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Published on May 12, 2006
THE
COCA-COLA COMPANY
Coca-Cola
Plaza
Atlanta,
Georgia
GEOFFREY
J. KELLY
SENIOR
VICE PRESIDENT
GENERAL
COUNSEL
|
ADDRESS
REPLY TO
P.O.
DRAWER 1734
ATLANTA,
GA 30301
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404-676-3497
FAX:
404
515-2546
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May
12, 2006
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Cecilia
D. Blye, Chief
Office
of Global Security Risk
Division
of Corporation Finance
Securities
and Exchange Commission
100
F Street, N.E.
Washington,
D.C. 20549-5546
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||
Re:
The
Coca-Cola Company
Form
10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2005
Filed
February 28, 2006
File
No. 1-2217
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Dear
Ms.
Blye:
We
are in
receipt of your letter dated March 30, 2006 in which you have asked us to
provide you with supplemental information about our contacts with countries
that
have been identified by the United States Department of State as state sponsors
of terrorism, namely Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria (the “Restricted
Countries”). The following is our response to your request.
To
facilitate your review, we have reproduced in italics each of the numbered
comments from your letter, followed by our response.
Comment:
1.
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We
note from public media sources that you may have operations in and
sales
into Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, countries identified
as
state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. State Department and subject
to
sanctions administered by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of
Industry and Security and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control. For example, we note reports that Coca Cola is
available in Cuban and North Korean hotels for foreigners; and articles
indicating that Coca Cola may purchase gum arabic from Sudan. We note
that the Form 10-K does not contain any information relating to operations
in, and ties to, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria. Please
describe
your operations in, and ties to, these countries, if any, and discuss
their materiality to you in light of the countries’ status as state
sponsors of terrorism. Please also discuss whether the operations,
per
individual country or in the aggregate, constitute a material investment
risk to your security holders. Your response should describe your
current,
historical and anticipated operations in, and contacts with, Cuba,
Iran,
North Korea, Sudan and Syria, including through subsidiaries, affiliates,
joint ventures and other direct and indirect
arrangements.
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Ms.
Cecilia D. Blye
May 12, 2006
Page 2
May 12, 2006
Page 2
Response:
Background
We
are
primarily a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of nonalcoholic beverage
concentrates, sometimes called beverage bases, and syrups (collectively referred
to in this letter as “beverage concentrates”). We typically sell beverage
concentrates to bottlers that are authorized by us to produce, market and sell
finished products bearing our owned, licensed or authorized trademarks to
distributors and consumers in specific territories. Most of our bottlers are
independently-owned and operated entities, although we do own some bottling
operations in certain countries and have equity investments in certain others.
We
authorize our bottlers to produce, market and distribute our finished products
pursuant to the terms of bottlers’ agreements, which are in standard form. The
bottlers’ agreements also address the responsibilities, obligations and rights
of the respective parties and include provisions specifying the finished
products that bottlers are authorized to produce and sell within their
respective authorized territories.
Ties
to or Operations in Restricted Countries
We
do not
have any ties to or operations in Cuba or North Korea. We do not have authorized
bottlers in either of these countries. In addition, our bottlers’ agreements
contain provisions requiring our authorized bottlers to produce and sell our
finished products only in their respective authorized territories, and we have
not authorized any bottler to sell or distribute any of our finished products
into Cuba or North Korea. However, we understand, as you do, from public sources
that some of our finished products may be available in hotels for foreign
tourists or in foreign currency stores in Cuba and North Korea. We believe
that
these finished products are purchased from wholesalers in third countries by
agencies of the Cuban and North Korean governments, such as import-export
companies, and are shipped by these agencies into their respective countries.
We
do not have the contractual or practical means to prevent these types of
activities in countries in which Cuban or North Korean import-export companies
are free to operate.
We
have
authorized a local bottler in Iran to produce and sell finished products there
under certain of our trademarks, including Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite, and
we
supply this bottler with the applicable beverage concentrates. We do this under
a license from the United States Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control (“OFAC”) which is renewed annually at OFAC’s discretion. We
intend to apply to OFAC for an amendment to our current OFAC license to be
permitted to authorize the Iranian bottler to also produce and distribute
finished products under the trademarks Schweppes, Crush and Canada Dry. We
do
not have any ownership interest in this bottler and do not have any tangible
assets in Iran.
Ms.
