[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 149 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43233-43234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15166]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

Docket 31-2007


Foreign-Trade Zone 7-- Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Request for 
Manufacturing Authority, Merck Sharpe & Dohme Quimica de Puerto Rico 
Inc., (Pharmaceutical Manufacturing)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO), 
grantee of FTZ 7, requesting authority

[[Page 43234]]

on behalf of Merck Sharpe & Dohme Quimica de Puerto Rico Inc. (MSDQ) to 
conduct pharmaceutical manufacturing operations under FTZ procedures 
within FTZ 7 at the MOVA Pharmaceutical Corporation (MOVA) 
pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Caguas, Puerto Rico. The 
application was filed on July 27, 2007.
    The MOVA facilities (650 employees, 16 acres, buildings totaling 
250,000 sq. ft, 40 percent of which is devoted to manufacturing) are 
located on State Road 1, Km 34.8, within the Villa Blanca Industrial 
Park in Caguas, Puerto Rico (Site 1, Parcel 2). MSDQ will act as the 
operator within FTZ 7, with the manufacturing activity being contacted 
by MOVA on behalf of MSDQ. The company has indicated that the square 
footage of the buildings devoted to manufacturing operations could grow 
to include up to 70 percent in the near future. MSDQ has requested 
authority to manufacture two pharmaceutical products, MK-431A (HTSUS 
3004.90) and sitagliptin (HTSUS 2933.59) for the U.S. market and 
export. Duty rates on the finished products range from duty-free to 6.5 
percent. Foreign components that would be used in the manufacturing 
process (up to 25 percent of total content) include sitagliptin (HTSUS 
2933.59), metformin hydrochloride (HTSUS 2925.20), enamine amide (HTSUS 
2933.59) and butyl josphos (HTSUS 2931.00), with duty rates of 3.7 to 
6.5 percent, ad valorem.
    The application also requests authority to include a broad range of 
inputs and finished pharmaceutical products that MSDQ may produce under 
FTZ procedures in the future. (New major activity involving these 
inputs/products would require review by the FTZ Board.) The duty rates 
for these inputs and final products range from duty-free to 10 percent.
    Zone procedures would exempt MSDQ from customs duty payments on the 
foreign components used in export production to non-NAFTA countries. 
Exports account for approximately 30 to 40 percent of production. On 
domestic sales and sales to NAFTA countries, MSDQ could defer duty 
until the products are entered for consumption or exported, and choose 
the lower duty that applies to the finished product for the foreign 
components used in production. The company would also realize certain 
logistical savings related to zone-to-zone transfers and direct 
delivery procedures as well as savings on materials that become scrap/
waste during manufacturing. The application indicates that FTZ-related 
savings would help improve MSDQ and MOVA's international 
competitiveness.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
October 2, 2007. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to October 17, 2007).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, Centro 
Internacional de Mercadeo, Tower II, Suite 102, Road 165, Guaynabo, 
Puerto Rico, 00968-8058.
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 2111, 1401 Constitution Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20230.
    For further information, contact Christopher Kemp at [email protected] or (202) 482-0862.

    Dated: July 30, 2007.
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-15166 Filed 8-2-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P