[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32772-32773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16043]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Export Trade Certificate of Review; Notice of Application to 
Amend Certificate

SUMMARY: The Office of Export Trading Company Affairs (``OETCA''), 
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, has 
received an application to amend an Export Trade Certificate of Review. 
This notice summarizes the proposed amendment and requests comments 
relevant to whether the amended Certificate should be issued.

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. A Certificate of Review 
protects the holder and the members identified in the Certificate from 
state and federal government antitrust actions and from private, treble 
damage antitrust actions for the export conduct specified in the 
Certificate and carried out in compliance with its terms and 
conditions. Section 302(b)(1) of the Act and 15 CFR 325.6(a) require 
the Secretary to publish a notice in the Federal Register identifying 
the applicant and summarizing its proposed export conduct.
    An interim Certificate of Review was issued to Farmers' Rice 
Cooperative (``FRC'') on March 12, 1984 (49 FR 9762, March 15, 1984). 
The final Certificate was issued on May 10, 1984 (49 FR 20890, May 17, 
1984) and an amendment to the Certificate was issued on August 30, 1985 
(50 FR 36126, September 5, 1985). A summary of the application for an 
additional amendment follows.

Request for Public Comments

    Interested parties may submit written comments relevant to the 
determination whether an amended Certificate should be issued. An 
original and five (5) copies should be submitted no later than 20 days 
after the date of this notice to: Office of Export Trading Company 
Affairs, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, 
Room 1800H, Washington, D.C. 20230. Information submitted by any person 
is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (5 
U.S.C. 552). Comments should refer to this application as ``Export 
Trade Certificate of Review, application number 84-A0005.''

Summary of the Application:

    Applicant: Farmers' Rice Cooperative, 2525 Natomas Park Drive, P.O. 
Box 15223, Sacramento, California 9581-0223.
    Contact: Loyd W. McCormick, Esquire, Telephone: (415) 393-2130.
    Application No.: 84-A0005.
    Date Deemed Submitted: June 11, 1996.
    Proposed Amendment: FRC seeks to amend its Certificate to:
    1. Add as ``Members'' the following companies: American Rice, Inc. 
of Houston, Texas (Controlling Entity: ERLY Industries Inc. of Los 
Angeles, California) and California Pacific Rice Milling, Ltd. of 
Arbuckle, California.
    2. Delete the following companies as ``Members'': Comet Rice of 
California, Inc.; Pacific International Rice Mills, Inc.; and C. E. 
Grosjean Milling Company.
    3. Amend the ``Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation'', 
to read as follows: (1) Farmers' Rice Cooperative may, on a 
transaction-by-transaction basis, join with any or all of the Members 
to bid for the sale of, and to sell, California rice and rice products 
to the Export Markets.
    (2) For each bid or sale, Farmers' Rice Cooperative and/or one or 
more of the Members may negotiate and agree on the terms of their 
participation in the bid or sale, including the amount of California 
rice and rice products each will commit to the sale and the price to be 
bid, and, in order to negotiate those terms, may exchange:
    (a) information (other than information about the costs, output, 
capacity, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, domestic 
orders, terms of domestic marketing or sale or United States business 
plans, strategies or methods of Farmers' Rice Cooperative or any other 
Member) that is already generally available to the trade or public,
    (b) information (such as selling strategies, prices, projected 
demand, and customary terms of sale) solely about the Export Markets, 
and
    (c) information on expenses specific to exporting to the Export 
Markets (such as ocean freight, inland freight to the terminal or port, 
terminal or port storage, wharfage and handling charges, insurance, 
agents' commissions, export

[[Page 32773]]

sales documentation and service, and export sales financing).
    (3) Farmers' Rice Cooperative may negotiate with the Members to 
provide, and may provide, the storage, shipping and delivery, and 
associated services needed for each sale.
    (4) Farmers' Rice Cooperative and/or one or more of the Members 
may, with respect to each bid, refuse to include in their bid any other 
company having rice and rice products for export.
    (5) Farmers' Rice Cooperative may solicit Non-member Suppliers to 
sell their Products through the certified activities of Farmers' Rice 
Cooperative and its Members.
    4. Under the heading ``Terms and Conditions of Certificate'', 
delete section (a) and replace sections (b) and (c) with the following:
    (a) Except as provided in paragraph (2) above, Farmers' Rice 
Cooperative and the Members shall not intentionally disclose, directly 
or indirectly, to each other or to any Non-member Supplier any 
information about their costs, output, capacity, inventories, domestic 
prices, domestic sales, domestic orders, terms of domestic marketing or 
sale, or United States business plans, strategies, or methods that is 
not already generally available to the trade or public.
    (b) Farmers' Rice Cooperative and the Members will comply with 
requests made by the Department of Commerce on behalf of the Secretary 
of Commerce or the Department of Justice on behalf of 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 or Methods of Operation 
of an entity protected by this Certificate of Review continue to comply 
with the standards of Section 303(a) of the Act.
    5. Delete the heading ``Members'' and its accompanying text.
    6. Add a new heading, ``Definitions'', with the following text: (1) 
Members, within the meaning of Section 325.2(l) of the Regulations, 
means American Rice, Inc. and California Pacific Rice Milling, Ltd. 
Firms may withdraw from Member status by notifying the Department of 
Commerce in writing.
    (2) Non-member Supplier shall mean any producer (including farmers 
and farm cooperatives), miller, or broker of California rice and rice 
products, apart from Farmers' Rice Cooperative, American Rice, Inc., 
and California Pacific Rice Milling, Ltd.

    Dated: June 19, 1996.
W. Dawn Busby,
Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-16043 Filed 6-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P