16138 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 1997 / Notices

milling or that has exported U.S. origin

rice in the preceding or current calendar

year and that wishes to participate in

the activities covered by this certificate,

may join the Committee’s membership

by executing the Operating Agreement

and paying a one-time membership fee

of $3,000. Any Committee member that

is not a listed Member may join the

Committee’s export trade certificate of

review by requesting that the Committee

file for an amended certificate. A

Member may withdraw from coverage

under this certificate at any time by

giving written notice to the Committee,

a copy of which the Committee will

promptly transmit to the Secretary of

Commerce and the Attorney General.

Protection Provided by Certificate

This Certificate protects the

Committee, its Members, and directors,

officers, and employees acting on behalf

of the Committee and its Members from

private treble damage actions and

government criminal and civil suits

under U.S. federal and state antitrust

laws for the export conduct specified in

the Certificate and carried out during its

effective period in compliance with its

terms and conditions.

Effective Period of Certificate

This Certificate continues in effect

from the effective date indicated below

until it is relinquished, modified, or

revoked as provided in the Act and the

Regulations.

Other Conduct

Nothing in this Certificate prohibits

the Committee and its Members from

engaging in conduct not specified in

this Certificate, but such conduct is

subject to the normal application of the

antitrust laws.

Disclaimer

The issuance of this Certificate of

Review to the Committee by the

Secretary of Commerce with the

concurrence of the Attorney General

under the provisions of the Act does not

constitute, explicitly or implicitly, an

endorsement or opinion by the

Secretary of Commerce or by the

Attorney General concerning either (a)

the viability or quality of the business

plans of the Committee or its Members

or (b) the legality of such business plans

of the Committee or its Members under

the laws of the United States (other than

as provided in the Act) or under the

laws of any foreign country.

The application of this Certificate to

conduct export trade where the United

States Government is the buyer or where

the United States Government bears

more than half the cost of the

transaction is subject to the limitations

set forth in Section V.(D.) of the

‘‘Guidelines for the Issuance of Export

Trade Certificates of Review (Second

Edition),’’ 50 Fed. Reg. 1786 (January

11, 1985).

In accordance with the authority

granted under the Act and Regulations,

this Certificate of Review has been

granted to the Committee for the Fair

Allocation of Rice Quotas.

A copy of the Certificate will be kept

in the International Trade

Administration’s Freedom of

Information Records Inspection Facility,

Room 4001, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

Dated: March 31, 1997.

W. Dawn Busby,

Director, Office of Export Trading Company

Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–8580 Filed 4–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–P

Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION: Notice of Issuance of an Export

Trade Certificate of Review, Application

No. 96–00008.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce

has issued an Export Trade Certificate of

Review to the U.S. Rice Industry

Coalition for Exports, Inc. (‘‘U.S. RICE

’’). This notice summarizes the conduct

for which certification has been granted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: W.

Dawn Busby, Director, Office of Export

Trading Company Affairs, International

Trade Administration, 202–482–5131.

This is not a toll-free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title III of

the Export Trading Company Act of

1982 (15 U.S.C. 4001–21) authorizes the

Secretary of Commerce to issue Export

Trade Certificates of Review. The

regulations implementing Title III are

found at 15 CFR part 325 (1996).

The Office of Export Trading

Company Affairs (‘‘OETCA’’) is issuing

this notice pursuant to 15 CFR 325.6(b),

which requires the Department of

Commerce to publish a summary of a

Certificate in the Federal Register.

Under Section 305(a) of the Act and 15

CFR 325.11(a), any person aggrieved by

the Secretary’s determination may,

within 30 days of the date of this notice,

bring an action in any appropriate

district court of the United States to set

aside the determination on the ground

that the determination is erroneous.

Description of Certified Conduct

Export Trade

Products

Semi-milled and wholly milled rice,

whether or not polished or glazed

(Harmonized Tariff Schedule 1006.30)

(‘‘milled rice’’), husked rice

(Harmonized Tariff Schedule 1006.20)

(‘‘brown rice’’), broken rice

(Harmonized Tariff Schedule 1006.40),

and paddy or rough rice (Harmonized

Tariff Schedule 1006.10).

Export Markets

For purposes of allocating through an

open bidding procedure the European

Union’s tariff rate quota: The countries

of the European Union.

