[Federal Register: November 14, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 34-94]
Foreign-Trade Zone 80--San Antonio, TX; Application for Subzone
Status R.G. Barry Corporation (Footwear and Thermal Comfort Products)
San Angelo, TX
An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the City of San Antonio, grantee of FTZ 80, requesting
special-purpose subzone status for the distribution facilities of R.G.
Barry Corporation, located in San Angelo, Texas. 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 November 1, 1994.
R.G. Barry is a manufacturer and distributor of comfort footwear
(household slippers) and thermal comfort products (heat seats, scarves,
back warmers, hand warmers, pocket warmers, ear muffs and bread
warmers), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The company employs
3,685 people worldwide and its total sales in 1993 exceeded $100
million.
R.G. Barry has two facilities in San Angelo, Texas, some 200 miles
northwest of San Antonio. They are located at 3301 Barry Avenue
(144,000 sq. ft. on 9.9 acres) and 2000 Loop St. (145,800 sq. ft. on 10
acres). The facilities (235 employees) are engaged in the warehousing
and distribution of R.G. Barry's footwear and comfort products. The
Loop Street facility is also used for injection molding of slipper
soles for footwear, but this activity would not be conducted under zone
procedures. The products are generally made of domestic materials
(polyester and other man-made fibers), which are cut at Barry plants in
the U.S. and sent to company plants abroad to be sewn. The finished
products are then shipped to Barry's U.S. distribution centers in San
Angelo and Laredo, Texas and Goldsboro, North Carolina. While currently
over five percent of the finished products are reexported, the company
plans to increase export activity to 14 percent.
Zone procedures would exempt R.G. Barry from Customs duty payments
on the foreign value involved in products that are reexported. On its
domestic sales, the company would be able to defer Customs duties on
the value added abroad. The application indicates that zone savings
would help improve the international competitiveness of the company's
domestic operations.
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 on the application is invited from interested
parties. Submissions (original and three copies) shall be addressed to
the Board's Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing
period for their receipt is January 13, 1995. Rebuttal comments in
response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be
submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to January 30, 1995.)
A copy of the application and the accompanying exhibits will be
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Customs Service, Port Director, 9800 Airport Blvd., Suite 1103,
San Antonio, Texas 78216.
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue,
NW, Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: November 7, 1994.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-28046 Filed 11-10-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P