NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[Docket 15-91]
Foreign-Trade Zone 40--Cleveland,
OH; Application for Subzone, Joseph & Feiss
Company Apparel Plant, Cleveland, OH
Thursday, April 4, 1991
An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the
Board) by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, grantee of FTZ 40,
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the men's tailored apparel
manufacturing facility of The Joseph & Feiss Company (JFC) (subsidiary of
Hugo Boss A.G., Germany) located in Cleveland, Ohio. 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 March 19, 1991.
The JFC plant (7 acres, 1,300 employees) is located at 2149 West 53rd
Street, some 2.5 miles west of downtown Cleveland in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
The facility is used to produce men's tailored clothing for both domestic
consumption and export. JFC's product line includes Hugo Boss, Cricketeer,
Geoffrey Beene, Country Britches, and Baracuta. The proposal calls for the
use of zone procedures in the cutting and processing of foreign wool and
wool-blend material used in the production of men's suits. Foreign fabric
accounts for some 40-50 percent of the total amount of fabric consumed
annually at the plant, and this level of foreign sourcing would continue.
The foreign material is primarily worsted fabric received from European and
Asian countries that are signatories to the Multi-Fiber Arrangement. The
foreign material would be covered by appropriate visas, and the proposal is
submitted with the understanding that a procedure will be adopted by
Customs that would have the foreign material charged against appropriate
quotas upon admission to the plant. The application indicates that
"privileged foreign status" (19 CFR 146.65) would be selected at time of
entry for admission.
Zone procedures would be used during the preliminary stages of production
from fabric examination through cutting. After the cutting stage is
completed, the cut panels will be formally entered and Customs duty
payments paid. Subzone status would exempt JFC from Customs duty payments
on the foreign fabric used in the production of suits for export. On its
domestic sales, it would be able to defer duty payments on foreign fabric
(36.1%). Duty exemption would be sought on scrap fabric, based on an
approximate 17 percent rate of waste. The application indicates that the
savings from zone procedures will help improve the company's international
competitiveness.
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; John F. Nelson,
District Director, U.S. Customs Service, North Central Region, 55 Erieview
Plaza, Cleveland, Ohio 44114; and Major David P. Plank, District Engineer,
U.S. Army Engineer District Buffalo, 1776 Niagara Street, Buffalo, New
York 14207.
Comments concerning the proposed foreign-trade subzone are invited from
interested parties. They should be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or before May 21, 1991.
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available for
public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce,
District Office,
666 Euclid Avenue, room 668,
Cleveland, Ohio 44114.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, room 4213,
14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: March 28, 1991.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 91-7897 Filed 4-3-91; 8:45 am]