[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30079-30080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10461]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 22-2005]


Foreign-Trade Zone 99 - Wilmington, Delaware, Expansion of 
Subzone and Manufacturing Authority Subzone 99D, AstraZeneca 
Pharmaceuticals LP (Pharmaceutical Products), Newark, Delaware

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Delaware Economic Development Office, grantee of FTZ 
99, requesting to expand the subzone and the scope of manufacturing 
authority under zone procedures within Subzone 99D, at the AstraZeneca 
Pharmaceuticals LP (AstraZeneca) facility in Newark, Delaware. It was 
formally filed on May 17, 2005.
    Subzone 99D was approved by the Board in 1994 at AstraZeneca's 
plant (2 bldgs. on 156 acres/520,700 sq. ft.) located at 587 Old 
Baltimore Pike, Newark, Delaware, some 10 miles west of Wilmington. The 
facility (530 employees) is used to produce and/or distribute a wide 
range of pharmaceuticals, with specific authority granted for the 
manufacture of several products under zone procedures (Board Order 717, 
12/02/94).
    Subzone 99D is currently requesting to expand the subzone at the 
existing facility (Site 1) to include additions to existing buildings 
(totaling 114,100 sq. ft.) and to include another site (Site 2) for the 
manufacture of clinical trial products. AstraZeneca is also requesting 
to include in its scope of authority general categories of inputs and 
final products that it may produce under zone procedures in the future.
    Proposed Site 2 (30 buildings, 3,226,805 sq. ft. (526,552 mfg. sq. 
ft.) on 163 acres, which includes a potential expansion of 7 buildings 
totaling 1,154, 298 sq. ft. (318,548 mfg. sq. ft.)) is located at 1800 
Concord Pike, Wilmington, Delaware, some 20 miles from Site 1. It will 
be used to produce finished dose pharmaceutical formulations of 
clinical trial products (HTSUS 3004.90, duty-free). Materials sourced 
from abroad represent 90 to 95 percent of all materials used in 
production proposed for zone procedures. Inverted tariff savings will 
initially result from the following bulk active ingredients, all 
subject to a 6.5% duty rate: AZD 0328 (HTSUS 2934.99.9000), AZD 5455 
(HTSUS 2933.39.9100) and AZD 4522 (HTSUS 2935.00.6000). Finished dose 
products will be transferred to Site 1 for packaging and shipping.
    The application also requests authority to include a broad range of 
inputs and pharmaceutical final products that it may produce under FTZ 
procedures in the future. (New major activity in these inputs/products 
could require review by the FTZ Board.) General HTSUS categories of 
inputs include: 1108, 1212, 1301, 1302, 1515, 1516, 1520, 1521, 1702, 
1905, 2106, 2207, 2302, 2309, 2501, 2508, 2510, 2519, 2520, 2526, 2710, 
2712, 2807, 2809, 2811, 2814, 2815, 2816, 2817, 2821, 2823, 2825, 2826, 
2827, 2829, 2831, 2832, 2833, 2835, 2836, 2837, 2839, 2840, 2841, 2842, 
2843, 2844, 2846, 2851, 2901, 2902, 2903, 2904 (except for HTS 
2904.20.5000), 2905, 2906, 2907, 2908, 2909, 2910, 2911, 2912, 2913, 
2914, 2915, 2916, 2917, 2918, 2919, 2920, 2921, 2922, 2923, 2924, 2925, 
2926, 2927, 2928, 2929, 2930, 2931, 2932, 2933, 2934, 2935, 2936, 2937, 
2938, 2939, 2940, 2941, 2942, 3001, 3002, 3003, 3004, 3005, 3006, 3102, 
3104, 3301, 3302, 3305, 3401, 3402, 3403, 3404, 3502, 3503, 3505, 3506, 
3507, 3802, 3804, 3808, 3809, 3815, 3822, 3823, 3824, 3901, 3906, 3910, 
3911, 3912, 3913, 3914, 3915, 3919, 3920, 3921, 3923, 4016, 
(4202.92.1000, 4202.92.9060, 4202.99.1000, 4202.99.5000 (plastic 
only)), 4817, 4819, 4901, 4902, 5403, 7010, 7607, 8004, 8104, 8309, 
8481, 9018, and 9602. The duty rates on these products range from duty-
free to 17%.
    Final products that may be produced from the inputs listed above 
include these general HTSUS categories: 2302, 2309, 2902, 2903, 2904, 
2905, 2906, 2907, 2909, 2910, 2912, 2913, 2914, 2915, 2916, 2917, 2918, 
2920, 2921, 2922, 2923, 2924, 2925, 2926, 2928, 2930, 2931, 2932, 2933, 
2934, 2935, 2936, 2937, 2938, 2939, 2941, 2942, 3001, 3002, 3003, 3004, 
3006, 3802, 3804, 3808, 3809, 3824, 3910, 3911, 3912, 3913, and 3914. 
The duty rates on these products range from duty-free to 7.5%.
    Zone procedures would exempt AstraZeneca from Customs duty

[[Page 30080]]

payments on foreign materials used in production for export. On 
domestic shipments, the company would be able to defer Customs duty 
payments on foreign materials, and to choose the duty rate that applies 
to finished products (duty-free) instead of the rates otherwise 
applicable to the foreign input materials (6.5%). The application 
indicates that the savings from zone procedures would help improve 
AstraZeneca'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, D.C. 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, D.C. 20230.
    The closing period for their receipt is July 25, 2005. Rebuttal 
comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period 
may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to August 8, 
2005).
    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, The Curtis 
Center - Suite 580, West 601 Walnut Street - Independence Square West, 
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3304.

    Dated: May 19, 2005.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-10461 Filed 5-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S