[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 181 (Tuesday, September 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48886-48888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23680]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION: Notice of Issuance of an Export Trade Certificate of Review, 
Application No.96-00004.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade 
Certificate of Review to The Foreign Market Search for U.S. Products 
and Services, Inc., doing business as FMS Exports-Imports, Inc. 
(``FMS''). This notice summarizes the conduct for which certification 
has been granted.

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. The regulations implementing 
Title III are found at 15 CFR Part 325 (l995).
    The Office of Export Trading Company Affairs (``OETCA'') is issuing 
this notice pursuant to 15 CFR 325.6(b), which requires the Department 
of

[[Page 48887]]

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: All products.
    2. Services: All services.
    3. Technology rights. Technology Rights, including, but not limited 
to, patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets that relate to 
Products and Services.
    4. Export trade facilitation services (as they relate to the export 
of products, services and technology rights). Export Trade Facilitation 
Services including professional services in the areas of government 
relations and assistance with state and federal programs; foreign trade 
and business protocol; consulting; market research and analysis; 
collection of information on trade opportunities; marketing; 
negotiations; joint ventures; shipping; export management; export 
licensing; advertising; documentation and services related to 
compliance with customs requirements; insurance and financing; trade 
show exhibitions; organizational development; management and labor 
strategies; transfer of technology; transportation; and facilitating 
the formation of shippers' associations.

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

    1. To engage in Export Trade in the Export Markets, as an Export 
Intermediary, FMS may:
    a. Provide and/or arrange for the provision of Export Trade 
Facilitation Services;
    b. Engage in promotional and marketing activities and collect 
information on trade opportunities in the Export Markets and distribute 
such information to clients;
    c. Enter into exclusive and/or nonexclusive licensing and/or sales 
agreements with Suppliers for the export of Products, Services and/or 
Technology Rights in the Export Markets;
    d. Enter into exclusive and/or nonexclusive agreements with 
distributors and/or sales representatives in Export Markets;
    e. Allocate export sales or divide Export Markets among Suppliers 
for sale and/or licensing of Products, Services, and/or Technology 
Rights;
    f. Allocate export orders among Suppliers;
    g. Establish the price of Products, Services and/or Technology 
Rights for sale and/or licensing in the Export Markets;
    h. Negotiate, enter into, and/or manage licensing agreements for 
the export of Technology Rights;
    i. Enter into contracts for shipping; and
    j. Exchange information on a one-on-one basis with individual 
Suppliers regarding inventories and near-term production schedules for 
the purpose of determining the availability of Products for export and 
coordinating export with distributors.

Terms and Conditions of Certificate

    l. In engaging in Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation, 
FMS will not intentionally disclose, directly or indirectly, to any 
Supplier any information about any other Supplier's costs, production, 
capacity, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, or U.S. 
business plans, strategies, or methods that is not already generally 
available to the trade or public.
    2. FMS 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

    1. ``Export Intermediary'' means a person who acts as a 
distributor, sales representative, sales or marketing agent, or broker, 
or who performs similar functions, including providing or arranging for 
the provision of Export Trade Facilitation Services.
    2. ``Supplier'' means a person who produces, provides, or sells a 
Product and/or Service.
    3. ``Technology Rights'' means such things as, but not limited to, 
patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets that relate to 
Products and Services.

Protection Provided by the Certificate

    This Certificate protects FMS and its employees acting on its 
behalf from private treble damage actions and government criminal and 
civil suits under U.S. federal and state antitrust laws for the export 
conduct specified in the Certificate and carried out during its 
effective period in compliance with its terms and conditions.

Effective Period of Certificate

    This Certificate continues in effect from the effective date 
indicated below until it is relinquished, modified, or revoked as 
provided in the Act and the Regulations.

Other Conduct

    Nothing in this Certificate prohibits FMS from engaging in conduct 
not specified in this Certificate, but such conduct is subject to the 
normal application of the antitrust laws.

Disclaimer

    The issuance of this Certificate of Review to FMS by the Secretary 
of Commerce with the concurrence of the Attorney General under the 
provisions of the Act does not constitute, explicitly or implicitly, an 
endorsement or opinion by the Secretary or by the Attorney General 
concerning either (a) the viability or quality of the business plans of 
FMS or (b) the legality of such business plans of FMS under the laws of 
the United States (other than as provided in the Act) or under the laws 
of any foreign country. The application of this Certificate to conduct 
in export trade where the United States Government is the buyer or 
where the United States Government bears more than half the cost of the 
transaction is subject to the limitations set forth in Section V. (D.) 
of the ``Guidelines for the Issuance of Export Trade Certificates of 
Review (Second Edition)'', 50 Fed. Reg. 1786 (January 11, 1985).
    In accordance with the authority granted under the Act and 
Regulations, this Certificate of Review is hereby granted to FMS.
    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.


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    Dated: September 11, 1996.
W. Dawn Busby,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-23680 Filed 9-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P