The U.S. flavor and fragrance materials industry is an international industry with U.S. firms operating throughout the world and foreign companies operating subsidiaries in the United States, reports the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in its publication Industry and Trade Summary: Flavor and Fragrance Materials.

Shipments of flavor and fragrance materials in the United States are estimated to have been valued at more than $2.5 billion in 1997. The largest volume chemical produced by the U.S. flavor and fragrance materials industry is aspartame, with other major products being geraniol, citral, and mint, cedarwood, and citrus essential oils.

The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, recently released the report as part of an ongoing series of reports on the thousands of products imported into and exported from the United States. Following are other highlights of the report:

• U.S. consumption of flavor and fragrance materials increased from $2.1 billion in 1993 to $2.3 billion in 1997. U.S. production satisfies a significant share of domestic demand for these products, although the ratio of imports to consumption increased from 27 percent in 1993 to nearly 35 percent in 1997. The majority of this increase may be attributed to the expansion of production of aspartame in nations other than the United States, as the U.S. patent on production of aspartame owned by the Nutrasweet Company expired in December 1992.

• As a major world consumer of the products that incorporate flavor and fragrance materials, the United States imports a significant amount of these products that are not available domestically. The United States relies primarily upon a wide range of foreign suppliers, including Japan, the Netherlands, France, India, Switzerland, Ireland, China and Brazil, to supplement domestic production. U.S. imports of these products have increased by approximately 45 percent during 1993-97.

• U.S. exports of flavor and fragrance materials increased by about 38 percent during 1993-97; major markets for U.S. products are Canada and Mexico. The largest individual export market increases were seen in Canada, Mexico, and several Western European markets, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

The foregoing information is from the ITC report Industry and Trade Summary: Flavor and Fragrance Materials (USITC Publication 3162, March 1999).

ITC Industry and Trade Summary reports include information on product uses, U.S. and foreign producers, and tariff treatment of the products being studied; they analyze the basic factors affecting trends in consumption, production, and trade of the commodities, as well as factors bearing on the competitiveness of the U.S. industry in domestic and foreign markets.

This report will be available on the ITC's Internet server at www.usitc.gov. A printed copy may be requested by calling 202-205-1809 or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E St., SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may be faxed to 202-205-2104.