    U.S. Leaf Tobacco Exporters, L.L.C. seek a Certificate to cover the 
following specific Export Trade, Export Markets, and Export Trade 
Activities and Methods of Operations.

Export Trade

Products
    Green leaf tobacco (SIC 5159)
Services
    Processing and shipment of green leaf tobacco (SIC 2141)
Export Trade Facilitation Services (as they relate to the Export of 
Products and Services.)
    Consulting, market research, advertising, marketing, insurance, 
product research and design, legal assistance, transportation 
(including trade documentation and freight forwarding), communication 
and processing of orders, warehousing, foreign exchange, financing, and 
taking title to goods.

Export Markets

    The Export Markets are foreign government-owned purchasers known as 
State Trading Entities (``STEs'') and are limited to the following: 
Algeria, China, Egypt, Korea, Lebanon, Morocco, Thailand, Taiwan, 
Turkey, Tunisia, and Vietnam.

Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation

    1. In connection with the promotion and sale of Members' Products 
and Services into the Export Markets, U.S. Leaf Tobacco Exporters, 
L.L.C. and/or one or more of its Members may:
    a. Solicit orders or bids from STEs in Export Markets.
    b. Design and execute foreign marketing strategies for sales in 
Export Markets.
    c. Quote charges to STEs for processing, shipping and handling 
services relating to the sale of U.S. grown tobacco to such buyers. 
Such quotes may be made by one or more Members individually or by 
Applicant on behalf of such Members as may be interested in 
participating in such transactions or opportunities.
    d. Collect and exchange information about Applicant's or Members' 
export operations and prior export sales by Members, including export 
price information with respect to STEs.
    e. Collaborate in the preparation and submission of individual or 
joint bids for processing, shipping and handling charges relating to 
the sale of tobacco to STEs in Export Markets.
    f. Collect and exchange information and conduct joint negotiations 
with STEs concerning estimated yields for the processing of green leaf 
tobacco into redried tobacco.
    g. Allocate export sales and/or export markets among Members to 
STEs.
    h. Engage in joint promotional activities aimed at increasing sales 
in existing Export Markets and identifying new 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.
    i. Collect and exchange information with respect to transportation 
services utilized by the Members in the export of U.S. grown tobacco, 
including overseas freight transportation, inland freight 
transportation from the Members' processing plants to the U.S. port of 
embarkment, storage and warehousing, stevedoring, wharfage and 
handling, insurance, forwarder services, trade documentation and 
services, customer clearance, financial instruments and foreign 
exchange.
    j. Collect and exchange information and conduct joint negotiations 
with STEs regarding contractual terms for export sales.

Definitions

    1. ``Member'' means a person who has membership in U.S. Leaf 
Tobacco Exporters, L.L.C. and who has been certified as a ``Member'' 
within the meaning of Section 325.2(1) of the Regulations.

    Dated: March 25, 1996.
W. Dawn Busby,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.

Attachment I

Universal Leaf Subsidiaries

Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Incorporated, Richmond, VA
Virginia Tobacco Company, Incorporated, Richmond, VA
Virsa Incorporated, Richmond, VA
Winston Leaf Tobacco Company, Incorporated, Richmond, VA
Southern States Tobacco Company, Incorporated, Richmond, VA
Thorpe & Ricks, Inc., Richmond, VA
Thorpe-Greenville Export Tobacco Company, Rocky Mount, NC
Thorpe-Ricks, Inc., Rocky Mount, NC
Southern Processors, Inc., Danville, VA
Danville Leaf Tobacco Company, Inc., Danville, VA
J.P. Taylor Company, Inc., Henderson, NC
Eastern Leaf Tobacco Company, Richmond, VA
K.R. Edwards Leaf Tobacco Company, Incorporated, Smithfield, NC
Southwestern Tobacco Company, Incorporated, Lexington, KY
W.H. Winstead Company, Inc., Richmond, VA

[[Page 14079]]

Tobacco Processors, Inc., Wilson, NC
R.P. Watson Company, Richmond, VA
Dunnington-Beach Tobacco, Incorporated, Farmville, VA

Standard Subsidiaries

Standard Commercial Tobacco Co. Inc., Wilson, NC
W A Adams Company, Wilson, NC

Dimon Subsidiaries

A.C. Monk & Company, Inc., Farmville, NC
The Austin Company, Incorporated, Kinston, NC
T.S. Ragsdale Company, Inc., Lake City, NC
Dibrell Brothers Tobacco USA, Inc., Danville, Va
Carolina Leaf Tobacco Company, Inc., Greenville, NC
Dimon International, A.G., Basel, Switzerland
Dibrell Carolina Far Eastern Corp., Greenville, NC
Dimon Asia on behalf of Dimon International, Inc., Farmville, NC

Intabex Subsidiaries (Parent Company of Unitob Inc.)

China American Tobacco Co., Greenville, NC
Intabex-Hail & Cotton International Co., Greenville, NC

[FR Doc. 96-7614 Filed 3-28-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P