Continuing his efforts to assist businesses in Nassau County, Legislator Roger Corbin (D-Westbury) recently approved a home-rule message to New York State to create a foreign trade sub-zone for Bristol Meyers Squibb Pharmaceutical Company.

The creation of the sub-zone would extend to Bristol Meyers, formerly DuPont Pharmaceuticals in Garden City, the benefits of Suffolk County's Foreign Trade Zone, which is a federally sponsored program aimed at making U.S. based companies more competitive with foreign companies. Without the foreign trade zone, existing U.S. tariffs give imported finished products an advantage over U.S. made finished products. This occurs because imported individual parts, of which U.S. companies are dependent on for making their finished products, are taxed at higher rates than imported finished products. Such a scenario results in U.S. made finished products costing more than foreign-made finished products.

"It is important to assist our business community as best we can so they can be as competitive as possible with other regions," said Corbin. "I look forward to Nassau being authorized to operate its own Foreign Trade Zone so companies throughout the county can take advantage of this program."

Nassau County is presently in the process of applying for Foreign Trade Zone status, but cannot afford the benefits of the program to Bristol Meyers or anyone else until its application has been approved. Suffolk County agreed to sponsor Bristol Meyers' application for sub-zone status in Nassau County, but requires state enabling legislation via the home rule message from Nassau County to create the sub-zone.