[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 226 (Friday, November 23, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70141-70142]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28523]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Application(s) for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instruments

    Pursuant to Section 6(c) of the Educational, Scientific and 
Cultural Materials Importation Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89-651, as amended 
by Pub. L. 106-36; 80 Stat. 897; 15 CFR part 301), we invite comments 
on the question of whether instruments of equivalent scientific value, 
for the purposes for which the instruments shown below are intended to 
be used, are being manufactured in the United States.
    Comments must comply with 15 CFR 301.5(a)(3) and (4) of the 
regulations and be postmarked on or before December 13, 2012. Address 
written comments to Statutory Import Programs Staff, Room 3720, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230. Applications may be 
examined between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce in Room 3720.
    Docket Number: 12-048. Applicant: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 
4000 Jones Bridge Rd., Chevy Chase, MD 20815. Instrument: Micro-litre 
and nanolitre dispensing system. Manufacturer: TTP Labtech Ltd, United 
Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used to obtain crystals 
of biological macromolecules and complexes such as ribonucleic acid, 
proteins, and ribosomes to enable the determination of their three-
dimensional atomic resolution structures. The unique features of this 
instrument which are required for the experiments are that it has a 
disposable tip system, its speed of operation, and its ability to 
deliver the small drops required to perform the experiments. 
Justification for Duty-Free Entry: There are no instruments of the same 
general category manufactured in the United States. Application 
accepted by Commissioner of Customs: October 23, 2012.
    Docket Number: 12-049. Applicant: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 
4000 Jones Bridge Rd., Chevy Chase, MD 20815. Instrument: Micro-litre 
and nanolitre dispensing system. Manufacturer: TTP Labtech Ltd, United 
Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used to obtain crystals 
of biological macromolecules and complexes such as ribonucleic acid, 
proteins, and ribosomes to enable the determination of three-
dimensional atomic resolution structures. The unique features of this 
instrument which are required for the experiments are that it has a 
disposable tip system, its speed of operation, and its ability to 
deliver the small drops required to perform the experiments. 
Justification for Duty-Free Entry: There are no instruments of the same 
general category manufactured in the United States. Application 
accepted by Commissioner of Customs: October 18, 2012.

[[Page 70142]]

    Docket Number: 12-050. Applicant: North Carolina State University, 
Campus Box 7212, Raleigh, NC 27695. Instrument: Twin-screw 
Microcompounder. Manufacturer: DSM, Netherlands. Intended Use: The 
instrument will be used to study biomaterials such as starches, lignin, 
and proteins, and compare them with styrenics and petroleum based 
materials. The behavior of these materials before, during, and after 
physical or chemical modification, in excess or limited water, without 
shear or at high shear, as well as their hydration, plasiticization or 
blending with other oligomers will be investigated. Moreover, foams 
will be generated by the use of blending a suitable blowing agent and/
or the carbonization of the materials to determine their density, foam 
structure and tensile and compression properties. The goal of this 
project will be to identify suitable technologies for producing 
moldable biomass based materials for applications presently occupied by 
conventional plastics. The core of this research will use rheology, 
spectroscopies and thermal techniques to follow macromolecular 
structures and functions on the biopolymers after applying the 
extruder. The unique features of this instrument are its recirculation 
loop and its ability to connect to a fiber spinner. Justification for 
Duty-Free Entry: There are no instruments of the same general category 
manufactured in the United States. Application accepted by Commissioner 
of Customs: October 22, 2012.
    Docket Number: 12-051. Applicant: University of Central Florida, 
4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816. Instrument: Near Ambient 
Pressure Scanning Probe Microscope. Manufacturer: SPECS Surface Nano 
Analysis, GmbH, Germany. Intended Use: The instrument will be used to 
determine the relationships between nanoparticle size, shape and 
chemical state and their catalytic activity in various chemical 
reactions, by investigating solid cataltically-active materials such as 
transition metals and examining their chemical states and chemical 
reactivity before and after applying a specified pressure and 
temperature inside a vacuum chamber inside the instrument. The unique 
features of this instrument include its small volume (0.045 L) reaction 
cell in which the sample and STM scanner are placed, which can maintain 
a pressure of up to 100 mbar while the surrounding large volume (>100 
L) Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) chamber maintains a pressure lower than 
10-6 mbar, allowing the sample to be held at a controlled 
pressure ranging from UHV up to 100 mbar while measurements are 
recorded, and can be easily integrated into a system of other UHV 
measurement instruments to transfer the sample to other measurement 
chambers. In addition to pressure control, another unique feature of 
the instrument is its ability to control the temperature from room 
temperature to 300 degrees Celsius in a gaseous environment (up to 10 
mbar). Justification for Duty-Free Entry: There are no instruments of 
the same general category manufactured in the United States. 
Application accepted by Commissioner of Customs: October 25, 2012.

    Dated: November 14, 2012.
Gregory W. Campbell,
Director of Subsidies Enforcement, Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-28523 Filed 11-21-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P