[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 65 (Friday, April 4, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16138-16140]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-8582]


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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. 96-00008.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade 
Certificate of Review to the U.S. Rice Industry Coalition for Exports, 
Inc. (``U.S. RICE ''). 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 (1996).
    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

Products
    Semi-milled and wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or 
glazed (Harmonized Tariff Schedule 1006.30) (``milled rice''), husked 
rice (Harmonized Tariff Schedule 1006.20) (``brown rice''), broken rice 
(Harmonized Tariff Schedule 1006.40), and paddy or rough rice 
(Harmonized Tariff Schedule 1006.10).

Export Markets

    For purposes of allocating through an open bidding procedure the 
European Union's tariff rate quota: The countries of the European 
Union.
    For purposes of Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation 
2(c) and 4(e): 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. U.S. RICE will administer a system for managing the U.S. share 
of the European Union (``EU'') tariff-rate quotas (``TRQs'') for 
milled, brown, and broken rice (roughly 38,000 metric tons of milled 
rice, 8,000 metric tons of brown rice and 7,000 metric tons of broken 
rice annually) agreed to as compensation to the United States for the 
enlargement of the EU to include Austria, Finland, and Sweden, as 
follows:
    a. U.S. RICE will allocate the TRQs exclusively through an open 
tender to the highest bidder(s). Any person domiciled, incorporated or 
otherwise legally established in the United States is eligible to bid. 
Bidders need not be members of U.S. RICE and need not be included as 
Members in this Certificate.
    b. U.S. RICE will retain an independent third party (``the TRQ 
Administrator'') to administer the quota tender system. The TRQ 
Administrator may be an individual, partnership, corporation (for 
profit or non-profit), or any representative thereof that is not 
engaged in the production, milling, distribution, or sale of milled, 
brown, broken, or paddy rice.
    c. At least 45 days before the opening of each TRQ tranche, as 
defined by the EU, the TRQ Administrator will publish notice of the 
bidding process for that tranche in the Journal of Commerce. The notice 
will invite independent bids and

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specify a bid date that is (i) at least 5 working days after the notice 
is published and (ii) at least 30 days before the opening of the 
tranche. (If the EU announces the opening of a TRQ tranche less than 45 
days before the opening of that tranche, the TRQ Administrator will 
publish the required notice within 2 working days of the EU 
announcement and specify a bid date that is at least 5 working days 
after the notice is published.) Each bidder will independently submit 
its bid to the TRQ Administrator on the published bid date, together 
with a bid deposit, initially set at $25 per metric ton. The TRQ 
Administrator will retain the full deposit for the tonnage on which 
bids are successful, and up to 25 percent of the deposit for the 
tonnage on which bids are not successful, to cover costs of 
administering the TRQ system. The remainder of the deposit on an 
unsuccessful bid will be refunded to the bidder.
    d. Following the close of the bidding, the TRQ Administrator will 
promptly review the bids for conformity with bidding procedures, and 
will notify the high bidder(s) winning TRQ allocations. The high 
bidder(s) will then have 48 hours to post a five percent performance 
bond. Upon receipt of the amount bid from a high bidder, the TRQ 
Administrator will promptly issue Export Certificate(s) of Quota 
(``ECQs'') for the tonnage awarded. ECQs will be freely tradable. Each 
performance bond will be discharged on submission of export 
documentation demonstrating that the ECQ was used to export U.S. rice 
to the EU.
    e. The TRQ Administrator will notify all participants in the 
bidding process of (i) the total tonnage for which ECQs were awarded, 
and (ii) the price per metric ton of the highest bid, for each TRQ.
    2. The bid proceeds will be distributed and otherwise used as 
follows:
    a. All bid proceeds will be deposited in a trust fund. Each year, 
the TRQ Administrator will distribute funds from the tenders for a 
particular quota year to qualifying members of U.S. RICE in proportion 
to each such member's percentage share by volume of total exports of 
U.S. rice to all destinations in the year preceding the quota year. No 
U.S. RICE member may receive a distribution in excess of that amount.
    b. Any person domiciled, incorporated, or otherwise legally 
established in the United States that has exported U.S. rice in the 
year of application or the preceding calendar year, or is actively 
engaged in rice milling in the United States may join U.S. RICE. 
Prospective members must execute the U.S. RICE Operating Agreement. A 
member of U.S. RICE will qualify for a particular distribution by (i) 
joining U.S. RICE, and (ii) documenting its share of U.S. rice exports 
for the relevant year to the TRQ Administrator.
    c. Funds remaining in the trust fund after a distribution will be 
used as necessary to cover operating expenses, and thereafter for 
promotion of U.S. rice exports worldwide through activities generally 
comparable to those funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 
market access program.
    3. The TRQ Administrator may, as necessary, receive confidential 
information and documentation of rice exports from members and 
prospective members of U.S. RICE in connection with membership 
applications and distributions of bid proceeds. The TRQ Administrator 
will maintain the confidentiality of such information and will not 
disclose it to any other member or any other person except to another 
neutral third party as necessary to process membership applications and 
distributions of bid proceeds.
    4. U.S. RICE and/or its Members may also:
    a. Exchange and discuss information regarding the structure and 
operation of the U.S. RICE TRQ management system, including the types 
of information regarding past export transactions that are necessary 
for implementing the system;
    b. Assess the operation of the system and consider and implement 
modifications to improve the system's workability;
    c. Exchange and discuss information concerning U.S. and foreign 
agreements, legislation, and regulations affecting the U.S. RICE TRQ 
management system;
    d. Discuss and modify bid deposit fees as appropriate for covering 
costs of administering the TRQ system, and discuss and modify 
performance bond requirements as appropriate for securing timely 
submission of documentation of ECQ usage;
    e. Discuss, decide on, and implement export promotion activities to 
be undertaken with post-distribution funds in the trust fund;
    f. Otherwise exchange and discuss information as necessary to 
implement the foregoing activities and take the necessary action to 
implement the U.S. RICE TRQ management system, relating to the U.S.-EU 
Enlargement Agreement and any successor or related agreements, and 
related EU regulations;
    g. Provide nonconfidential information to, and consult as 
appropriate with, officials of the U.S. Government and the European 
Commission concerning the operation of the U.S. RICE TRQ management 
system; and
    h. Meet to engage in the activities described above.

