Event Description

The U.S. Department of Commerce's, International Trade Administration's (ITA), Commercial Service (CS) office in Dusseldorf, supported by the ITA Health Care Technology Team, is organizing the annual Corporate Executive Office (CEO) at Expopharm '03, Europe's largest pharmaceutical, over-the-counter (OTC) product and health supplements show, with over 450 exhibitors and over 20,000, strictly trade-only, visitors from around the world. Product groups include: Pharmaceuticals and OTC drugs; nutritional supplements; services; bandages and hospital care products; cosmetics and body care products; laboratory and prescription accessories; hygiene products; pharmacy furnishings; software/hardware products. The show targets trade visitors from the pharmaceutical sector including retail pharmacy, doctors and nurses. At this year's location in Cologne, Expopharm is expected to attract a great number of visitors from western European countries. This Expopharm CEO is the major event in Europe for the pharmaceutical sector under the Department of Commerce's Showcase Europe program. As the only effective alternative to exhibiting at or simply visiting Expopharm for U.S. exporters, the CEO program targets new-to-market U.S. companies in this sector that have not previously exhibited at Expopharm. The CEO program affords lower cost access to Expopharm, allowing small and medium-sized businesses to participate in Europe's largest pharmaceutical trade show where they would not otherwise have the opportunity to participate due to the high cost. The Expopharm CEO is intended as an alternative to exhibiting individually. The U.S. Commercial Service envisions that CEO participants will eventually exhibit in their own booth on the exhibition floor. Thus, preference will be given to businesses who are not multiple-year participants in past Expopharm CEOs.

This CEO consists of a package of services including: pre-show counseling; presence and base of operations on show premises with shared office suite, equipment, and services; market research and formal briefing in-country by the CS pharmaceutical sector specialist; exposure through entry into show catalog, and the on-site electronic search system; assignment of a multi-lingual personal assistant/escort; on-site scheduling of meetings with pre-screened potential partners, agents, and buyers; and post-show assistance and follow-up with contacts.

Commercial Setting

The Expopharm trade show is the single most important commercial and information exchange for U.S. exporters to the German and European pharmaceuticals, OTC products and health supplements market. It offers not only the unsurpassed forum for access to the German market but also an excellent means to explore and penetrate virtually all European markets as well as other foreign markets. Germany is the world's third-largest market for pharmaceuticals, behind the United States and Japan. Major supplier to the German market is the United States with an import share of 22.8%. With approx. 1,100 local suppliers, 59% of which are foreign-owned, the German pharmaceutical market is very competitive and price-oriented. Innovative and improved pharmaceuticals, generic and OTC products present best prospects for U.S. exporters. The "aut idem" substitution provision, in effect as of February 2002, and plans by the German government to open the market of mail order pharmaceuticals and allow for multiple ownership of pharmacies, will further encourage competition. The market is increasingly consumer-driven, with patients' expenditures for non-reimbursable medication valued at roughly 4.5 billion Euro in 2001. The 22,000 pharmacies in Germany, previously delivery centers for prescription medicines, are quickly turning into health stores, including nutraceuticals and general health and wellness products.

Despite recent efforts to reform the public health care system in Germany and to retard the rapid increase in public health care expenditures, demographic trends, the aging German population and advances in health technologies are predicted to maintain the German market as the largest and fastest growing market in all of Europe. The German market is very receptive to innovative, pharmaceutical and health supplement products from the United States. The newer democratic markets of Central and Eastern Europe as well as the former republics of the Soviet Union offer long term potential for U.S. exporters as those regions strive to achieve comparable standards of health care enjoyed in the West. This year's Expopharm in Cologne will be the showplace for U.S. pharmaceutical, OTC and health care products for these markets.

Because Expopharm attracts buyers and experts in the field from all over Europe, it serves as a barometer of trends, an indispensable source of market information, and the most efficient available tool for establishing contacts and selling or preparing for sales to major European markets.

Mission Goals

The goal of the Expopharm CEO is to facilitate a productive presence for companies that would not otherwise be able to participate in Expopharm '03. The Expopharm CEO program enables U.S. pharmaceutical/OTC and health supplement providers to familiarize themselves with this important trade fair, conduct market research and explore export opportunities through pre-arranged meetings with potential partners, investigation of market conditions, and discussions conducted at the show without the high costs of first-time exhibition. Importantly, the CEO allows U.S. companies to have a presence at the show, thereby providing them with an enhanced image and level of engagement, an office infrastructure environment, and knowledgeable support of U.S. Commercial Service staff and personal assistants focused on furthering company-specific objectives. Access to German, European, and other international markets and business partners is made possible through the CEO in a manner that cannot be matched by simply attending the show as a visitor.

Mission Scenario

Participants will be counseled by ITA trade specialists. Company information and literature will be forwarded by the companies to CS Dusseldorf and distributed in advance to assigned assistants, so that they may familiarize themselves with the company. Participants will arrive in Cologne on their own schedule but report to the CEO office in Expopharm at the start of the show. At this time, participants will be briefed by CS staff on program features, personally introduced to their assigned assistants, and greeted by trade fair officials. Company literature and promotional material will either be shipped to the trade show in advance or brought by participants. CS staff will be available for information and assistance throughout the duration of Expopharm. Prior to participants' departure, CS staff will advise and counsel on appropriate follow-up actions to be taken after the show.

Timetable

Participants arrive according to their own schedules but all assemble at the Cologne Trade Fair in the Expopharm CEO at the beginning of the show, September 18, 2003. Recruitment will close by August 18, 2003. Applications received after August 18, 2003, will be considered only if space and scheduling constraints permit.

Conditions for CEO participation

• Acceptability of product area/sector for exhibition in Expopharm according to trade fair rules.
  
• Relevance of the company's business line to CEO goals
  
• Potential for business in the selected market
  
• Timely submission of a completed application, payment of the $3,000 participation fee, and submission of the participation agreement and certifications.
  
• Provision of adequate information on the company's products and/or services and communication of the company's primary objectives to facilitate appropriate matching with potential business partners
  
• Certification that the company meets Department of Commerce guidelines for participation, including certification that the company's products and/or services are manufactured or produced in the U.S. or if manufactured/produced outside of the U.S., the product/service must be marketed under the name of a U.S. firm and have U.S. content representing at least 51 percent of the value of the finished good or service

Any partisan political activities of an applicant, including political contributions, will be entirely irrelevant to the selection process.

Expopharm CEO participation promotion will be conducted by CS Dusseldorf and will be supported by the ODO Health Care Team and ITA and include, but not be limited to, publication in local German, as well as domestic trade publications and associations newsletters, mailings from internal and purchased mailing lists, postings in the Federal Register, and on ITA's home page (www.ita.doc.gov/doctm.html).

Contact information:

National Team Lead ExpoPharm:
Dina Vulpis
Newark Export Assistance Center
744 Broad Street, Suite 1505
Newark, NJ 07102
Tel: 973-645-4682, ext 13
Email: dine.vulpis@mail.doc.gov

Overseas Post & Recruitment Lead:
Anette Salama
The Commercial Service
U.S. Consulate General
Willi-Becker-Allee 10
40227 Dusseldorf
Germany
Tel: +49-211-737-767-60
Fax: +49-211-737-767-67

U.S. Contact:
Dennis McClure
U.S. Department of Commerce/U.S.&FCS
14th & Constitution Ave, NW Rm 3122
Washington, DC 20230
Tel: 202/482-3347
Fax: 202/482-3159
Email: dennis.mcclure@mail.doc.gov