DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 40-87]
52 FR 47438
December 14, 1987
Foreign-Trade Zone 66 -- Wilmington, NC; Application for Subzone Carolmet,
Inc., Optical Lens Blank Operation, Scotland County, NC
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Department of Commerce of the State of North Carolina,
grantee of FTZ 66, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the
germanium lens blank manufacturing operation of Carolmet, Inc. (Carolmet),
a subsidiary of Metallurgie Hoboken-Overpelt, S.A., of Belgium (MHO),
located in Scotland County, North Carolina.
The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of 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 December 1, 1987.
The proposed subzone would involve an 8-acre site within Carolmet's 67-
acre facility located on Airport Road, 1/2 mile north of the Laurinburg-
Maxton Airport in Scotland County, North Carolina. Carolmet's proposed
operation in a new 30,000-sq. ft. plant would employ 25 persons to produce
optical-grade germanium lens blanks used in night-vision equipment. The primary raw material, germanium
ingots, would be supplied by MHO's facility in Belgium. Carolmet's U.S.
production would replace lens blanks imported from Belgium, most of which
enter the United States duty-free based on their end-use (sales to DOD).
In its DOD sales, zone procedures would allow Carolmet to elect the same
duty-free treatment on germanium ingots that applies to completed germanium
blanks procured under DOD regulations. On non-DOD sales, the company would
pay duties at the rate applicable to ingots (2.7 percent). The applicant has
indicated that the savings from zone procedures will encourage the shifting
of its night-vision lens manufacturing from overseas.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report to the Board. The
committee consists of: Dennis Puccinelli (Chairman), Foreign-Trade Zones
Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; Howard Cooperman,
Deputy Assistant Regional Commissioner, U.S. Customs Service, Southeast
Region, 909 Brickell Pl., Rm 7322, Miami, FL 33130; and Colonel Paul W.
Woodbury, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Wilmington, P.O.
Box 1890, Wilmington NC 28402.
Comments concerning the proposed subzone are invited in writing from
interested parties. They should be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or before January 25, 1988.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Customs Service,
District Director's Office,
1 Virginia Ave.,
Wilmington, NC 28401.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1529,
14th and Pennsylvania, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: December 7, 1987.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 87-28570 Filed 12-11-87; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M