[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1441-1442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-451]


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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. 02-00003.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade 
Certificate of Review to Corn Refiners Association (``CRA''). This 
notice summarizes the conduct for which certification has been granted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey C. Anspacher, Director, Office 
of Export Trading Company Affairs, International Trade Administration, 
by telephone at (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. sections 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 (2001). 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 the 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

Export Trade

    High fructose corn syrup (``HFCS'') in the following two forms: 42 
percent fructose and 55 percent fructose and enriched HFCS (greater 
than 55 percent fructose).

Export Markets

    HFCS for which tariff-rate quota (TRQ) rights are allocated will be 
exported only to Mexico.

Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation

Purpose
    The CRA will manage the system as set forth below for allocating 
rights to ship under tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) permitting duty-free 
entry of U.S. HFCS into Mexico.
    The CRA shall permit any producer of HFCS in the United States to 
become a member of the association for purposes of receiving TRQ rights 
under this system and shall seek an amendment of this Certificate to 
make such a producer a member under this Certificate.
TRQ Administrator
    The CRA will contract with an independent third-party administrator 
who will bear responsibility for administering the TRQ System, subject 
to general oversight and supervision by the Board of Directors of the 
CRA. The administrator may not be otherwise related to the CRA or any 
member or in any way engaged in the production, distribution or sale of 
HFCS.
TRQ System
    The administrator shall allocate TRQ rights based on the share each 
member's U.S. HFCS production capacity represents of total U.S. HFCS 
production capacity. The administrator may advise each member 
individually of the quantity of TRQ rights allocated to that member. In 
accordance with those allocations, the administrator shall, upon the 
request of a member, issue to the member evidence of TRQ rights to ship 
a specified quantity of U.S. HFCS duty-free to Mexico up to the 
outstanding total of the member's allocation.
    Evidence of TRQ rights issued by the administrator shall be freely 
transferable. Transfers of TRQ rights are subject to the normal 
application of the antitrust laws.
Confidential Information
    Each member may provide to the administrator information regarding 
its capacity to produce HFCS in the United States for the purpose of 
calculating the member's allocation of TRQ rights.
    Any non-public, company-specific business information or data 
submitted by an applicant for membership, by a member, or by any other 
person in connection with the TRQ System shall be marked 
``confidential'' and submitted to the administrator, who shall maintain 
its confidentiality. The administrator shall not disclose such 
confidential information to any member other than the submitter, or to 
any officers, agents, or employees of any member other than the 
submitter, and shall not disclose such confidential information to any 
other person except to another neutral third party as necessary to make 
the determination for which the information was submitted, to allocate 
TRQ quantities, or in connection with reports to the U.S. Department of 
Commerce as required by the Certificate or the arbitration of a 
dispute.
Cooperation with the U.S. and Mexican Governments
    The CRA will provide to the U.S. Government and the Government of 
Mexico whatever information and consultations may be useful in order to 
facilitate cooperation between the governments concerning the 
implementation and operation of the TRQ System. Furthermore, directly 
or through the U.S. Government, the CRA will endeavor to accommodate 
any information requests from the Government of Mexico (while 
protecting confidential information entrusted to the administrator), 
and will consult with the Government of Mexico as appropriate. All such 
information and consultations shall be subject to the provision on 
Confidential Information (above) and the Terms and Conditions (below).

Definition

    Neutral third-party, as used in this Certificate of Review, means a 
party not related to CRA or any member and who is not engaged in the 
production, distribution or sale of HFCS.

[[Page 1442]]

Members (Within the Meaning of Section 325.(1) of the Regulations)

    Members (in addition to the CRA): A.E. Staley Manufacturing 
Company, Decatur, Illinois (subsidiary of Tate & Lyle plc, London, 
United Kingdom); Archer Daniels Midland Company, Decatur, Illinois; 
Cargill, Incorporated, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Corn Products 
International, Inc., Westchester, Illinois; National Starch and 
Chemical Company, Bridgewater, New Jersey (subsidiary of ICI plc, 
London, United Kingdom); Penford Corporation, Bellevue, Washington; and 
Roquette America, Inc., Keokuk, Iowa (subsidiary of Roquette 
Fr[egrave]res, Lestrem, France).

Protection Provided by Certificate

    This Certificate protects the CRA, its members, and directors, 
officers, and employees acting on behalf of the CRA and its members 
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.

Terms and Conditions of Certificate

    1. In engaging in export trade activities and methods of operation, 
neither CRA, any member, the administrator, nor any neutral third-party 
shall intentionally disclose, directly or indirectly, to any member 
(including parent companies, subsidiaries, or other entities related to 
any member) any information regarding any other member's costs, 
production, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, domestic 
customers, capacity to produce HFCS for domestic sale, domestic orders, 
terms of domestic marketing or sale, or U.S. business plans, 
strategies, or methods, unless such information is already generally 
available to the trade or public.
    2. CRA and its members 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 of Commerce 
believes that the information or documents are required to determine 
that the export trade, export trade activities and methods of operation 
of a person protected by this Certificate of Review continue to comply 
with the standards of section 303(a) of the Act.

Effective Period of Certificate

    This Certificate continues in effect from the effective date 
indicated below until it is relinquished, modified, or revoked as 
provided in the Act and the regulations.

Other Conduct

    Nothing in this Certificate prohibits the CRA and its members from 
engaging in conduct not specified in this Certificate, but such conduct 
is subject to the normal application of the antitrust laws.

Disclaimer

    The issuance of this Certificate of Review to CRA by the Secretary 
of Commerce with the concurrence of the Attorney General under the 
provisions of the Act does not constitute, explicitly or implicitly, an 
endorsement or opinion by the Secretary of Commerce or by the Attorney 
General concerning either (a) the viability or quality of the business 
plans of CRA or its members or (b) the legality of such business plans 
of CRA or its members under the laws of the United States (other than 
as provided in the Act) or under the laws of any foreign country.
    The application of this Certificate to conduct in export trade 
where the United States Government is the buyer or where the United 
States Government bears more than half the cost of the transaction is 
subject to the limitations set forth in section V.(D.) of the 
``Guidelines for the Issuance of Export Trade Certificates of Review 
(Second Edition),'' 50 FR 1786 (January 11, 1985).
    In accordance with the authority granted under the Act and the 
Regulations, this Certificate of Review is hereby issued to the Corn 
Refiners Association, Inc.
    The effective date of the Certificate is December 30, 2002. 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: December 30, 2002.
Jeffrey C. Anspacher,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-451 Filed 1-9-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P