Cecilia D. Blye
May 12, 2006
Page 3
May 12, 2006
Page 3
We
also
sell beverage concentrates to a local bottler authorized to produce and sell
Coca-Cola and certain other of our finished products in Sudan. We do so under
a
license from OFAC which is renewed annually at OFAC’s discretion. We do not have
any ownership interest in this bottler. Between 2002 and January 2004, our
regional field operations provided certain financial support to this bottler
principally to enable it to purchase new beverage manufacturing equipment and
to
upgrade its glass bottle inventory to increase the bottler’s competitiveness in
the marketplace. Following an internal review of these actions in light of
the
terms of our OFAC license and the Sudan sanction regulations, we made detailed
self-disclosure to OFAC and reached a civil settlement in January 2006 which
provided for the payment of a fine. As part of these financing arrangements,
we
took ownership of an inventory of returnable 250 ml glass bottles located in
Sudan which is not in use and which we intend to ship out of the country as
soon
as we obtain an appropriate OFAC license. We do not have any other tangible
assets in Sudan.
With
respect to your question about gum arabic, please be advised that our agreements
with our suppliers specifically require that gum arabic supplied to us be
sourced from countries other than Sudan. We have no reason to believe that
our
suppliers are not in compliance with this provision.
Currently
we do not have an authorized bottler operating in Syria and, therefore, do
not
ship beverage concentrates into that country. However, two bottlers in the
region have been permitted to sell Coca-Cola and certain other of our finished
products into Syria since July 2004. We have a minority ownership interest
in
one of these bottlers.
We
anticipate that we will grant distribution rights for our finished products
with
respect to Syria to a new distribution company which will source finished
products from bottlers operating in other countries in the region. We will
not
have a direct ownership interest in this new distribution company. We do,
however, have a minority ownership interest in one of the bottlers that is
expected to participate in this new distribution company.
In
addition, on April 21, 2006, we entered into an agreement to purchase the
Cadbury Schweppes (“CS”) brands in Syria. We expect this transaction to close in
late May 2006, at which time we will be responsible for supplying beverage
concentrates for these products to the bottlers in Syria that are now authorized
by CS. We have secured an appropriate export license from the United States
Department of Commerce to provide to the CS bottlers in Syria confidential
information and know-how necessary to produce the authorized beverages when
the
transaction closes.
Finally,
we are exploring with potential beverage industry investors active in the region
the possibility of establishing a local bottler in Syria. By Syrian law, this
bottler would have to be majority-owned by Syrian nationals or companies and
it
is likely that one or more of the existing CS bottlers may participate directly
or indirectly, through its or their shareholders, in this entity. We have no
plans to invest directly in such bottler if it is established, although bottlers
from the region in which we have minority ownership interests may participate
in
its equity. If such bottler is established and is satisfactory to us, we would
expect to authorize it to produce and distribute our finished products in Syria
and the arrangements described above for the distribution of our finished
products from other countries in the region will be terminated.
Ms.
Cecilia D. Blye
May 12, 2006
Page 4
May 12, 2006
Page 4
We
currently do not have any tangible assets in Syria and we do not anticipate
investing in or taking ownership of tangible assets in Syria as a result of
the
changes to our business there as described above.
Comment:
2.
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Your
materiality analysis should address materiality in quantitative terms,
including the approximate dollar amount of revenues, assets and
liabilities associated with Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
Please also address materiality in terms of qualitative factors that
a
reasonable investor would deem important in making an investment
decision,
including the potential impact of your corporate activities upon
your
reputation and share value. In this regard, we note that Arizona
and
Louisiana have adopted legislation requiring their state retirement
systems to prepare reports regarding state pension fund assets invested
in, and/or permitting divestment of state pension fund assets from,
companies that do business with countries identified as state sponsors
of
terrorism. Illinois, Oregon and New Jersey have adopted, and other
states
are considering, legislation prohibiting the investment of certain
state
assets in, and/or requiring the divestment of certain state assets
from,
companies that do business with Sudan. Harvard University, Stanford
University, Yale University, Dartmouth College, the University of
California and other educational institutions have adopted policies
prohibiting investment in, and/or requiring divestment from, companies
that do business with Sudan. Florida requires issuers to disclose
in their
prospectuses any business contacts with Cuba or persons located in
Cuba.
Your materiality analysis should address the potential impact of
the
investor sentiment evidenced by these actions directed toward companies
operating in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. Please also
address
the impact of any regulatory compliance programs you have implemented
in
connection with business in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria,
and
any internal risk assessment undertaken in connection with business
in
those countries.
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Ms.