For purposes of Export Trade

Activities and Methods of Operation

2(c) and 4(e): All parts of the world

except the United States (the fifty states

of the United States, the District of

Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico, the Virgin Islands, American

Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of

the Northern Mariana Islands, and the

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands).

Export Trade Activities and Methods of

Operation

1. U.S. RICE will administer a system

for managing the U.S. share of the

European Union (‘‘EU’’) tariff-rate

quotas (‘‘TRQs’’) for milled, brown, and

broken rice (roughly 38,000 metric tons

of milled rice, 8,000 metric tons of

brown rice and 7,000 metric tons of

broken rice annually) agreed to as

compensation to the United States for

the enlargement of the EU to include

Austria, Finland, and Sweden, as

follows:

a. U.S. RICE will allocate the TRQs

exclusively through an open tender to

the highest bidder(s). Any person

domiciled, incorporated or otherwise

legally established in the United States

is eligible to bid. Bidders need not be

members of U.S. RICE and need not be

included as Members in this Certificate.

b. U.S. RICE will retain an

independent third party (‘‘the TRQ

Administrator’’) to administer the quota

tender system. The TRQ Administrator

may be an individual, partnership,

corporation (for profit or non-profit), or

any representative thereof that is not

engaged in the production, milling,

distribution, or sale of milled, brown,

broken, or paddy rice.

c. At least 45 days before the opening

of each TRQ tranche, as defined by the

EU, the TRQ Administrator will publish

notice of the bidding process for that

tranche in the Journal of Commerce. The

notice will invite independent bids and
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 1997 / Notices 16139

specify a bid date that is (i) at least 5

working days after the notice is

published and (ii) at least 30 days before

the opening of the tranche. (If the EU

announces the opening of a TRQ

tranche less than 45 days before the

opening of that tranche, the TRQ

Administrator will publish the required

notice within 2 working days of the EU

announcement and specify a bid date

that is at least 5 working days after the

notice is published.) Each bidder will

independently submit its bid to the TRQ

Administrator on the published bid

date, together with a bid deposit,

initially set at $25 per metric ton. The

TRQ Administrator will retain the full

deposit for the tonnage on which bids

are successful, and up to 25 percent of

the deposit for the tonnage on which

bids are not successful, to cover costs of

administering the TRQ system. The

remainder of the deposit on an

unsuccessful bid will be refunded to the

bidder.

d. Following the close of the bidding,

the TRQ Administrator will promptly

review the bids for conformity with

bidding procedures, and will notify the

high bidder(s) winning TRQ allocations.

The high bidder(s) will then have 48

hours to post a five percent performance

bond. Upon receipt of the amount bid

from a high bidder, the TRQ

Administrator will promptly issue

Export Certificate(s) of Quota (‘‘ECQs’’)

for the tonnage awarded. ECQs will be

freely tradable. Each performance bond

will be discharged on submission of

export documentation demonstrating

that the ECQ was used to export U.S.

rice to the EU.

e. The TRQ Administrator will notify

all participants in the bidding process of

(i) the total tonnage for which ECQs

were awarded, and (ii) the price per

metric ton of the highest bid, for each

TRQ.

2. The bid proceeds will be

distributed and otherwise used as

follows:

a. All bid proceeds will be deposited

in a trust fund. Each year, the TRQ

Administrator will distribute funds from

the tenders for a particular quota year to

qualifying members of U.S. RICE in

proportion to each such member’s

percentage share by volume of total

exports of U.S. rice to all destinations in

the year preceding the quota year. No

U.S. RICE member may receive a

distribution in excess of that amount.

b. Any person domiciled,

incorporated, or otherwise legally

established in the United States that has

exported U.S. rice in the year of

application or the preceding calendar

year, or is actively engaged in rice

milling in the United States may join

U.S. RICE. Prospective members must

execute the U.S. RICE Operating

Agreement. A member of U.S. RICE will

qualify for a particular distribution by

(i) joining U.S. RICE, and (ii)

documenting its share of U.S. rice

exports for the relevant year to the TRQ

Administrator.

c. Funds remaining in the trust fund

after a distribution will be used as

necessary to cover operating expenses,

and thereafter for promotion of U.S. rice

exports worldwide through activities

generally comparable to those funded by

the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s

market access program.

3. The TRQ Administrator may, as

necessary, receive confidential

information and documentation of rice

exports from members and prospective

members of U.S. RICE in connection

with membership applications and

distributions of bid proceeds. The TRQ

Administrator will maintain the

confidentiality of such information and

will not disclose it to any other member

or any other person except to another

neutral third party as necessary to

process membership applications and

distributions of bid proceeds.

