Resolution and Order Approving the Application of the Panama City Port Authority for a Foreign-Trade Zone in Panama City, Florida; Proceedings of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Washington, D.C.
TEXT: Resolution and Order
Pursuant to the authority granted in the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of June 18, 1934, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), the Foreign-Trade Zones Board has adopted the following Resolution and Order:
The Board, having considered the matter, hereby orders:
After consideration of the application of the Panama City Port Authority, A Florida municipal corporation, filed with the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) on January 4, 1980 requesting a grant of authority for establishing, operating, and maintaining a general-purpose foreign-trade zone at the port complex and industrial park of Port Panama City, within the Panama City Customs port of entry, the Board, finding that the requirements of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended, and the Board's regulations are satisfied with regard to the request for a general-purpose zone, approves the application, subject to the conditions outlined below concerning the proposed steel pipe plant operation of Berg Steel Pipe Corporation (BSPC).
With regard to the BSPC operation, while the Board took into account the area's need for a broader economic base to relieve its high level of unemployment, because of public policy considerations relating to the impact of this type of operation on the domestic steel industry, the following conditions are adopted: (1) The operation is approved for a five year period from the commencement of zone operations at the BSPC plant, subject to extension upon application of the zone grantee. At the conclusion of four years the operation shall be reviewed in terms of public policy considerations, and the Board will consider such matters as: the level of exports, the extent of import displacement, and the extent to which purchases of domestic steel plate and other materials are being made. (2) If an antidumping (AD) or countervailing (CV) duty order, or a Trigger Price Mechanism (TPM) or substitute procedure, is in effect on a foreign product admitted into the zone, BSPC will be required to request privileged foreign status (PF) for such products when they are to be transformed to a new and different tariff classification and subsequently transferred to the Customs territory. The products so transferred will be subject to AD, CV, and TPM administrative requirements, including Special Summary Steel Invoice (SSSI). Transformed products to be exported will not be subject to those administrative requirements. PF status will not be required of such products which are not to be so transformed, but they will be subject to AD, CV, TPM administrative requirements, including SSSI, upon transfer to the Customs territory.
As the zone area includes open space on which buildings may be constructed by parties other than the grantee, this approval includes authority to the grantee to permit the erection of such buildings, pursuant to Section 400.815 of the Board's regulations, as are necessary to carry out the zone proposal, providing that prior to its granting such permission it shall have the concurrences of the local District Director of Customs, the U.S. Army District Engineer, when appropriate, and the Board's Executive Secretary. Further, the grantee shall notify the Board's Executive Secretary for approval prior to the commencement of any manufacturing operation within the zone. The Secretary of Commerce, and Chairman and Executive Officer of the Board, is hereby authorized to issue a grant of authority and appropriate Board Order.
Grant To Establish, Operate, and Maintain a Foreign-Trade Zone In Panama City, Florida
Whereas, by an Act of Congress approved June 18, 1934, an Act "To provide for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of foreign-trade zones in ports of entry of the United States, to expedite and encourage foreign commerce, and for other purposes," as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u) (the Act), the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) is authorized and empowered to grant to corporations the privilege of establishing, operating, and maintaining foreign-trade zones in or adjacent to ports of entry under the jurisdiction of the United States;
Whereas, the Panama City Port Authority, a Florida municipal corporation, (the Grantee) has made application (filed January 4, 1980) in due and proper form to the Board, requesting the establishment, operation and maintenance of a foreign-trade zone in Panama City, within the Panama City Customs port of entry;
Whereas, notice of said application has been given and published, and full opportunity has been afforded all interested parties to be heard;
Whereas, the Board has found that the requirements of the Act and the Board's Regulations (15 C.F.R. Part 400) are satisfied with regard to the proposed general-purpose zone; and,
Whereas, the Board, pursuant to its authority to restrict or prohibit operations detrimental to the public interest (19 U.S.C. 81o(c)), considered the possible impact of the proposed steel pipe plant operation of Berg Steel Pipe Corporation (BSPC) within the zone, taking into account other Government actions and programs which attach conditions to steel imports;
Now, Therefore, the Board hereby grants to the Grantee the privilege of establishing, operating, and maintaining a foreign-trade zone, designated on the records of the Board as Zone No. 65 at the location mentioned above and more particularly described on the maps and drawings accompanying the application in Exhibits IX and X, subject to the provisions, conditions, and restrictions of the Act and the Regulations issued thereunder, to the same extent as though the same were fully set forth herein, and also to the following express conditions and limitations:
Operation of the foreign-trade zone shall be commenced by the Grantee within a reasonable time from the date of issuance of the grant, and prior thereto the Grantee shall obtain all necessary permits from Federal, State, and municipal authorities.
The Grantee shall allow officers and employees of the United States free and unrestricted access to and throughout the foreign-trade zone site in the performance of their official duties.
The operation of the proposed steel pipe plant by Berg Steel Pipe Corporation shall be subject to the conditions and restrictions enumerated in the resolution appearing in the prefatory part of this Order.
The Grantee shall notify the Executive Secretary of the Board for approval prior to the commencement of any other manufacturing operations within the zone.
The grant shall not be construed to relieve the Grantee from liability for injury or damage to the person or property of others occasioned by the construction, operation, or maintenance of said zone, and in no event shall the United States be liable therefor.
The grant is further subject to settlement locally by the District Director of Customs and the Army District Engineer with the Grantee regarding compliance with their respective requirements for the protection of the revenue of the United States and the installation of suitable facilities.
In Witness Whereof, the Foreign-Trade Zones Board has caused its name to be signed and its seal to be affixed hereto by its Chairman and Executive Officer at Washington, D.C. this 16th day of January 1981, pursuant to Order of the Board.
Foreign-Trade Zones Board.
Philip M. Klutznick,
Chairman and Executive Officer.
Attest:
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 81-2455 Filed 1-23-81; 8:45 am]