How To Find Out More About Etcs

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The Export Trading Company Act of 1982 directed the U.S. Department of Commerce to "promote . . . the formation of export trade associations and export trading companies [ETCs]." Besides setting up a special agency -- the Office of Export Trading Company Affairs -- the Commerce Department held a series of conferences in 50 cities. While the conferences did promote the idea of international trade, there was little hard information available then to help businesspeople evaluate the usefulness of trading companies.

Since the meetings, Commerce has published a guide to ETCs, describing what an export trading company is and the fundamentals of how to form one. The guide can be obtained from the Office of Export Trading Company Affairs, Room 6711, Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230. Several other booklets that stress the practical side of setting up an ETC are available:

"Export Trading Companies: Possible Structures, Small Business Response, and Public Sector Roles," a 39-page booklet published by the National Association of State Development Agencies is available for $10 from NASDA, 444 N. Capitol St. NW, Washington, DC 20001.

"Basic Requirements for Establishing Export Trading Companies," a free, 24-page reprint primarily for exporters of food and agricultural products, published by the Foreign Agricultural Service. Write Export Programs Division, Room 4945-S, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

"The Export Trading Company Act of 1982: Invitation to Aggressive Export Expansion," a free, 46-page booklet that clarifies this law and its implications for U.S. business, by Dennis Unkovic and Nancy Jean LaMont, reprinted from the Dickinson Law Review. A limited number of copies are available from Dennis Unkovic, Meyer Unkovic & Scott, 1400 Frick Bldg., Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

The Commerce Department has started a computer service to match producers of goods and services with existing trading companies, banks, and other exporters. Registration of a company in the Contact Facilitation Service's file is free. To search for a match costs $50, plus $5 for each contact provided. Like most U.S. Commerce Department exporting programs, the facilitation service should be considered a starting point, not an up-to-date fact source. Information is available from each of the 48 district offices of the Department of Commerce