Abbreviated Amendment Procedures

    New U.S. RICE members may be incorporated as Members in the 
Certificate through an abbreviated amendment procedure. Under the 
procedure, U.S. RICE will notify the Secretary of Commerce and the 
Attorney General, in writing, of those members of U.S. RICE that wish 
to be included as Members in the Certificate. The notification will 
include a certification from each such member of its domestic and 
export sales of Products in its preceding fiscal year. Notice of the 
members so identified shall be published in the Federal Register. If 30 
days or more following publication in the Federal Register, the 
Secretary of Commerce, with the concurrence of the Attorney General, 
determines that the incorporation in the Certificate of these members 
through the abbreviated amendment procedure is consistent with the 
standards of the Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall amend the 
Certificate to incorporate such members, effective as of the date on 
which the application for amendment is deemed submitted. If the 
Secretary of Commerce does not so amend the Certificate within 60 days 
of publication in the Federal Register, such amendment must be sought 
through the normal amendment procedure.

Terms and Conditions of Certificate

    1. In engaging in Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation, 
neither U.S. RICE nor any Member shall intentionally disclose, directly 
or indirectly, to any other Member (including parent companies, 
subsidiaries, or other entities related to any Member not named as a 
Member) any information regarding its or any other Member's costs, 
production, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, capacity to 
produce Products for domestic sale, 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 export sale and the disclosure is limited 
to the prospective purchaser.
    2. U.S. RICE and its Members will comply with requests made by the 
Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the

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Secretary 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

    ``Member'' means a member of U.S. RICE that has been certified as a 
``Member'' within the meaning of Sec. 325.2(l) of the Regulations, as 
listed in Attachment I. Any U.S. RICE member that is not a Member may 
request that U.S. RICE file for an amended certificate. A Member may 
withdraw from coverage under this certificate at any time by giving 
written notice to U.S. RICE, a copy of which U.S. RICE will promptly 
transmit to the Secretary of Commerce and the Attorney General.

Protection Provided by Certificate

    This Certificate protects U.S. RICE, its Members, and directors, 
officers, and employees acting on behalf of U.S. RICE and its Members 
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 U.S. RICE and its Members 
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 U.S. RICE 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 of Commerce or 
by the Attorney General concerning either (a) the viability or quality 
of the business plans of U.S. RICE or its Members or (b) the legality 
of such business plans of U.S. RICE or its Members 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 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 FR 1786 (January 11, 1985).
    In accordance with the authority granted under the Act and 
Regulations, this Certificate of Review has been granted to the U.S. 
Rice Industry Coalition for Exports, Inc.
    A copy of the Certificate will be kept in the International Trade 
Administration's Freedom of Information Records Inspection Facility, 
Room 4001, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: March 31, 1997.
W. Dawn Busby,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.

Attachment I

U.S. Rice Industry Coalition for Exports, Inc.

(Application No. 96-00008)
Continental Grain Company, New York, New York
Newfield Partners Ltd., Miami, Florida

[FR Doc. 97-8582 Filed 4-3-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P