[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 135 (Friday, July 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36706-36708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17730]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Export Trade Certificate of Review

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Issuance of an Export Trade Certificate of Review, 
Application No. 96-00002.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade 
Certificate of Review to U.S. Leaf Tobacco Exporters, L.L.C. (``U.S. 
Leaf''). This notice summarizes the conduct for which certification has 
been granted.


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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. 400l-21) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to 
issue Export Trade Certificates of Review. The regulations implementing 
Title III are found at 15 CFR Part 325 (1994). The Office of Export 
Trading Company Affairs (``OETCA'') is issuing this notice pursuant to 
15 CFR 325.6(b), which requires the Department of Commerce to publish a 
summary of a Certificate in the Federal Register. Under Section 305(a) 
of the Act and 15 CFR 325.11(a), any person aggrieved by the 
Secretary's determination may, within 30 days of the date of this 
notice, bring an action in any appropriate district court of the United 
States to set aside the determination on the ground that the 
determination is erroneous.

Description of Certified Conduct

Export Trade

1. Products
    Leaf tobacco and by-products.
2. Services
    Buying, handling, processing and shipment of leaf tobacco and by-
products.
3. 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 state trading entities (``STEs'') 
and are limited to the following: Algeria, China, Egypt, Korea, 
Lebanon, Morocco, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, and Vietnam.

Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation

    In connection with the promotion and sale of Members' Products and 
Services into the Export Markets, U.S. Leaf 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 customers 
and for dealer commissions and other miscellaneous buying charges. Such 
quotes may be made by one or more Members individually or by U.S. Leaf 
on behalf of such Members as may be interested in participating in such 
transactions or opportunities.
    d. Collect and exchange information about U.S. Leaf'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. Alocate export sales and/or export markets among Members.
    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 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 
embarkement, storage and warehousing, stevedoring, wharfage and 
handling, insurance, forwarder services, trade documentation and 
services, customs clearance, financial instruments and foreign 
exchange.
    j. Collect and exchange information and conduct joint negotiations 
with STEs regarding contractual terms for export sales.

Terms and Conditions of Certificate

    a. Except as expressly authorized in the Export Trade Activities 
and Methods of Operations section of this Certificate, neither U.S. 
Leaf nor any Member shall intentionally disclose, directly or 
indirectly, to any other Member or Supplier any information that is 
about its or any other Member's or Supplier's costs, production, 
capacity, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, domestic 
orders, terms of domestic marketing or sale, or U.S. business plans, 
strategies, or methods, unless (1) such information is already 
generally available to the trade or public; or (2) the information 
disclosed is a necessary term or condition (e.g., price, time required 
to fill an order, etc.) of an actual or potential bona fide sale and 
the disclosure is limited to the prospective purchaser.
    b. Any agreements, discussions, or exchanges of information under 
this Certificate relating to quantities of Products available for 
Export Markets shall be in connection only with actual or potential 
bona fide export transactions and shall be on a transaction- by-
transaction basis only.
    c. Participation by a Member in any Export Trade Activity or Method 
of Operation under this Certificate shall be entirely voluntary as to 
that Member, subject to the honoring of contractual commitments. A 
Member may withdraw from coverage under this Certificate at any time by 
giving written notice to U.S. Leaf, a copy of which U.S. Leaf shall 
promptly transmit to the Departments of Commerce and Justice.
    d. U.S. Leaf and its Members will comply with requests made by the 
Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce or the 
Attorney General for information or documents relevant to conduct under 
the Certificate. The Secretary of Commerce will request such 
information or documents when either the Attorney General or the 
Secretary of Commerce believes that the information or documents are 
required to determine that the Export Trade, Export Trade Activities 
and Methods of Operation of a person protected by this Certificate of 
Review continue to comply with the standards of section 303(a) of the 
Act.

Definitions

    ``Members'', within the meaning of section 325.2(1) of the 
Regulations, means the member companies of U.S. Leaf set out in 
Attachment A and incorporated herein by reference.
    ``Processing'' means the processing of green leaf tobacco into 
redried tobacco by the removal of moisture content, foreign matter and 
stems, and the blending of such tobacco.
    ``Handling charges'' means all charges associated with the services 
provided by the Members in connection with the buying of green leaf 
tobacco and for the

[[Page 36708]]

delivery of redried tobacco to STEs, but excluding the cost of green 
leaf tobacco at auction and processing charges. Handling charges 
include, but are not limited to, inland freight, container cost, dealer 
commissions, tagging, inspection, storage, warehousing, financing, 
fumigation, by-product credits and ocean shipping.
    ``Subsidiary'' means a U.S. tobacco dealer which is a wholly- or 
majority-owned subsidiary of a Member or of a Member's controlling 
entity.
    ``Supplier'' means a person who produces, provides, or sells a 
Product or Service, whether a Member or nonmember.
    A copy of this certificate will be kept in the International Trade 
Administration's Freedom of Information Records Inspection Facility 
Room 4102, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution 
Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230.

    Dated: July 1, 1996.
W. Dawn Busby,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.

Attachment A

Member

Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Incorporated

    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. (VA), Richmond, VA; 
Thorpe-Greenville Export Tobacco Company, Rocky Mount, NC; Thorpe-
Ricks, Inc (NC), 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; Tobacco Processors, Inc., Wilson, NC; R.P. Watson Company, 
Richmond, VA; and Dunnington- Beach Tobacco, Incorporated, 
Farmville, VA.

Member

DIMON International, Inc., Farmville, NC

    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; and Dimon Asia on behalf of 
Dimon International, Inc., Farmville, NC.

Member

Unitob Inc., Greenville, NC

    Subsidiaries: China American Tobacco Co., Greenville, NC; and 
Intabex-Hail & Cotton International Co., Greenville, NC.

Member

Standard Commercial Corporation, Wilson, NC

    Subsidiaries: Standard Commercial Tobacco Co., Inc., Wilson, NC; 
and W A Adams Company, Wilson, NC.

Member

G.F. Vaughan Tobacco Co., Inc., Lexington, KY

[FR Doc. 96-17730 Filed 7-11-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P