EMPLOYEE BENEFITS - POSTRETIREMENT

The Company has a postretirement healthcare benefits plan that provides coverage for a majority of its United States employees hired prior to January 1, 2013, and their dependents should they elect to maintain such coverage upon retirement. Covered employees become eligible for participation when they qualify for retirement while working for the Company. Participation in the plan is voluntary and requires participants to make contributions toward the cost of the plan, as determined by the Company.

The net periodic benefit costs charged to operating expenses, which are valued at the measurement date of January 1 and recognized evenly throughout the year, consisted of the following components (in thousands of dollars):



	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2014			2013			2014			2013
Service cost	$	2,252		$	2,567		$	4,503		$	5,294
Interest cost	2,637			2,119			5,274			4,469
Expected return on assets	(2,060		)	(1,769		)	(4,119		)	(3,538		)
Amortization of transition asset	(35		)	(36		)	(71		)	(71		)
Amortization of unrecognized losses	195			746			390			1,862
Amortization of prior service credits	(1,814		)	(1,852		)	(3,627		)	(3,705		)
Net periodic benefit costs	$	1,175		$	1,775		$	2,350		$	4,311

The Company has established a Group Benefit Trust to fund the plan and process benefit payments. The funding of the trust is an estimated amount which is intended to allow the maximum deductible contribution under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC), as amended. There are no minimum funding requirements and the Company intends to follow its practice of funding the maximum deductible contribution under the IRC. As of June 30, 2014, the plan was in an overfunded position, and the Company currently does not anticipate significant contributions to the trust in 2014.

During the second quarter of 2014, the Company adopted changes to the retirement plan offered to employees in the Netherlands. The plan was transitioned from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, and all existing and future obligations under the defined benefit plan have been transferred to a third party. As of December 31, 2013, this pension plan was in an overfunded position with a net pension asset of $5 million and $9 million of unrecognized losses included in Accumulated other comprehensive earnings (AOCE). As a result of the plan amendment and settlement, the Company reclassified the unrecognized losses from AOCE to warehousing, marketing and administrative expenses on the Statement of Earnings in an amount of $9 million, with a corresponding tax benefit to income taxes on the Statement of Earnings in an amount of $2 million. In addition, the Company recognized a $3 million write-off related to the plan's assets and liabilities, net of tax. Effective January 1, 2014, the affected employees have an option to participate in the defined contribution plan sponsored by the Company for which contributions are made by the Company and participating employees.