Cecilia Blye
May 12, 2006
Page 5
May 12, 2006
Page 5
Response:
Materiality
Assessments
We
do not
believe that our business activities described in response to Comment 1 would
be
material to reasonable investors considering both quantitative and qualitative
factors. From a quantitative standpoint, the net operating revenues and gross
profit we derive from authorized sales of our products in Iran, Sudan and Syria,
which for fiscal year 2005 represented in the aggregate less than four
hundredths of one percent (.04%) of our net operating revenues and less than
three hundredths of one percent (.03%) of our gross profit, respectively, are
immaterial to our business as a whole. We do not have any tangible assets in
any
of the Restricted Countries other than the returnable glass bottle inventory
in
Sudan. Such inventory has a carrying value of approximately $3.5 million, which
is clearly immaterial to our consolidated balance sheet. In addition, even
if
the actions we are considering to potentially expand our operations in Iran
and
Syria are successful, we do not anticipate that our operations in these
countries would become material in quantitative terms to our business as a
whole
in the foreseeable future.
From
a
qualitative perspective, we believe that most of our actual and potential
investors draw a distinction between making beverage products available to
the
population in these countries and doing business directly with the governments
of these countries or participating in major military, industrial or
infrastructure projects supporting these governments. Given the nature of our
business and products, we do not believe that our business activities in or
involving Sudan or any of the other Restricted Countries are damaging to our
reputation in the eyes of reasonable investors.
We
are
aware of and closely monitor legislative developments that may affect
investments in companies that do business with countries identified by the
State
Department as state sponsors of terrorism, as well as policies adopted or
proposed to be adopted by educational institutions to discourage or prohibit
investments in companies that do business with Sudan. We are aware that
Illinois, Maine, Oregon and New Jersey have adopted laws that prohibit
investments by state pension funds in certain companies doing business in Sudan.
These laws vary in scope but, in our view, not all are applicable to investments
in our stock. While there are no assurances that state pension officials share
our interpretations of these laws, we note that to date we have not received
indications from pension funds in any of these states that they intend to
liquidate their positions in our stock. In addition, some or all of these state
laws may be subject to challenge as unconstitutional or preempted by federal
law.
We
do not
believe that other legislation, including legislation adopted in Arizona and
Louisiana, prohibit investments by state pension funds in any particular stock
or require divestment of existing investments. We also do not believe that
major
educational institution investment policies currently in effect prohibit
investment of educational institution pension or endowment funds in our stock
or
require divestment of our stock. However, we will continue to monitor
developments in these areas.
Ms.
Cecilia Blye
May 12, 2006
Page 6
May 12, 2006
Page 6
We
are
also aware that the California Public Employees Retirement System (“Calpers”) is
very active in discouraging companies in which it invests from doing business
in
Sudan. We have had communications with Calpers on this issue, but Calpers has
not indicated to us that it would divest itself of our stock as a result of
our
activities in Sudan.
As
mentioned above, we believe that our business activities in or involving the
Restricted Countries are immaterial to our business as a whole from a financial
point of view. Therefore, we have not undertaken a risk assessment in connection
with such activities.
Regulatory
Compliance Program
Our
Code
of Business Conduct, which applies to all of our directors, officers and
employees, provides that our Company and its subsidiaries must comply with
all
laws and regulations, including applicable trade restrictions and boycotts
imposed by the United States government. Our Ethics and Compliance Office
monitors compliance with our Code of Business Conduct, including compliance
with
laws and regulations relating to trade restrictions, and administers applicable
compliance programs, including relevant training. We believe that our compliance
programs have increased our personnel’s awareness of the applicable regulatory
requirements and are effective in preventing or detecting any possible
violations.
In
connection with responding to your comments, the Company acknowledges
that:
·
|
the
Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure
in
the filing;
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·
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staff
comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments do
not
foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the
filing; and
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·
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the
Company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding
initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities
laws of the United States.
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*
* *
Ms.
Cecilia Blye
May 12, 2006
Page 7
May 12, 2006
Page 7
We
believe that this letter includes the supplemental information you requested
in
your letter and adequately addresses your comments. If you have additional
questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned at
(404) 676-3731 or Gabriel Dumitrescu at (404) 676-1182.
Very
truly yours,
/s/
Geoffrey J. Kelly
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|
Geoffrey
J. Kelly,
Senior
Vice President and General Counsel
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cc Christopher
Owings,
Assistant
Director
Division
of Corporation Finance
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James
Lopez,
Office
of Global Security Risk
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E.
Neville Isdell,
Chairman,
Board of Directors and
Chief
Executive Officer
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Gary
P. Fayard,
Executive
Vice President and
Chief
Financial Officer
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Connie
D. McDaniel,
Vice
President and Controller
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Peter
V. Ueberroth,
Chairman
of the Audit Committee
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John
F. Olson,
Counsel
to the Audit Committee
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