[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 160 (Wednesday, August 19, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44420-44422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-22255]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION: Notice of Issuance of an Export Trade Certificate of Review, 
Application No. 98-00002.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade 
Certificate of Review to All State Packers, Inc. This notice summarizes 
the conduct for which certification has been granted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Morton Schnabel, 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 l982 (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 (1998).
    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.

[[Page 44421]]

Description of Certified Conduct

Export Trade

1. Products
    Fresh California pears.
2. Services
    Inspection, quality control, marketing and promotional services.
3. Technology Rights
    Proprietary rights to all technology associated with Products or 
Services, including, but not limited to: Patents, trademarks, service 
marks, trade names, copyrights, trade secrets, and know-how.
4. Export Trade Facilitation Services (as They Relate to the Export of 
Products, Services and Technology Rights)
    All export trade-related facilitation services, including, but not 
limited to: Consulting and trade strategy; sales and marketing; export 
brokerage; foreign marketing research; foreign market development; 
overseas advertising and promotion; product research and design based 
on foreign buyer and consumer preferences; communication and processing 
of export orders; inspection and quality control; transportation; 
freight forwarding and trade documentation; insurance; billing of 
foreign buyers; collection (letters of credit and other financial 
instruments); provision of overseas sales and distribution facilities 
and overseas sales staff; legal, accounting and tax assistance; 
management information systems development and application; assistance 
and administration of government export assistance programs, such as 
the USDA Market Access and Supplier Credit Programs.

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

    In connection with the promotion and sale of ASP's and Member's 
Products and Services into the Export Markets, ASP and its Member may:
    1. Design and execute foreign marketing strategies for its Export 
Markets;
    2. Prepare joint bids, establish export prices for Products and 
Services and establish terms of sale in the Export Markets in 
connection with potential or actual bona fide opportunities;
    3. Grant sales and distribution rights for the Products, whether or 
not exclusive, into designated Export Markets to foreign agents or 
importers (``exclusive'' meaning that ASP and Member may agree not to 
sell the Products into the designated Export Markets through any other 
foreign distributor, and that the foreign distributor may agree to 
represent only ASP and/or Member in the Export Markets and none of its 
competitors);
    4. Design, develop and market generic corporate labels for use in 
the Export Markets;
    5. Engage in joint promotional activities directly targeted at 
developing the Export Markets, such as: Arranging marketing trips; 
brochures, promotions 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 ASP and the Member;
    6. Conduct product and packaging research and development 
exclusively for the export of the Products, such as meeting foreign 
regulatory requirements and foreign buyer specifications and 
identifying and designing for foreign buyer and consumer preferences;
    7. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and other 
foreign persons regarding non-tariff trade barriers in the Export 
Markets, such as packaging requirements, and providing specialized 
packing operations and other quality control procedures to be followed 
by ASP and Member in the export of Products into the Export Markets;
    8. Advise and cooperate with agencies of the U.S. Government in 
establishing procedures regulating the export of ASP's and Member's 
Products, Services and/or Technology Rights into the Export Markets;
    9. Negotiate and enter into purchase agreements with buyers in the 
Export Markets regarding the export prices, quantities, type and 
quality of Products, time periods, and the terms and conditions of 
sale;
    10. Broker or take title to the Products intended for Export 
Markets;
    11. Purchase Products from non-Members whenever necessary to 
fulfill specific sales obligations; provided that ASP and/or Member 
shall make such purchases only on a transaction-by-transaction basis 
and when ASP and/or Member are unable to supply, in a timely manner, 
the requisite Products at a price competitive under the circumstances;
    12. Solicit non-Members to become Members;
    13. Communicate and process export orders;
    14. Assist each other in maintaining the quality standards 
necessary to be successful in the Export Markets;
    15. Provide Export Trade Facilitation Services with respect to 
Products, Services and Technology (including such items as commodity 
fumigation, refrigeration and storage techniques, and other quality 
control procedures to be followed in the export of Products into Export 
Markets);
    16. Provide, procure, negotiate, contract and administer 
transportation services for Products in the course of export, including 
overseas freight transportation, inland freight transportation from the 
packing house to the U.S. port of embarkment, leasing of transportation 
equipment and facilities, storage and warehousing, stevedoring, 
wharfage and handling, insurance, forwarder services, trade 
documentation and services, Customs clearance, financial instruments 
and foreign exchange;
    17. Negotiate freight rate contracts with individual carriers and 
carrier conferences either directly or indirectly through shippers 
associations and/or freight forwarders;
    18. Arrange financing through bank holding companies, governmental 
financial assistance programs and other arrangements;
    19. Bill and collect from foreign buyers and provide accounting, 
tax, legal and consulting assistance and services in relation to Export 
Trade Activities and Methods of Operation;
    20. Enter into exclusive agreements with non-Member(s) to provide 
Export Trade Services and Export Trade Facilitation Services;
    21. Open and operate overseas sales and distribution offices and 
companies to facilitate the sales and distribution of the Products in 
the Export Markets;
    22. Apply for and utilize applicable export assistance and 
incentive programs which are available within the governmental sector, 
such as the USDA Market Access and Supplier Credit Programs;
    23. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and 
foreign persons to develop countertrade arrangements, provided that 
this Certificate does not protect any conduct related to the sale of 
goods in the United States that are imported as part of any 
countertrade transactions;
    24. Refuse to deal with or provide quotations to other Export

[[Page 44422]]

Intermediaries for sales of ASP's and Member's Products into the Export 
Markets; and
    25. Exchange information between ASP and Member as necessary to 
carry out Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation, including:
    a. Information about sales and marketing efforts and strategies in 
the Export Markets, including pricing; projected demand in the Export 
Markets for Products; customary terms of sale, prices and availability 
of Products independently committed by Member for sales in the Export 
Markets; prices and sales of Products in the Export Markets; and 
specifications by buyers and consumers in the Export Markets;
    b. Information about the price, quality, quantity, source and 
delivery dates of Products available from ASP and its Member for 
export;
    c. Information about terms and conditions of contracts for sales in 
the Export Markets to be considered and/or bid on by ASP and/or its 
Member;
    d. Information about joint bidding opportunities;
    e. Information about methods by which export sales are to be 
allocated among ASP and Member;
    f. Information about expenses specific to exporting to and within 
the Export Markets, including transportation, transshipments, 
intermodal shipments, insurance, inland freight to port, port storage, 
commissions, export sales, documentation, financing and customs duties 
or taxes;
    g. Information about U.S. and foreign legislation and regulations, 
including Federal marketing order programs that may affect sales to 
Export Markets; and
    h. Information about ASP's or its Member's export operations, 
including sales and distribution networks established by ASP and Member 
in the Export Markets, and prior export sales by ASP and Member, 
including export price information.

Definitions

    1. Export Intermediary means a person who acts as 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. Member means a person who has membership in the ASP Export Trade 
Certificate and who has been certified as a ``Member'' within the 
meaning of Sec. 325.2(1) of the Regulations. Carter Thomas, LLC is 
currently the only member.
    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, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: August 13, 1998.
Morton Schnabel,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 98-22255 Filed 8-18-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P