[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 4]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1610.19]

[Page 241-242]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
                               COMMISSION
 
PART 1610--AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS--Table of Contents
 
         Subpart A--Production or Disclosure Under 5 U.S.C. 552
 
Sec. 1610.19  Predisclosure notification procedures for confidential 
commercial information.

    (a) In general. Commercial information provided to the Commission 
shall not be disclosed except in accordance with this section. For the 
purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
    (1) Confidential commercial information refers to records provided 
by a submitter containing information that is arguably exempt from 
disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), because disclosure could reasonably 
be expected to cause substantial competitive harm.
    (2) Submitter refers to any person or entity who provides 
confidential commercial information to the government. The term 
includes, but is not limited to, corporations, State governments, and 
foreign governments.
    (b) Notice to submitter. Except as provided in paragraph (g) of this 
section, the Commission shall provide a submitter with explicit notice 
of a FOIA request for confidential commercial records whenever:
    (1) The Commission reasonably believes that disclosure could cause 
substantial competitive harm to the submitter;
    (2) The information was submitted prior to January 1, 1988, the 
records are less than 10 years old, and the submitter designated them as 
commercially sensitive; or
    (3) The information was submitted after January 1, 1988, and the 
submitter previously, in good faith, designated the records as 
confidential commercial information. Such designations shall:
    (i) Whenever possible, include a statement or certification from an 
officer or authorized representative of the company that the information 
is in fact confidential commercial information and has not been 
disclosed to the public; and
    (ii) Expire ten years from the date of submission unless otherwise 
justified.
    (c) Notice to requester. When notice is given to a submitter under 
this section, the requester shall be notified

[[Page 242]]

that notice and opportunity to comment are being provided to the 
submitter.
    (d) Opportunity of submitter to object. When notification is made 
pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, the Commission shall afford 
the submitter a minimum of five working days to provide it with a 
detailed statement of objections to disclosure. Such statement shall 
provide precise identification of the exempted information, and the 
basis for claiming it as a trade secret or as confidential information 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), the disclosure of which is likely to 
cause substantial harm to the submitter's competitive position.
    (e) Notice of intent to disclose. (1) The Commission shall consider 
carefully the objections of a submitter provided pursuant to paragraph 
(d) of this section. When the Commission decides to disclose information 
despite such objections, it shall provide the submitter with a written 
statement briefly explaining why the objections were not sustained. Such 
statement shall be provided a minimum of three working days prior to the 
specified disclosure date, in order that the submitter may seek a court 
injunction to prevent release of the records if it so chooses.
    (2) When a submitter is notified pursuant to paragraph (e)(1) of 
this section, notice of the Commission's final disclosure determination 
and proposed release date shall also be provided to the requester.
    (f) Notice of lawsuit. Whenever a requester brings suit seeking to 
compel disclosure of confidential commercial information, the Commission 
shall promptly notify the submitter of the legal action.
    (g) Exceptions to the notice requirement. The notice requirements of 
this section shall not apply if:
    (1) The Commission determines that the information shall not be 
disclosed;
    (2) The information is published or otherwise officially available 
to the public;
    (3) Disclosure of the information is required by law (other than 5 
U.S.C. 552).

[56 FR 29579, June 28, 1991]