[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42990-42992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17613]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION: Notice of application.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Export Trading Company Affairs (``OETCA''), 
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, has 
received an application for an Export Trade Certificate of Review. This 
notice summarizes the conduct for which certification is sought and 
requests comments relevant to whether the Certificate should be issued.

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) or E-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of the Export Trading Company Act 
of 1982 (15 U.S.C. 4001-21) (``the Act'') authorizes the Secretary of 
Commerce, with the concurrence of the Attorney General, to issue Export 
Trade Certificates of Review. A Certificate of Review protects the 
holder and the members identified in the Certificate from state and 
federal government antitrust actions and from private, treble damage 
antitrust actions for the export conduct specified in the Certificate 
and carried out in compliance with its terms and conditions. Section 
302(b)(1) of the Act and 15 CFR Section 325.6(a) require the Secretary 
to publish a notice in the Federal Register identifying the applicant 
and summarizing its proposed export conduct.

Request for Public Comments

    Interested parties may submit written comments relevant to the 
determination whether a Certificate should be issued. If the comments 
include any privileged or confidential business information, it must be 
clearly marked and a nonconfidential version of the comments 
(identified as such) should be included. Any comments not marked 
privileged or confidential business information will be deemed to be 
nonconfidential. An original and five copies, plus two copies of the 
nonconfidential version, should be submitted no later than 20 days 
after the date of this notice to: Office of Export Trading Company 
Affairs, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, 
Room 1104H, Washington, DC 20230, or transmit by E-mail at 
[email protected]. Information submitted by any person is exempt from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). 
However, nonconfidential versions of the comments will be made 
available to the applicant if necessary for determining whether or not 
to issue the Certificate. Comments should refer to this application as 
``Export Trade Certificate of Review, application number 00-00004.'' A 
summary of the application follows.

Summary of the Application

    Applicant: Overseas Distribution Solutions, L.L.C. (``ODS''), 531 
Central Avenue, Suite D, Laurel, Mississippi, 39440.
    Contact: Ronald A. Oleynik, Attorney.
    Telephone: (202) 457-7183.
    Application No.: 00-00004.
    Date Deemed Submitted: June 29, 2000.
    Members (in addition to applicant): AJC International, Inc., 
Atlanta, GA; Cagle's Inc., Atlanta, GA; Peterson Farms Inc. (d/b/a 
Crystal Lake), Decatur, AR; Fieldale Farms Corporation, Baldwin, GA; 
and Pilgrim's Pride Corp., Pittsburg, TX.
    ODS seeks a Certificate to cover the following specific Export 
Trade, Export Markets, and Export Trade Activities and Methods of 
Operations.

Export Trade

    1. Products
    Poultry (chicken) meat (Boilers, Fryers, and Roaster Chickens).
    2. Services
    All services related to the export of Products.
    3. Technology Rights
    All intellectual property rights associated with Products or 
Services, including, but not limited to: Patents, trademarks, service 
marks, trade names, copyrights, neighboring (related) rights, trade 
secrets, know-how, and sui generis forms of protection for databases 
and computer programs.
    4. Export Trade Facilitation Services (as they Relate to the Export 
of Products, Services and Technology Rights)
    Export Trade Facilitation Services, including, but not limited to: 
Consulting and trade strategy; sales and marketing; export brokerage; 
foreign marketing research and analysis; foreign market development; 
overseas advertising and promotion; product research and design based 
on foreign buyer and consumer

[[Page 42991]]

