The FOIA is a disclosure statute. It requires that agencies make available to the public, upon request, all agency records except those that fall within one or more of nine statutory exemptions. For example, an agency is not required to disclose classified information, confidential business information, privileged information, personnel and other information protected by the Privacy Act, and certain law enforcement records.

Where filed; information included. Requests under FOIA for Commission records should be addressed to the Secretary, United States International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. Both the request letter and the envelope it is sent in should identify the request as a "Freedom of Information Act Request." The request should describe the records sought to the best of the requester's ability, and should indicate whether the requester is willing to pay fees for copying and/or search time, or is seeking a fee waiver.

Time for responding. The Commission by law has 20 working days to locate the records that are responsive to the request and to decide whether to release those records. The Commission may take an additional 10 days when the request involves records located in a field facility or a voluminous quantity of records, or when the Commission needs to consult with another agency that has a substantial interest in the request. A requester should expect to receive a response by mail, generally with copies of released records, within two or three working days after the close of the initial 20 day period.

Except in the case of requests that quality for expedited processing, requests are processed in the order in which they are received.

Expedited processing. A requester who seeks expedited processing must submit a statement, certified to be true and correct, explaining in detail the basis for requesting expedited processing. Decisions to grant, or not grant, expedited handling will be made within 10 calendar days of receipt of a request for expedited processing.

Search and copying fees. The Commission's fees for searching for and copying records are set forth in section 201.20 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 201.20). There is no charge for copying and search time if the total fee would be $25 or less (however, related requests from the same person are aggregated for purposes of fee calculations). For fee calculation purposes, there are three categories of requesters and their charges would generally be as follows--

1. Educational and non-commercial scientific institutions and the news media. No charge for search or review time; no charge for copying if the total charge is $25 or less; and if there is a charge for copying (generally at $.10 per page), the first 100 pages are free.

2. Commercial requesters. No charge for copying, search, and/or review time if the total fee would be $25 or less. Otherwise, the copying charge is generally $.10 per page, and search and review fees are based on the GS (salary) level of the Commission employee performing the search or review.

3. Non-commercial requesters (other than category #1 requesters). No charge for review time, and no charge for copying and/or search time if the total fee would be $25 or less. Otherwise, copying and search charges are the same as for commercial requesters, except that no fee is charged for the first 100 pages of copying and the first 2 hours of search time, or their cost equivalent.

For computer searches of records, which may be undertaken through the use of existing programming, the requester is charged the actual direct costs of conducting the search, although certain requesters will be charged no search fee and certain other requesters will be entitled to the cost equivalent of two hours of manual search time without charge. These direct costs will include the cost of operating a central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly attributable to search for responsive records, as well as the costs of operator/programmer salary apportionable to the search (at no more than $6.50 per quarter hour of time so spent).

Review fees are assessed for those requesters who seek records for a commercial use. For each quarter hour spent by agency personnel in reviewing a requested record for possible disclosure, the fee is $6.50.

If the Secretary determines or estimates that the fees for processing a request will exceed $25 and the requester has not agreed to pay fees, the Commission will not process the request until agreement is received. The Secretary may waive or reduce fees, if it is determined that such a waiver or reduction is in the public interest (see 19 CFR 201.20(d)).

The request should clearly describe the records requested. This reduces the time needed to locate the responsive records, and reduces (and may even eliminate) photocopying and search fees. It also increases the likelihood that the Commission will be able to release copies of the requested records within 20 days of receipt of the request.

Appeals. If the Secretary denies a request in whole or in part, or if a response is not forthcoming within 20 working days of the filing of the request (and no extension notice has been given), the requester may file an appeal with the full Commission. A finding of "no records" may also be considered a denial and may be appealed. An appeal from a denial of a request must be received within 60 days of the date of the letter of denial. Appeals must be addressed to the Chairman, United States International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436, and clearly indicate both on the envelope and in the letter that it is a "Freedom of Information Act Appeal.". The Commission has 20 working days to decide an appeal. The person filing the appeal may seek judicial review of the Commission's decision.

This statement is intended only as a summary of Commission FOIA practices and procedures. For further information, please consult Subpart C of Part 201 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR Part 201, Subpart C). You may want to refer to the statute itself at 5 USC 552.