[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 77559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31492]



[[Page 77559]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 65-2000]


Foreign-Trade Zone 27--Boston, Massachusetts; Application for 
Subzone, AstraZeneca LP (Pharmaceutical Products), Westborough, MA

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Massachusetts Port Authority, grantee of FTZ 27, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the pharmaceutical 
manufacturing plant of AstraZeneca LP in Westborough, Massachusetts. 
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 28, 2000.
    AstraZeneca LP is a subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC, a global 
prescription pharmaceutical manufacturer, formed in 1999 by a merger 
between Zeneca Group PLC (U.K.) and Astra AB (Sweden).
    The Westborough plant (532,543 sq. ft./13 bldgs. on 83.3 acres) is 
located at 50 and 53 Otis Street, Westborough, Massachusetts. The 
facility (650 employees) produces finished pharmaceutical products and 
their intermediates, including XYLOCAINE, 
POLOCAINE, NAROPIN, SENSORCAINE 
anesthetics, and PULMICORT RESPULES, for the treatment of 
asthma. Foreign-sourced materials will account for, on average, 70 
percent of material value, and include items from the following general 
categories: Gums, starches, waxes, vegetable extracts, mineral oils, 
chemically pure 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, natural magnesium phosphates and carbonates, 
cyclic and acyclic hydrocarbons, alcohols, phenols and peroxides, 
esters, 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, enzymes, essential oils, 
albumins, gelatins, activated carbon, residual lyes, acrylic polymers, 
color lakes, soaps and detergents, protein concentrates, gypsum, 
anhydrite and plasters, petroleum jelly, paraffin and waxes, sulfuric 
acid, other inorganic acids or compounds of nonmetals, ammonia, zinc 
oxide, titanium oxides, fluorides, chlorates, sulfates, salts of 
oxometallic acids, radioactive chemical elements, compounds of rare 
earth metals, derivatives of phenols or peroxides, acetals and 
hemiacetals, phosphoric esters and their salts, diazo-compounds, glands 
for therapeutic uses, wadding, gauze and bandages, pharmaceutical 
glaze, hair preparations, lubricating preparations, albumins, prepared 
glues and adhesives, catalytic preparations, diagnostic or laboratory 
reagents, prepared binders, acrylic polymers, self-adhesive plates and 
sheets, other articles of vulcanized rubber, plastic cases, cartons, 
boxes, printed books, brochures and similar printed matter, carboys, 
bottles, and flasks, stoppers, caps, and lids, aluminum foil, tin 
plates and sheets, taps, cocks and valves, and medical instruments and 
appliances.
    Zone procedures would exempt AstraZeneca from Customs duty payments 
on foreign materials used in production for export. 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 20.0 percent). Although at the outset, 100 percent of the production 
of ZD-0473, a developmental drug for the treatment of cancer, will be 
exported, it is expected that future zone savings would primarily 
involve choosing the finished product duty rate on ZD-0473, (HTSUS 
3004.90.9015--duty-free), rather than the rate for a foreign-sourced 
active ingredient (HTSUS 2843.90.0000--3.7%). 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 
February 10, 2001. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to February 25, 2001).
    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, 164 Northern 
Avenue, World Trade Center, Suite 307, Boston, Massachusetts 02210.

Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 4008, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: November 30, 2000.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-31492 Filed 12-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P