The Freedom
of Information Act
(FOIA), which can be found in Text of the FOIA (as
amended in 2002), was enacted in 1966 and provides that any
person has the right to request access to federal agency records or
information. All agencies of the United States government are
required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for
them, except for those records that are protected from disclosure by
the nine exemptions. This right of access is enforceable in
court.
On October 2, 1996, President Clinton signed into
law the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996
(E-FOIA, for short). E-FOIA makes it possible for you to have
electronic access to the ITA FOIA Reading Room. The new law requires
agencies to respond to a FOIA request within 20 working days
(excluding holidays).
To save you both time and money, please browse
the documents and information sources which are currently available
on our ITA Homepage before submitting a FOIA request. In addition,
the four units of ITA (Import
Administration; Trade
Promotion and U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service; Manufacturing
and Services; and Market
Access and Compliance) maintain separate homepages with
information about their specific programs and activities. If these
resources do not contain the information you are seeking, then you
may consider filing a FOIA request. (Note: For information about
export regulations, please see the homepage for the Bureau
of Industry and Security.)
For more detailed information,
see the Department of Justice Text
on the Freedom of Information Act.
- For additional general information on how to
use the FOIA see A Citizen's Guide on Using the Freedom of
Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 to Request Government
Records. This publication is available at Federal Depository
Libraries, the Government Printing Office, or you can access it
through GPO Access (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html).
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