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last update: September 2002 

                                  NOTICES

                           DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

                               (Docket 28-93)

    Foreign-Trade Zone 22--Chicago, IL, Application for Subzone; Sanofi
                                  Winthrop
              Warehouse/Distribution Facility, Des Plaines, IL

                            Friday, July 9, 1993

An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the 
Board) by the Illinois International Port District, grantee of FTZ 22, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the warehouse/distribution 
facility of Sanofi Winthrop L.P. (joint venture between Elf Sanofi (France) 
and Sterling Winthrop Inc., a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company) in Des 
Plaines, Illinois, within the Chicago, Illinois, 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 June 28, 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. Subzone applications are pending for
other company plants in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico (FTZ Doc. 18-93, 58 FR
29192, 5-19-93); Rensselaer, New York, (FTZ Doc. 22-93, 58 FR 33254,
6-16-93); and McPherson, Kansas (FTZ Doc. 24-93, 58 FR 33609, 6-18-93).
Sanofi Winthrop's Illinois facility (7 acres, 86,000 sq. ft.) is located at
200 East Oakton Street, Des Plaines, in the northeast metropolitan Chicago 
area. The facility (50 employees) is the company's primary export/import
distribution center for finished products. Pharmaceutical products
manufactured under zone procedures at the company's U.S. plants would be
shipped to the Des Plaines facility in zone status. Certain finished
products produced at Elf Sanofi plants abroad may be imported for
distribution. The facility is also used for assembly of delivery system
kits and promotional packages for finished pharmaceutical products.
Foreign-sourced materials include packaging, plastic cases, medical
instruments/appliances and parts thereof, medicaments, and other
pharmaceutical products.

Zone procedures would exempt Sanofi Winthrop from Customs duty payments on
foreign materials used in production at other company plants with subzone
status 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 6.3%-6.9% range). The duty rates on foreign-sourced 
items range from duty-free to 16.2 percent. The application indicates that 
zone savings will help improve the international competitiveness of the 
company's domestic plants.

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 
September 7, 1993. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day 
period September 22, 1993.

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, Room 1406, 
55 East Monroe St.,
Chicago, Illinois 60603.

Office of the Executive Secretary, 
Foreign-Trade Zones Board, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 3716,
14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: June 30, 1993.

John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,

Executive Secretary.

(FR Doc. 93-16353 Filed 07-08-93; 8:45 am)