We’re moving!  The Safe Harbor Program’s website will have a new look on November 9, 2006.  Although the site’s address and content will not change, the site will be “moved” under the Export.Gov portal and feature the Export.Gov banner at the top.  This is the first in a series of improvements being carried out to improve visitors’ site navigation, publicize the Safe Harbor Program’s existence to a broader audience and to highlight U.S. government programs to help exporters. For additional information, please contact:  Damon C. Greer at (202) 482-5023 or email him at:  damon.greer@mail.doc.gov.

Conference on International Transfers of Personal Data
October 23-24, 2006
Brussels, Belgium

The European Commission will organize a Conference on International Transfers of Personal Data under the aegis of the Article 29 working Party, an independent European Union advisory body on Date Protection and Privacy, and the United States Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration.

This conference follows the seminar on the Safe Harbor, which was held in Washington, D. C. on December 7, 2005, which also was organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Article 29 Working Party.

For additional information on the program, please visit the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/news/index_en.htm

or contact:  Damon C. Greer, U. S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 2003, Washington, D. C. 20230; telephone:  (202) 482-5023; email:  damon.greer@mail.doc.gov.

Please be advised that the the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce have adjusted the amount of a fee that is required under the Safe Harbor to cover certain costs. Under the Safe Harbor, organizations that have committed to cooperate and comply with the European Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) as a means of meeting the Safe Harbor's enforcement principle must pay an annual fee to cover the operating costs of the Data Protection Panel. There are two categories of organizations that are required to pay this fee: 1) organizations that have opted to use the DPAs as their independent recourse mechanism under the Safe Harbor and; 2) organizations that cover European employment information transfers in the self-certifications and are required to cooperate and comply with the DPAs.

Under the original arrangement, organizations were required to pay their annual fee as follows: US $150 for organizations with an annual turnover (revenue) of less than US $25 million; US $300 for organizations with an annual turnover (revenue) between US $25 million and up to US $100 million; and US $500 for all other organizations.

Effective immediately, this fee schedule will be modified, and all organizations that have committed to cooperate and comply with the DPAs will be required to submit an annual payment of only $50. This new fee will apply retroactively to when each organization first self-certified to the Department of Commerce. (As before, organizations may additionally be asked to meet any necessary translation expenses arising out of the panel's consideration of referrals or complaints against them.)

Organizations that have already submitted payment under the previous schedule may be entitled to a credit on future payments, or a refund, depending on the circumstances of their Safe Harbor self-certification. These organizations will be contacted by mail with further details. Organizations that have not made the required annual payments during their participation in the Safe Harbor are asked to submit $50 for each year in which payment was not submitted. Payment of delinquent annual fees must be submitted within three months from the date of this notice.

The U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB), the U.S. affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce, will continue to act as a trusted third party on behalf of the DPAs. Therefore, organizations are asked to send any required payments to "USCIB - Safe Harbor Account", c/o Mr. Paul Cronin, U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB); 1212 Avenue of the Americas; New York, NY 10036.

Should you need further information on how to carry out the payment, please contact Mr. Paul Cronin, USCIB, at 212-354-4480, or pcronin@uscib.org. If, on the other hand, you require more information on how the cooperation/compliance with the EU DPAs works, you can contact the Secretariat of the Data Protection Panel ec-dppanel-secr@cec.eu.int.