Export Trade Certificate of Review

ACTION:

Notice of Issuance of an Export Trade Certificate of Review, Application No. 99-00006.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce has issued an Export Trade Certificate of Review to T.P. International Expo Services Inc. (“TPIES”). This notice summarizes the conduct for which certification has been granted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Morton Schnabel, Director, Office of Export Trading Company Affairs, International Trade Administration, 202-482-5131. This is not a toll-free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title III of the Export Trading Company Act of 1982 (15 U.S.C. 4001-21) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to issue Export Trade Certificates of Review. The regulations implementing Title III are found at 15 CFR Part 325 (1999).

The Office of Export Trading Company Affairs (“OETCA”) is issuing this notice pursuant to 15 CFR 325.6(b), which requires the Department of Commerce to publish a summary of a Certificate in the Federal Register. Under Section 305(a) of the Act and 15 CFR 325.11(a), any person aggrieved by the Secretary's determination may, within 30 days of the date of this notice, bring an action in any appropriate district court of the United States to set aside the determination on the ground that the determination is erroneous.

Description of Certified Conduct

Export Trade

1. Products; All products.

2. Services; All services.

3. Technology Rights. Technology rights including, but not limited to, patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets that relate to Products and Services.

4. Export Trade Facilitation Services (as they Relate to the Export of Products, Services and Technology Rights): Export Trade Facilitation Services, including, but not limited to: professional services in the areas of government relations and assistance with state and federal export programs, foreign trade and business protocol; consulting; market research and analysis; collection of information on trade opportunities; marketing; negotiations; joint ventures; shipping and export management; export licensing; advertising; documentation and services related to compliance with customs requirements; insurance and financing; bonding; warehousing; export trade promotion; trade show exhibitions; organizational development; management and labor strategies; transfer of technology; transportation; and facilitating the formation of shippers' associations.

Export Markets

The Export Markets include all parts of the world except the United States (the fifty states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands).

Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation

TPIES, Inc. may engage in the following activities with respect to Export Markets:

1. Provide and/or arrange for the provision of Export Trade Facilitation Services;

2. Engage in promotion and marketing activities and collect and distribute information on trade opportunities in the Export Markets;

3. Enter into exclusive and/or non-exclusive agreements with distributors, foreign buyers, and/or sales representatives in Export Markets;

4. Enter into exclusive or non-exclusive sales agreements with Suppliers, Export Intermediaries, or other persons for the sale of Products and Services in Export Markets;

5. Enter into exclusive or non-exclusive agreements with Suppliers, Export Intermediaries, or other persons for licensing Technology Rights in Export Markets;

6. Allocate sales, export orders and/or divide Export Markets among Suppliers, Export Intermediaries, or other persons for the sale of Products and Services;

7. Allocate the licensing of Technology Rights in Export Markets among Suppliers, Export Intermediaries, or other persons;

8. Establish the price of Products and Services for sale in Export Markets;

9. Establish the fee for licensing of Technology Rights in Export Markets; and

10. Negotiate, enter into, and/or manage licensing agreements for the export of Technology Rights.

Terms and Conditions of Certificate

1. In engaging in Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation, TPIES, Inc. will not intentionally disclose, directly or indirectly, to any Supplier any information about any other Supplier's costs, production, capacity, inventories, domestic prices, domestic sales, or U.S. business plans, strategies, or methods that is not already generally available to the trade or public.

2. TPIES, Inc. will comply with requests made by the Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the Secretary or the Attorney General for information or documents relevant to conduct under the Certificate. The Secretary of Commerce will request such information or documents when either the Attorney General or the Secretary of Commerce believes that the information or documents are required to determine that the Export Trade, Export Trade Activities and Methods of Operation of a person protected by this Certificate of Review continue to comply with the standards of Section 303(a) of the Act.

Definitions

1. Export Intermediary means a person who acts as a distributor, sales representative, sales or marketing agent, or broker, or who performs similar functions, including providing or arranging for the provision of Export Trade Facilitation Services.

2. Supplier means a person who produces, provides, or sells a Product and/or a Service.

Protection Provided by the Certificate

This Certificate protects TPIES, Inc. and its directors, officers, and employees acting on its behalf from private treble damage actions and government criminal and civil suits under U.S. federal and state antitrust laws for the export conduct specified in the Certificate and carried out during its effective period in compliance with its terms and conditions.

A copy of this certificate will be kept in the International Trade Administration's Freedom of Information Records Inspection Facility Room 4102, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.