preferences; documentation and services related to compliance with 
customs requirements; joint ventures; inspection and quality control; 
transportation; shipping and export management; export licensing; 
insurance and financing; 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; trade show exhibitions; professional services in the area 
of government relations and assistance with state and federal export 
assistance programs, such as the Export Enhancement and Market 
Promotion 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 Members' Products and 
Services into the Export Markets, ODS and/or one or more of its Members 
may:
    1. Provide and/or arrange for the provision of Export Trade 
Facilitation Services;
    2. Design and execute foreign marketing strategies for its Export 
Markets and collect and distribute information on trade opportunities 
in the Export Markets;
    3. Prepare joint bids, establish export prices, and establish terms 
of sale in the Export Markets;
    4. Design, develop and market generic corporate labels;
    5. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-
exclusive licensing agreements regarding its Products, Services, or 
Technology Rights with Export Intermediaries or other persons selling 
its Products in Export Markets;
    6. Engage in joint promotional activities directly targeted at 
developing the 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;
    7. 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;
    8. Negotiate, enter into, and implement 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 its Members in the export of Products into the Export 
Markets;
    9. Advise and cooperate with agencies of the U.S. Government in 
establishing procedures regulating the export of Members' Products, 
Services and/or Technology Rights into the Export Markets;
    10. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-
exclusive sales agreements with Export Intermediaries, or other persons 
selling its Products for the transfer of title to Products, Services, 
and/or Technology Rights in the Export Markets;
    11. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-
exclusive pricing and/or consignment agreements for the sale and 
shipment of its Products and Services to Export Markets;
    12. Allocate export sales, export orders and/or divide Export 
Markets, among Export Intermediaries, or other persons for the sale, 
licensing, and/or transfer of title to its Products, Services, and/or 
Technology Rights for sale in the Export Markets;
    13. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce territorial and 
customer restraints on Export Intermediaries, or other persons 
regarding the sale, licensing and/or transfer of title to its Products, 
Services, and/or Technology Rights for sale in the Export Markets;
    14. Enter into, terminate, amend or enforce exclusive or non-
exclusive agreements for the tying of its Products and Services, the 
setting of prices, and/or the distribution, shipping or handling of its 
Products or Services in the Export Markets;
    15. Broker or take title to the Products;
    16. Purchase Products from non-Members whenever necessary to 
fulfill specific sales obligations;
    17. Solicit non-Members to become Members;
    18. Communicate and process export orders;
    19. Assist each Member in maintaining the quality standards 
necessary to be successful in the Export Markets;
    20. Negotiate freight rate contracts with individual carriers and 
carrier conferences either directly or indirectly through shippers 
associations and/or freight forwarders;
    21. Bill and collect from foreign buyers and provide accounting, 
tax, legal and consulting assistance and services;
    22. Enter into exclusive agreements to provide, produce, negotiate, 
contract, and administer Export Trade Services and Trade Facilitation 
Services;
    23. Apply for and utilize applicable export assistance and 
incentive programs which are available within the governmental and 
private sectors, such as the USDA Export Enhancement and Market 
Promotion programs;
    24. Refuse to quote prices for, or to market or sell, Products or 
Services to an Export Market or Markets, or to non-Member distributors, 
buyer and/or sales representatives who directly or indirectly market or 
sell to an Export Market or Markets;
    25. Utilize common marking and identification of Product sold in 
the Export Markets; and
    26. Exchange information with and among the Members as necessary to 
carry out the Export Trade Facilitation Services and Export Trade 
Activities and Methods of Operation, including:
    (a) Information regarding sales and marketing efforts and 
strategies in the Export Markets, including price, quality, quantity, 
and source; projected demand in the Export Markets for Products; 
customary terms of sale, prices and availability of Products 
independently committed by Members 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 regarding expenses specific to exporting to and 
within the Export Markets, including transportation, transshipments, 
intermodal shipments, insurance, inland freight, port storage, 
commissions, export sales, documentation, financing and Customs duties 
or taxes;
    (c) Information regarding U.S. and foreign legislation and 
regulations, including federal marketing order programs that may affect 
sales to the Export Markets;
    (d) Information about ODS's or its Members' export operations, 
including sales and distribution networks established by ODS or its 
Members in the Export Markets, and prior export

[[Page 42992]]

sales by Members, including export price information; and
    (e) Information about ODS's or its Members' credit and collections 
practices and problems, claims, and sales allowances related to Export 
Markets.

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 ODS and who has been 
certified as a ``Member'' within the meaning of Section 325.2 (1) of 
the Regulations.

    Dated: July 6, 2000.
Morton Schnabel,
Director Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 00-17613 Filed 7-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-U