Foreign-Trade Zone 61San Juan, Puerto Rico, Application for Subzone, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Pharmaceutical Products), Barceloneta, Puerto Rico

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 19708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10572]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 20-98]


Foreign-Trade Zone 61--San Juan, Puerto Rico, Application for 
Subzone, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Pharmaceutical Products), 
Barceloneta, Puerto Rico

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Commercial and Farm Credit and Development 
Corporation of Puerto Rico, grantee of FTZ 61, requesting special-
purpose subzone status for the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant of 
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Pfizer), in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. 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 April 13, 1998.
    Pfizer is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. (U.S.), which 
comprises three global businesses--Health Care, Consumer Health Care 
and Animal Health.
    Pfizer's Barceloneta plant (420,000 sq. ft. on 95 acres + 150-acre 
adjacent area) is located at Road 2, KM 58.2, Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, 
some 45 miles west of San Juan. The facility (with some 1,000 
employees) produces finished pharmaceutical products, primarily 
SINEQUAN, DIABINESE, ANTIVERT, 
MINIPRESS, FELDENE, GLUCOTROL, 
PROCARDIA XL, NORVASC, CARDURA, 
DIFLUCAN, ZOLOFT, and ZITHROMAX.
    The company may locate production of three new products, 
VIAGRA treatment for erectile dysfuntion (HTSUS 
3004.90.9040), TIKOSYN anti-arrhythmia treatment (HTSUS 
3004.90.9020) and eletripten migraine treatment (HTSUS 3004.90.9040) at 
the Barceloneta facility contingent upon receiving approval for subzone 
procedures at the plant. Foreign-sourced materials will account for, on 
average, 86 percent of materials value, and include items from the 
following categories:

Aromatic ethers and their derivatives
    HTSUS 2909.30.4000  10.3%
Aromatic monoamines and their derivatives, salts
    HTSUS 2921.49.4500  10.7%
Organo-sulfur compounds
    HTSUS 2930.90.9050  3.7%
Heterocyclic compounds with nitrogen hetero-atoms(s):
    HTSUS 2933.19.9000  6.8%
    HTSUS 2933.59.5300  6.6%
    HTSUS 2933.59.7000  10.7%
    HTSUS 2933.90.7900  10.7%
    HTSUS 2933.90.9000  3.7%

The company may also purchase from abroad other ingredients and 
materials in the following general categories: gums, starches, waxes, 
vegetable extracts, mineral oils, sugars, empty capsules, protein 
concentrates, prepared animal feed, mineral products, inorganic acids, 
chlorides, clorates, sulfites, sulfates, phosphates, cyanides, 
silicates, radioactive chemicals, rare-earth metal compounds, 
hydroxides, hydrazine and hydroxylamine, chlorides, phosphates, 
carbonates, 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, insecticides, 
rodenticides, fungicides and herbicides, fertilizers, vitamins, 
hormones, antibiotics, gelatins, enzymes, pharmaceutical glaze, 
essential oils, albumins, gelatins, activated carbon, residual lyes, 
acrylic polymers, color lakes, soaps and detergents, various packaging 
and printing materials, medicaments, pharmaceutical products, and 
instruments and appliances used in medical sciences. Some 10 percent of 
production may be exported.
    Zone procedures would exempt Pfizer 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). The duty rates on foreign-sourced items 
range from duty-free to 18.6 percent. At the outset, zone savings would 
primarily involve choosing the finished product duty rate on 
VIAGRA, TIKOSYN and eletripten (duty-free), 
rather than the rates for their foreign components listed above (duty 
rates ranging from 3.7% to 10.7%). The application indicates that the 
savings from zone procedures 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 
June 22, 1998. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to July 6, 1998).
    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 Export Assistance Center, Plaza Torre, 525 
F.D. Roosevelt Ave., Suite 905, San Juan (Hato Rey), Puerto Rico 00918
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: April 14, 1998.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Acting Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-10572 Filed 4-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P