[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49255-49256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17036]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 38-2007]


Foreign-Trade Zone 7--Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Application for 
Subzone, MOVA Pharmaceutical Corporation (Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturing), Manat[iacute], Puerto Rico

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) 
Board (the Board) by the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, 
grantee of FTZ 7, requesting special-purpose subzone status with 
manufacturing authority for pharmaceutical products at the 
pharmaceutical manufacturing facility of MOVA Pharmaceutical 
Corporation (MOVA), located in Manat[acute], Puerto Rico. 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 August 14, 2007.
    The proposed subzone facility (104 acres, 17 buildings totaling 
410, 000 sq. ft., 40 percent of which is devoted to manufacturing) is 
located at State Road 670, Km 2.7 in Manat[acute], Puerto Rico. The 
company has indicated that the square footage of the buildings devoted 
to manufacturing operations could increase to include up to 70 percent 
of the total in the near future.
    The MOVA facility (310 employees) has requested authority to 
manufacture two pharmaceutical products, Januvia/MK-431A (HTSUS 
3004.90) and sitagliptin (HTSUS 2933.59), on behalf of Merck, Sharpe & 
Dohme Quimica de Puerto Rico, Inc. Duty rates on the finished products 
range from duty-free to 6.5 percent, ad valorem. Foreign-origin 
material inputs to be used in the manufacturing process (up to 25 
percent of total materials, by value) include sitagliptin (HTSUS 
2933.59), metformin hydrochloride (HTSUS 2925.20), enamine amide (HTSUS 
2933.59), and butyl josphos (HTSUS 2931.00), which have duty rates of 
3.7 percent to 6.5 percent, ad valorem.
    The application also requests authority to include a broad range of 
inputs and finished pharmaceutical products that MOVA may produce under 
FTZ procedures in the future. (As required by the Board's regulations, 
new major activity involving these inputs/products would require review 
by the Board.) The duty rates for these inputs and final products range 
from duty-free to 10 percent.
    FTZ procedures would exempt MOVA from customs duty payments on 
foreign materials used in export production to non-NAFTA countries. 
Some 30 to 40 percent of the plant's shipments are exported. On its 
domestic shipments and sales to NAFTA countries, MOVA could defer duty 
until the products are entered for consumption or exported, and choose 
the lower duty rate that applies to the finished product for the 
foreign components used in production. The company may also realize 
certain logistical/procedural 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 procedures would 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 the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
October 29, 2007. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to November 13, 2007).
    A copy of the application will be available for public inspection 
at each of the following locations: U.S. Department of Commerce Export 
Assistance Center, Centro Internacional de Mercado, Tower II, Suite 
702, Road 165, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 00968-8058; and, Office of the 
Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 2111, U.S. 
Department of

[[Page 49256]]

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20230-0002.
    For further information, contact Diane Finver at [email protected] or (202) 482-1367.

    Dated: August 21, 2007.
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-17036 Filed 8-27-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S