[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 25, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49000-49002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23965]


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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. 01-00003.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade 
Certificate of Review to Sun Valley Rice Co., LLC. (``Sun Valley''), 
Arbuckle, California, effective September 19, 2001. This notice 
summarizes the conduct for which certification has been granted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vanessa M. Bachman, Acting Director, 
Office of Export Trading Company Affairs, International Trade 
Administration, 202-482-5131 (this is not a toll-free number) or by E-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of the Export Trading Company Act 
of 1982 (15 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce 
to issue Export Trade Certificates of Review. The regulations 
implementing Title III are found at 15 CFR part 325 (2000).
    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

I. Export Trade

1. Products

    California rice and rice products (rough rice, brown rice, milled, 
under milled, or unpolished rice, coated rice, oiled rice, enriched 
rice, rice bran, rice polish, head rice, broken rice, second head rice, 
brewers rice, screenings, rice flour, rice hulls).

2. Services

    All services related to the export of Products.

[[Page 49001]]

3. Technology Rights

    All intellectual property rights associated with Products or 
Services, including, but not limited to: patents, trademarks, services 
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)

    Export Trade Facilitation Services, including, but not limited to: 
Consulting and trade strategy, arranging and coordinating delivery of 
Products to port of export; arranging for inland and/or ocean 
transportation; allocating Products to vessel; arranging for storage 
space at port; arranging for warehousing, stevedoring, wharfage, 
handling, inspection, fumigation, freight forwarding; insurance and 
financing; documentation and services related to compliance with 
customs' requirements; sales and marketing; export brokerage; foreign 
marketing and analysis; foreign market development; overseas 
advertising and promotion; Products research and design based upon 
foreign buyer and consumer preferences; inspection and quality control; 
shipping and export management; export licensing; provisions of 
overseas sales and distribution facilities and overseas sales staff; 
legal; accounting and tax assistance; development and application of 
management information systems; trade show exhibitions; professional 
services in the area of government relations and assistance with 
federal and state export assistance programs (e.g., Export Enhancement 
and Market Promotion programs); joint ventures; invoicing(billing) 
foreign buyers; collecting (letters of credit and other financial 
instruments) payment for Products; and arranging for payment of 
applicable commissions and fees.

II. 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).

III. Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation

    To engage in Export Trade in the Export Markets, The Sun Valley 
Rice Company, LLC, on a transaction-by-transaction basis, may:
    1. Exchange information with Suppliers or other entities 
individually regarding availability of and prices for Products for 
export, and inventories and near-term production and delivery schedules 
for purposes of determining the availability of Products for purchase 
and export and coordinating export of Products with its distributors 
and customers in the Export Markets;
    2. Confer with Suppliers, on a one-to-one basis, about the 
possibility of offers to and purchases by Sun Valley for a specific 
export sales opportunity;
    3. Solicit Suppliers to offer/sell Products through the certified 
activities of Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC;
    4. Solicit orders from potential foreign distributors and 
purchasers for sale of Products in Export Markets;
    5. Prepare and submit offers of Products to potential foreign 
distributors, purchasers, and other entities for sale in Export 
Markets;
    6. Establish the price and quantity of Products for sale in Export 
Markets and set other terms for any export sale;
    7. Negotiate and enter into agreements for sale of products in 
Export Markets;
    8. Enter into agreements to purchase Products from one or more 
Suppliers to fulfill specific sale obligations, which may include 
agreements whereby Suppliers agree to deal exclusively with Sun Valley 
Rice Company, LLC, for sale of the Products in a particular Export 
Market or Markets and/or whereby Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, agrees 
to purchase exclusively any particular Supplier's (or Suppliers') 
Products for resale in the Export Market;
    9. Assign sales of Products to, and/or divide export orders among, 
Suppliers or other persons based on orders, export markets, 
territories, customers, or any other basis Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC 
deems fit;
    10. Broker and take title to the Products;
    11. Enter into agreements with one or more Export Trade 
Intermediaries or export trade purchasers for the purchase of Products, 
which may be agreements whereby Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, agrees to 
deal exclusively with an entity or customer in a particular Export 
Market, and/or by which that customer or intermediary agrees to deal 
exclusively with Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC and/or agrees not to 
purchase from Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC's, competitors in any Export 
Market, unless so authorized;
    12. Apply for and utilize government export assistance and 
incentive programs;
    13. Participate in the bidding process and award of tender proceeds 
under ``The Association for the Administration of Rice Quotas, Inc.'' 
(part of the US/EU Enlargement Agreement) as may be amended or 
succeeded providing for EU rice tarriff-rate quotas signed on July 22, 
1996;
    14. Refuse to purchase Products or provide information regarding 
export sales of Products to any Supplier(s) or other entities for any 
reason Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, deems fit;
    15. Refuse to sell Products, to quote prices of Products, to 
provide information regarding Products, or to market or to sell 
Products to any customers or distributors in the Export Markets, or in 
any countries or geographic areas in the Export Markets; and
    16. Meet with Suppliers or other entities periodically to discuss 
general matters specific to the activities approved in this certificate 
(not related to price and supply arrangements between Applicant and the 
individual Suppliers) such as relevant facts concerning the Export 
Markets (e.g., demand conditions, transportation costs and prices in 
the export markets), or the possibility of joint marketing, bidding or 
selling arrangements in the Export Markets.

IV. Definitions

    ``Supplier'' means a person that produces, provides, or sells 
Products and/or Services.
    ``Export Intermediary'' means a person who acts as distributor, 
sales representative, sales or marketing agent, or broker, or who 
performs similar functions including or arranging for the provision of 
Export Trade Facilitation Services.

V. Terms and Conditions of Certificate

    1. In engaging in the above Export Trade Activities and Methods of 
Operation, The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, shall not intentionally 
disclose, directly or indirectly, to any Supplier, any information 
about any other Supplier's costs, production, capacity, inventories, 
domestic prices, domestic sales, terms of domestic marketing or sales, 
or U.S. business plans, strategies, or methods that is not already 
generally available to the trade or public.
    2. The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, will comply with requests made 
by the Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the 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 believes 
that the information or documents are required to determine that the 
Export Trade and/or the Export Trade Activities and Methods of

[[Page 49002]]

Operation of a person protected by this Certificate of Review continue 
to comply with the standards of section 303(a) of the Act.

VI. Protection Provided by Certificate

    This Certificate protects The Sun Valley Rice Company, LLC, its 
directors, officers, and employees acting on its behalf, 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. 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: September 20, 2001.
Vanessa M. Bachman,
Acting Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 01-23965 Filed 9-24-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P