NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(Docket 18-93)
Foreign-Trade Zone 61--San Juan, PR; Application for Subzone, Sterling
Pharmaceutical Plant, Barceloneta, PR
Wednesday, May 19, 1993
An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the
Board) by the Puerto Rico Commercial and Farm Credit and Development
Corporation, grantee of FTZ 61, requesting special-purpose subzone status
for the pharmaceutical manufacturing facility of Sterling Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (Sterling) (subsidiary of Sterling Winthrop, Inc./Eastman Kodak
Company) in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, adjacent to the San Juan Customs port
of entry. 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 May 12, 1993.
Sterling Winthrop is a global pharmaceutical firm whose primary product
lines include: Diagnostic imaging agents, hormonal products,
cardiovasculars, analgesics, antihistamines and muscle relaxants. In 1991,
Sterling Winthrop and Elf Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical and health care
products company, formed the Sanofi Winthrop alliance to jointly develop,
manufacture and market products worldwide. This proposal is part of an
overall company cost reduction effort. (Applications for subzone status are
also being submitted for plants in McPherson, Kansas; Rensselaer, New York;
and Des Plaines, Illinois.)
Sterling's Puerto Rico plant (53.4 acres, 8 bldgs.) is located at Route
140, Km. 64.4, 30 miles west of San Juan. The facilities (520 employees)
are used to produce bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, and prepared
prescription and over- the-counter pharmaceutical products including
diagnostic imaging agents, analgesics and antihistamines. The diagnostic
imaging agents which include "Omnipaque", "Visapaque", and "Omniscan"
constitute most of current production. Foreign-sourced materials will
account for, on average, 50 percent of the finished products' value and
include the following specific ingredients: Iohexol, Gadodiamide,
Iodixinol, Cloropaopanedial and Dichloroquinoline. General categories
include the following materials and their derivatives: Hydrocarbons,
alcohols, phenols, ethers, epoxides, acetals, aldehydes, ketone function
compounds, mono- and polycarboxylic acids, phosphoric esters, amine-,
carboxymide, nitrile- and oxygen-function compounds, heterocyclic
compounds, sulfonamides, vitamins, hormones, sugars, antibiotics, gelatins,
enzymes, medicaments, and pharmaceutical products. Some 9 percent of the
products are exported. Zone procedures would exempt Sterling from Customs
duty payments on foreign materials used in production for export. On
domestic sales, the company would be able to choose the duty rates that
apply to the finished products (duty-free to 16.2%, with most falling in
the 3.9%-6.9% range). The duty rates on foreign-sourced items range from
duty-free to 23.5 percent (weighted average-- 13 percent). The application
indicates that zone savings will help improve the plant's international
competitiveness.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ Staff has
been designated examiner to investigate the application and report to the
Board. Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is
July 19, 1993. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during
the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period
(to August 2, 1993).
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available for
public inspection at each of the following locations:
Office of the District Director, U.S. Department of Commerce, room G-55,
Federal Building, Chardon Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, room 3716,
14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: May 13, 1993.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
(FR Doc. 93-11885 Filed 5-18-93; 8:45 am)