[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11368-11369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5384]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 5-2004]


Foreign-Trade Zone 229--Charleston, West Virginia Application For 
Foreign-Trade Subzone Status E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc. 
(Crop Protection Products); Belle, WV

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, 
grantee of FTZ 229, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the 
manufacturing facilities (crop protection products) of E.I. du Pont de 
Nemours and Company, Inc. (DuPont), located in Belle, West Virginia. 
The application was submitted pursuant to 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 February 25, 2004.
    The DuPont facilities are located at 901 West Dupont Avenue in 
Belle (105.77 acres with 113 buildings and 962,000 sq. ft. of enclosed 
space; potential expansion to include two more buildings with an 
additional 78,000 sq. ft.). The facilities (approximately 500 
employees) produce crop protection products which DuPont intends to 
manufacture, test, package, and warehouse under FTZ procedures.
    The company's list of categories of imported parts and materials 
for possible use in its operations under FTZ procedures includes: 
Inorganic acids and other inorganic oxygen compounds of nonmetals; 
sulfides of nonmetals; ammonia; sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, 
and peroxides of sodium or potassium; hydrazine and hydroxylamine and 
their inorganic salts, other inorganic bases, and other metal oxides, 
hydroxides, and peroxides; fluorides, fluorosilicates, 
fluoroaluminates, and other complex fluorine salts; chlorides, chloride 
oxides and chloride hydroxides, bromides and bromide oxides, and 
iodides and iodide oxides; chlorates and perchlorates, bromates and 
perbromates, and iodates and periodates; sulfides and polysulfides; 
sulfates, alums, and peroxosulfates; phosphinates, phosphonates, 
phosphates, and polyphosphates; carbonates, peroxocarbonates, and 
commercial ammonium carbonate containing ammonium carbamate; cyanides, 
cyanide oxides and complex cyanides; fulminates, cyanates and 
thiocyanates; other inorganic compounds, liquid air, compressed air, 
and amalgams; cyclic hydrocarbons; halogenated derivatives of 
hydrocarbons; derivatives of hydrocarbons; acyclic alcohols and 
derivatives; cyclic alcohols and derivatives; phenols and phenol-
alcohols, and their derivatives; ethers, ether-alcohols, ether-phenols, 
ether-alcohol-phenols, alcohol peroxides, ether peroxides, ketone 
peroxides, and their derivatives; epoxides, epoxyalcohols, epoxyphenols 
and epoxyethers, and their derivatives; acetals and hemiacetals and 
their derivatives; aldehydes, cyclic polymers of aldehydes, and 
paraformaldehyde; derivatives of products of HTS heading 2912; ketone 
function compounds and quinone function compounds; saturated acyclic 
monocarboxylic acids and derivatives; unsaturated acyclic 
monocarboxylic acids and derivatives; polycarboxylic acids and 
derivatives; carboxylic acids and derivatives; phosphoric esters, 
salts, and derivatives; esters of other inorganic salts, and their 
salts and derivatives; amine function compounds; oxygen-function amino-
compounds; quaternary ammonium salts and hydroxides, lecithins, and

[[Page 11369]]

other phosphoaminolipids; carboxyamide-function compounds and amide-
function compounds of carbonic acid; carboxyimide-function and imine-
function compounds; nitrile-function compounds; diazo-, azo-, or azoxy-
compounds; organic derivatives of hydrazine or of hydroxylamine; 
organo-sulfur compounds; other organo-inorganic compounds; heterocyclic 
compounds with oxygen hetero-atoms only; heterocyclic compounds with 
nitrogen hetero-atom(s) only; sulfonamides; glycosides and derivatives; 
vegetable alkaloids and derivatives; sugars other than sucrose, 
lactose, maltose, glucose and fructose, sugar ethers and sugar esters, 
and their salts; other organic compounds; essential oils and resinoids; 
organic surface-active agents; insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, 
herbicides, etc.; reaction initiators and accelerators; prepared 
binders for foundry molds or cores; polymers of ethylene; cellulose and 
its chemical derivatives; self-adhesive plates, sheets, film, foil, 
tape, strip and other flat shapes, of plastics; other plates, sheets, 
film, foil and strip, of plastics; articles for the conveyance or 
packing of goods; and other articles of plastic and articles of other 
materials of HTS headings 3901 to 3914. Current duty rates for these 
input materials range up to seven percent.
    Zone procedures would exempt DuPont from Customs duty payments on 
foreign components used in export production. On its domestic sales, 
DuPont would be able to defer duty payments. DuPont would be able to 
avoid duty on foreign inputs which become scrap/waste, estimated at 
less than one percent of imported inputs. The application also 
indicates that the company will derive savings from simplification and 
expediting of the company's import and export procedures and from 
transfer of foreign-status merchandise to other FTZs or subzones. 
DuPont's application indicates that the company will not derive any 
savings from inverted tariffs (i.e., from situations where a lower duty 
rate applies to a finished product than applies to its foreign 
input(s)). All of the above-cited savings from zone procedures could 
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 one of the following addresses:
    1. Submissions Via Express/Package Delivery Services: Foreign-
Trade-Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Franklin Court 
Building--Suite 4100W, 1099 14th St. NW., Washington, DC 20005; or
    2. Submissions Via the U.S. Postal Service: Foreign-Trade-Zones 
Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, FCB--Suite 4100W, 1401 Constitution 
Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20230.
    The closing period for their receipt is May 10, 2004. Rebuttal 
comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period 
may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period to May 24, 2004.
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at the Office of the Foreign-Trade 
Zones Board's Executive Secretary at address Number 1 listed above, and 
at the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, 405 
Capitol Street, Suite 807, Charleston, WV 25301.

    Dated: February 27, 2004.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-5384 Filed 3-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P