[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 186 (Thursday, September 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55372-55374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24251]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION: Notice of application.

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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: 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 E-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of the Export Trading Company Act 
of 1982 (15 U.S.C. 4001-21) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce 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 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 03-00006.'' A 
summary of the application follows.

[[Page 55373]]

Summary of the Application

    Applicant: Western Fruit Exporters, L.L.C. (``WFE''), 105 South 
18th Street, Suite  205, Yakima, Washington 98901, Contact: 
Donald K. Franklin, Attorney, Telephone: (206) 777-7421.
    Application No.: 03-00006.
    Date Deemed Submitted: September 8, 2003.
    WFE is a Limited Liability Company formed under the laws of the 
State of Washington. Members (in addition to applicant): Eola Cherry 
Company, Inc., Gervais, OR; Diana Fruit Co., Inc., Santa Clara, CA; 
Johnson Foods Co., Inc., Sunnyside, WA; and Oregon Cherry Growers, 
Inc., Salem, OR.
    WFE seeks a Certificate to cover the following specific Export 
Trade, Export Markets, and Export Trade Activities and Methods of 
Operations.

I. Export Trade

1. Products

    Brine sweet cherries in any stage of processing and finished 
maraschino cherry products in any stage of packaging.

2. Services

    Inspection, quality control, marketing and promotional services.

3. Technology Rights

    Proprietary rights to all technology 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 generic 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)

    All export trade-related facilitation services, including, but not 
limited to: Consulting and trade strategy; sales and marketing; export 
brokerage; foreign marketing research; foreign market development; 
overseas advertising and promotion; product research and design, based 
on foreign buyer and consumer preferences; communication and processing 
of export orders; inspection and quality control; transportation; 
freight forwarding and trade documentation; insurance; 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; assistance 
and administration related to participation in government export 
assistance programs.

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

    In connection with the promotion and sale of Members' Products, 
Services, and/or Technology Rights into the Export Markets, WFE and/or 
one or more of Members may:
    1. Design and execute foreign marketing strategies for Export 
Markets;
    2. Prepare joint bids, establish export prices for Members' 
Products and Services, and establish terms of sale in Export Markets in 
connection with potential or actual bona fide opportunities;
    3. Grant sales and distribution rights for the Products, whether or 
not exclusive, into designated Export Markets to foreign agents or 
importers (``exclusive'' meaning that WFE and Member may agree not to 
sell the Products into the designated Export Markets through any other 
foreign distributor, and that the foreign distributor may agree to 
represent only WFE and/or Member in the Export Markets and none of its 
competitors);
    4. Design, develop and market generic corporate labels for use in 
Export Markets;
    5. Engage in joint promotional activities directly targeted at 
developing Export Markets, such as: arranging trade shows and marketing 
trips; providing advertising services; providing brochures and industry 
newsletters; providing product, service, and industry information; 
conducting international market and product research; and procuring, 
international marketing, advertising, and promotional services;
    6. Share the cost of joint promotional activities among the 
Members;
    7. Conduct product and packaging research and development 
exclusively for export in order to meet foreign regulatory 
requirements, foreign buyer specifications, and foreign consumer 
preferences;
    8. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and other 
foreign persons regarding non-tariff trade barriers in Export Markets 
such as packaging requirements, and providing specialized packing 
operations and other quality control procedures to be followed by WFE 
and Member in the export of Products into the Export Markets;
    9. Assist each other in maintaining the quality standards necessary 
to be successful in Export Markets;
    10. Provide Export Trade Facilitation Services with respect to 
Products, Services and Technology (including such items as commodity 
fumigation, refrigeration and storage techniques, and other quality 
control procedures to be followed in the export of Products in the 
Export Markets);
    11. Advise and cooperate with agencies of the United States 
Government in establishing procedures regulating the export of the 
Members' Products, Services and/or Technology Rights in the Export 
Markets;
    12. Negotiate and enter into purchase agreements with buyers in 
Export Markets regarding export prices, quantities, type and quality of 
Products, time periods, and the terms and conditions of sale;
    13. Broker or take title to Products intended for Export Markets;
    14. Purchase Products from non-Member to fulfill specific sales 
obligations, provided that WFE and/or Member shall make such purchases 
only on a transaction-by-transaction basis and when the Members are 
unable to supply, in a timely manner, the requisite Products at a price 
competitive under the circumstances;
    15. Solicit non-Member producers to become Members;
    16. Communicate and process export orders;
    17. Procure, negotiate, contract, and administer transportation 
services for Products in the course of export, including overseas 
freight transportation, inland freight transportation from the packing 
house to the U.S. port of embarkment, leasing of transportation 
equipment and facilities, storing and warehousing, stevedoring, 
wharfage and handling, insurance, and freight forwarder services;
    18. Arrange for trade documentation and services, customs 
clearance, financial instruments, and foreign exchange;
    19. Arrange financing through private financial entities, 
government financial assistance programs and other arrangements;
    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 monies from foreign buyers; and arrange for or 
provide accounting, tax, legal and consulting services in relation to 
Export

[[Page 55374]]

Trade Activities and Methods of Operation;
    22. Enter into exclusive agreements with non-Members to provide 
Export Trade Services and Export Trade Facilitation Services;
    23. Open and operate overseas sales and distribution offices and 
companies to facilitate the sales and distribution of Products in the 
Export markets;
    24. Apply for and utilize applicable export assistance and 
incentive programs available within governmental sectors;
    25. Negotiate and enter into agreements with governments and other 
foreign persons to develop counter-trade arrangements, provided that 
this Certificate does not protect any conduct related to the sale of 
goods in the United States that are imported as part of any counter-
trade transactions;
    26. Refuse to deal with or provide quotations to other Export 
Intermediaries for sales of Members' Products into Export Markets;
    27. Require common marking and identification of Members' Products 
sold in Export Markets; and
    28. Exchange information as necessary to carry out Export Trade 
Activities and Methods of Operation including:
    (a) Information about sales, marketing efforts, and sales 
strategies in Export Markets, including pricing; projected demand in 
Export Markets for Products; customary terms of sale; and foreign buyer 
and consumer product specifications;
    (b) Information about the price, quality, quantity, source and 
delivery dates of Products available from WFE and its Members for 
export;
    (c) Information about terms and conditions of contracts for sales 
in Export Markets to be considered and/or bid on by WFE and/or Members;
    (d) Information about joint bidding opportunities;
    (e) Information about methods by which export sales are to be 
allocated among WFE and/or Members;
    (f) Information about expenses specific to exporting to and within 
Export Markets, including transportation, transshipments, inter-modal 
shipments, insurance, inland freight to port, port storage, 
commissions, export sales, documentation, financing and customs duties 
or taxes;
    (a) Information about U.S. and foreign legislation and regulations, 
including federal marketing order programs that may affect sales to 
Export Markets;
    (h) Information about WFE's or Members' export operations, 
including sales and distribution networks established by WFE or Members 
in Export Markets, and prior export sales by Members, including export 
price information; and
    (i) Information about claims or bad debts by WFE's or Members' 
customers in Export Markets.

    Dated: September 22, 2003.
Vanessa M. Bachman,
Acting Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-24251 Filed 9-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P