less  before  the  departure  of  your  ship  from  the area. Finally, if your ship is operating in an area for less than 30 days, you should procure foreign merchandise  by  special  order  only. If you provide the necessary time and atten- tion  to  these  procurement  precautions,  you  should not  be  faced  with  the  problem  of  excess  foreign merchandise  at  the  end  of  your  ship’s  tour.  If, for  some  reason,  you  should  ever  find  yourself stuck  with  unmarketable  foreign  merchandise, you  must  follow  the  appropriate  disposal  pro- cedures.  These  procedures  are  discussed  in  chapter 5  of  this  rate  training  manual. FOREIGN  MERCHANDISE  FOR SPECIAL  ORDERS With the exception of forward deployed ships (ships  homeported  overseas  excluding  Hawaii),  no special  orders  of  foreign  merchandise  should  be made  through  the  ship’s  store.  You  should  refer customers   to   the   Exchange   Catalog   for   the Military   Services   or  suggest  they  make  direct purchases over the counter through the military exchange that is serving the area. In addition, con- cessionaire  contract  agreements  may  be  used  in areas  where  these  agreements  have  been  approved by  fleet,  force,  and  type  commanders. You should also make your customers aware of the Exchange Catalog Mail Order Program by which your ship can receive rebates. The rebates are  based  on  a  proportion  of  mail  order  sales generated by your ship in relationship to total sales as reported by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service  (AAFES).  Rebate  checks  are  distributed to  various  ships  by  NAVRESSO  on  a  triennial basis  during  the  months  of  April,  August,  and December. The rebate check for your ship will go directly  to  Ship’s  Store  Profits,  Navy,  as  a  con- tribution. You can find details on how to acquire rebates  for  your  ship  in  NAVSUP  P-487. LIMITATIONS In addition to the various limitations already mentioned,   NAVSUP   P-487   prescribes   further qualitative and quantitative limits on specific types of  items.  Examples  of  some  of  these  restrictions are  discussed  below. Qualitative Limits You  are  restricted  by  particular  qualitative limits in your procurement of certain items, such as  sunglasses,  food,  books,  records,  magazines, and   beer.   For   example,   you   may   not   procure sunglasses   that   might   have   harmful   optical properties.  Also,  the  sunglasses  you  stock  must have   frames   made   of   slow-burning   plastic   or metal. As for food items, you cannot sell any food in  the  form  of  short  orders.  In  the  procurement of magazines and records for the ship’s store, you are  limited  to  materials  that  are  not  considered to   be   obnoxious   or   offensive.   You   can   find guidelines   for   judging   the   acceptability   of materials such as magazines, books, and records in  NAVSUP  P-487.  As  for  your  limitations  on the  procurement  of  beer,  you  may  procure  beer for recreational purposes, but you may not stock beer for resale to the crew through the ship’s store. Quantitative Limits You must observe certain quantitative limits on  a  variety  of  authorized  items  that  bear  your ship’s  identification,  such  as  cigarette  lighters, cups, and stationery. You should limit your stocks of  these  items  to  90  days’  anticipated  sales.  If necessary,   however,   your   initial   orders   may reasonably exceed this quantity if you are trying to  meet  a  vendor’s  minimum  order  stipulation. You  must  limit  your  stocks  of  all  other  items  bear- ing your ship’s identification to quantities that do not  exceed  25  percent  of  your  ship’s  total  com- plement unless you obtain NAVRESSO approval before you begin any type of procurement action. You  may  not  order  tax-free  tobacco  products in  excess  of  your  anticipated  sales  in  the  ship’s store  while  your  ship  is  beyond  the  3-mile  limit of the United States. The procedures you should follow  in  handling  tax-free  tobacco  products  are discussed  in  chapter  6  of  this  manual. There are other limitations you must observe when  you  are  procuring  stock  for  your  ship’s store.   As   mentioned   before,   authorized   ship’s store stock includes any item of stock that is listed on  any  of  the  authorized  stock  lists.  Items  that are   not   authorized   for   ship’s   store   stock   will generally  fall  within  two  categories:  (1)  items  that are  not  listed  on  authorized  stock  lists  and  (2) items  for  which  procurement  is  strictly  prohibited. Unlisted Items In  procuring  ship’s  store  stock,  you  can  re- quest items that are not on the authorized stock lists as long as these items are not prohibited. You should   submit   your   requisitions   to   the   Navy Resale  and  Services  Support  Office  (NAVRESSO). 4-3