BIC CORPORATION RECEIVES FAVORABLE ANTIDUMPING RULING ON DISPOSABLE LIGHTERS MANUFACTURED IN CHINA; FOLLOWS FAVORABLE ANTIDUMPING RULING ON THAILAND LIGHTERS.

MILFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 1994--BIC Corporation (NYSE:BIC) today announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has ruled favorably in a preliminary decision on BIC's petition for the imposition of antidumping duties on disposable lighters manufactured in The People's Republic of China.

The DOC is imposing duties of 197% on approximately one-half of the lighters imported into the U.S. from China. Four companies account for the remainder of the imported lighters from China and these four companies will have duties imposed at rates of 63% or less. Importers of lighters from China will be forced to post bonds or make cash deposits with U.S. Customs to cover the payment of additional duties.

In addition, BIC filed a "critical circumstance" petition which asks the DOC to impose these duties on a retroactive basis. A decision is expected by the end of the month, which could result in retroactive duty deposits and potential dumping liability for entries back to September 9, 1994.

The favorable ruling on lighter imports from China follows a similar antidumping ruling by the DOC in October 1994 on lighter imports from Thailand. In that ruling, the DOC imposed a 14.7% antidumping duty in addition to the current duty rate of 10%. Importers of lighters from Thailand are now posting bonds or making cash deposits with U.S. Customs to cover the payment of the additional duties. A final determination in the Thailand case is expected on March 8, 1995.

"As the only remaining U.S. manufacturer of disposable lighters, BIC filed its petition to protect our competitive position so that we can continue to provide consumers with `Made In The U.S.A.' quality and value," said president Raymond Winter.

"There are serious questions as to whether the imported lighters from China and Thailand meet the standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Safety Specification for Lighters. Preliminary research by BIC has found, for example, that many of the low-priced, imported lighters do not carry warning labels, as required by the ASTM standard.

"We are very proud of our manufacturing process here in the U.S., which is one of the most modern in the world. Each and every BIC Lighter undergoes more than 55 separate quality checks at our Milford, Connecticut plant. This includes testing of every finished BIC Lighter by lighting and extinguishing it to ensure that the lighter performs properly before it ever leaves BIC's plant," noted Mr. Winter.

CONTACT: Arthur Schmidt & Associates, Inc.

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