4. U.S. RICE and/or its Members may

also:

a. Exchange and discuss information

regarding the structure and operation of

the U.S. RICE TRQ management system,

including the types of information

regarding past export transactions that

are necessary for implementing the

system;

b. Assess the operation of the system

and consider and implement

modifications to improve the system’s

workability;

c. Exchange and discuss information

concerning U.S. and foreign agreements,

legislation, and regulations affecting the

U.S. RICE TRQ management system;

d. Discuss and modify bid deposit

fees as appropriate for covering costs of

administering the TRQ system, and

discuss and modify performance bond

requirements as appropriate for securing

timely submission of documentation of

ECQ usage;

e. Discuss, decide on, and implement

export promotion activities to be

undertaken with post-distribution funds

in the trust fund;

f. Otherwise exchange and discuss

information as necessary to implement

the foregoing activities and take the

necessary action to implement the U.S.

RICE TRQ management system, relating

to the U.S.-EU Enlargement Agreement

and any successor or related

agreements, and related EU regulations;

g. Provide nonconfidential

information to, and consult as

appropriate with, officials of the U.S.

Government and the European

Commission concerning the operation of

the U.S. RICE TRQ management system;

and

h. Meet to engage in the activities

described above.

Abbreviated Amendment Procedures

New U.S. RICE members may be

incorporated as Members in the

Certificate through an abbreviated

amendment procedure. Under the

procedure, U.S. RICE will notify the

Secretary of Commerce and the Attorney

General, in writing, of those members of

U.S. RICE that wish to be included as

Members in the Certificate. The

notification will include a certification

from each such member of its domestic

and export sales of Products in its

preceding fiscal year. Notice of the

members so identified shall be

published in the Federal Register. If 30

days or more following publication in

the Federal Register, the Secretary of

Commerce, with the concurrence of the

Attorney General, determines that the

incorporation in the Certificate of these

members through the abbreviated

amendment procedure is consistent

with the standards of the Act, the

Secretary of Commerce shall amend the

Certificate to incorporate such members,

effective as of the date on which the

application for amendment is deemed

submitted. If the Secretary of Commerce

does not so amend the Certificate within

60 days of publication in the Federal

Register, such amendment must be

sought through the normal amendment

procedure.

Terms and Conditions of Certificate

1. In engaging in Export Trade

Activities and Methods of Operation,

neither U.S. RICE nor any Member shall

intentionally disclose, directly or

indirectly, to any other Member

(including parent companies,

subsidiaries, or other entities related to

any Member not named as a Member)

any information regarding its or any

other Member’s costs, production,

inventories, domestic prices, domestic

sales, capacity to produce Products for

domestic sale, domestic orders, terms of

domestic marketing or sale, or U.S.

business plans, strategies, or methods,

unless (1) such information is already

generally available to the trade or

public; or (2) the information disclosed

is a necessary term or condition (e.g.,

price, time required to fill an order, etc.)

of an actual or potential bona fide

export sale and the disclosure is limited

to the prospective purchaser.

2. U.S. RICE and its Members will

comply with requests made by the

Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the
16140 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 1997 / Notices

Secretary or the Attorney General for

information or documents relevant to

conduct under the Certificate. The

Secretary of Commerce will request

such information or documents when

either the Attorney General or the

Secretary of Commerce believes that the

information or documents are required

to determine that the Export Trade,

Export Trade Activities and Methods of

Operation of a person protected by this

Certificate of Review continue to

comply with the standards of section

303(a) of the Act.

Definitions

‘‘Member’’ means a member of U.S.

RICE that has been certified as a

‘‘Member’’ within the meaning of

§ 325.2(l) of the Regulations, as listed in

Attachment I. Any U.S. RICE member

that is not a Member may request that

U.S. RICE file for an amended

certificate. A Member may withdraw

from coverage under this certificate at

any time by giving written notice to U.S.

RICE, a copy of which U.S. RICE will

promptly transmit to the Secretary of

Commerce and the Attorney General.

Protection Provided by Certificate

This Certificate protects U.S. RICE, its

Members, and directors, officers, and

employees acting on behalf of U.S. RICE

and its Members from private treble

damage actions and government

criminal and civil suits under U.S.

federal and state antitrust laws for the

export conduct specified in the

Certificate and carried out during its

effective period in compliance with its

terms and conditions.

