[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 219 (Friday, November 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63451-63452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30415]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 49-98]


Foreign-Trade Zone 1--New York, New York; Application for 
Subzone, Pfizer Inc. (Pharmaceutical Products), Brooklyn, New York

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the City of New York, New York, grantee of FTZ 1, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the pharmaceutical 
manufacturing plant of Pfizer Inc., (Pfizer), in Brooklyn, New York. 
The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the 
Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the 
regulations of the Board (15 CFR part 400). It was formally filed on 
November 3, 1998.
    Pfizer Inc. (U.S.) is a research-based health care company which 
comprises three global businesses--Health Care, Consumer Health Care 
and Animal Health.
    Pfizer's Brooklyn plant (574,055 sq. ft./1 bldg. on 7.8 acres + 
proposed 240,000 sq. ft. warehouse expansion) is located at 630 
Flushing Avenue,

[[Page 63452]]

Brooklyn, New York. The facility (with some 1,200 employees) produces 
finished pharmaceutical products, primarily Atarax, 
Cardura, Diflucan, Glucotrol XL, 
Navane, Norvasc, Unisom, 
Zithromax, and Zoloft. Pfizer is considering 
expanding production at the plant to include three new products, 
VIAGRA treatment for erectile dysfuntion (HTSUS 
3004.90.9040), TIKOSYN anti-arrhythmia treatment (HTSUS 
3004.90.9020) and eletriptan migraine treatment (HTSUS 3004.90.9040). 
Foreign-sourced materials will account for, on average, 70 percent of 
material value, and include items from the following categories:

Aromatic ethers and their derivatives
    HTSUS 2909.30.4000 10.3%
Aromatic monoamines and their derivatives, salts
    HTSUS 2921.49.4500 10.7%
Organo-sulfur compounds
    HTSUS 2930.90.9050 3.7%
Heterocyclic compounds with nitrogen hetero-atoms(s):
    HTSUS 2933.19.9000 6.8%
    HTSUS 2933.59.5300 6.6%
    HTSUS 2933.59.7000 10.7%
    HTSUS 2933.90.7900 10.7%
    HTSUS 2933.90.9000 3.7%
Chemically pure sugar ethers/salts, other than sucrose
    HTSUS 2940.00.6000 5.8%

The company may also purchase from abroad other ingredients and 
materials in the following general categories: gums, starches, waxes, 
vegetable extracts, mineral oils, sugars, empty capsules, protein 
concentrates, prepared animal feed, mineral products, inorganic acids, 
chlorides, clorates, sulfites, sulfates, phosphates, cyanides, 
silicates, radioactive chemicals, rare-earth metal compounds, 
hydroxides, hydrazine and hydroxylamine, chlorides, phosphates, 
carbonates, hydrocarbons, alcohols, phenols, ethers, epoxides, acetals, 
aldehydes, ketone function compounds, mono- and polycarboxylic acids, 
phosphoric esters, amine-, carboxymide, nitrile- and oxygen-function 
compounds, heterocyclic compounds, sulfonamides, insecticides, 
rodenticides, fungicides and herbicides, fertilizers, vitamins, 
hormones, antibiotics, gelatins, enzymes, pharmaceutical glaze, 
essential oils, albumins, gelatins, activated carbon, residual lyes, 
acrylic polymers, color lakes, soaps and detergents, various packaging 
and printing materials, medicaments, pharmaceutical products, and 
instruments and appliances used in medical sciences.
    Zone procedures would exempt Pfizer from Customs duty payments on 
foreign materials used in production for export (some 9 percent of 
production). On domestic sales, the company would be able to choose the 
duty rates that apply to the finished products (duty-free) rather than 
the duty rates that would otherwise apply to the foreign-sourced 
materials noted above (duty-free to 18.6 percent). At the outset, it is 
expected that zone savings would primarily involve choosing the 
finished product duty rate on Viagra, Tikosyn, 
Zeldox and eletriptan (duty-free), rather than the rates 
for their foreign components listed above (duty rates ranging from 3.7% 
to 10.7%). The application indicates that the savings from zone 
procedures will help improve the plant's international competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ 
Staff has been designated examiner to investigate the application and 
report to the Board.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
[60 days from date of publication]. Rebuttal comments in response to 
material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during 
the subsequent 15-day period (to January 27, 1999).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Export Assistance Center, 6 World Trade 
Center, Rm. 635, New York, New York 10048
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: November 4, 1998.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Acting Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-30415 Filed 11-12-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P