Effective Period of Certificate

This Certificate continues in effect

from the effective date indicated below

until it is relinquished, modified, or

revoked as provided in the Act and the

Regulations.

Other Conduct

Nothing in this Certificate prohibits

U.S. RICE and its Members from

engaging in conduct not specified in

this Certificate, but such conduct is

subject to the normal application of the

antitrust laws.

Disclaimer

The issuance of this Certificate of

Review to U.S. RICE by the Secretary of

Commerce with the concurrence of the

Attorney General under the provisions

of the Act does not constitute, explicitly

or implicitly, an endorsement or

opinion by the Secretary of Commerce

or by the Attorney General concerning

either (a) the viability or quality of the

business plans of U.S. RICE or its

Members or (b) the legality of such

business plans of U.S. RICE or its

Members under the laws of the United

States (other than as provided in the

Act) or under the laws of any foreign

country.

The application of this Certificate to

conduct export trade where the United

States Government is the buyer or where

the United States Government bears

more than half the cost of the

transaction is subject to the limitations

set forth in Section V.(D.) of the

‘‘Guidelines for the Issuance of Export

Trade Certificates of Review (Second

Edition),’’ 50 FR 1786 (January 11,

1985).

In accordance with the authority

granted under the Act and Regulations,

this Certificate of Review has been

granted to the U.S. Rice Industry

Coalition for Exports, Inc.

A copy of the Certificate will be kept

in the International Trade

Administration’s Freedom of

Information Records Inspection Facility,

Room 4001, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

Dated: March 31, 1997.

W. Dawn Busby,

Director, Office of Export Trading Company

Affairs.

Attachment I

U.S. Rice Industry Coalition for Exports,

Inc.

(Application No. 96–00008)

Continental Grain Company, New York,

New York

Newfield Partners Ltd., Miami, Florida

[FR Doc. 97–8582 Filed 4–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–P

Technology Administration

Department of Commerce Study for the

Continuous Improvement of the

Advanced Technology Program (ATP)

AGENCY: Technology Administration,

Commerce.

ACTION: Request for Public Comments

ATP 60 Day Study.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Commerce’s Technology Administration

is seeking ways to make the National

Institute of Standards and Technology’s

(NIST) Advanced Technology Program

(ATP) operate more effectively. This

notice provides the general public the

opportunity to review the areas under

consideration. This study will be

presented to the Secretary of Commerce.

DATES: The due date for submission of

comments is May 5, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments

concerning this notice to: National

Institute of Standards and Technology,

Program Office, Attention: ATP 60 Day

Study, Administration Building, Room

A1000, Quince Orchard & Clopper

Roads, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–0001;

or via e-mail to:

atp60daystudy@nist.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Leslie Smith, (301) 975–6762.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The ATP is a rigorously competitive,

cost-sharing R&D program to provide

incentives for the pursuit of high-risk,

emerging and enabling technologies by

U.S.-based businesses at the early,

precompetitive stage when market

forces do not generally provide private

capital. The ATP provides multi-year

funding to single companies and

business-led joint ventures. It

encourages interactions and teaming

arrangements between businesses and

universities and national laboratories.

The ATP challenges businesses to

leverage the significant U.S. investment

in fundamental research to generate the

nuclei of new industries and new

enabling technologies for the future

growth and competitiveness of the U.S.

industrial base. Competitions are held

for both general programs, where any

technology area can be explored, and for

focused programs where industry

discussions have indicated that

significant progress in new areas can be

made by a set of intensive R&D activities

in a specific area of emerging

technologies. In all cases proposers

must provide credible evidence of the

potential for new technology

breakthroughs and outline project

feasibility. In addition, they must be

able to demonstrate their capability to

bring a successful project to commercial

reality after the completion of the ATP

funding. Small technology-intensive

and high tech start-up companies are

particularly encouraged to participate.

In the global economy of today, ATP is

designed to accelerate and broaden the

U.S. technology base and to provide the

foundation for the next century’s new,

exciting industries. It should also serve

as a vehicle for infusing truly new

research ideas into existing industries

for the next generation of products and

services.

Purpose and Scope of Study

The Advanced Technology Program is

a key component of the Nation’s long

term economic growth strategy. In a

recent statement before a committee of

the United States House of