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For Immediate Release: March 8, 2012
Contact: Tim Truman (202) 482-3809
New Data Protection Guide Will Educate U.S. Firms and Facilitate Trade With Key Export Partner
Washington – A new publication produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration and Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs provides detailed information to U.S. firms navigating Switzerland’s data protection laws, fostering increased trade between two important trading partners.
The U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework: A Guide to Self-Certification (Guide) will be released at today’s International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Global Privacy Summit in Washington. The U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework, launched in February 2009, provides a streamlined means for U.S. organizations to comply with Switzerland’s data protection laws and helps U.S. companies to avoid experiencing interruptions in their business transactions with Swiss companies.
“Following on the heels of last month’s release of the Obama administration’s Blueprint for Consumer Privacy in the Global Digital Economy, this Guide will serve as a useful tool to U.S. businesses that place a high value on effective privacy protection while avoiding barriers to information flows,” said Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sánchez. “These efforts to decrease regulatory barriers to trade and commerce directly support the President’s National Export Initiative.”
Publication of the Guide is part of the Department’s outreach efforts to educate more companies about the program. More than 1,600 U.S. companies currently participate in the Framework. Switzerland is the 16th largest foreign market for the United States, and the United States is the second most important export market for Switzerland.
The Framework with Switzerland was necessary since Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. The United States and the European Union (EU) negotiated a Safe Harbor Framework that has been in effect since 2000. More than 3,000 companies have self-certified to the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
For more information about the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework, please visit http://export.gov/safeharbor/.
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International Trade Administration
The International Trade Administration (ITA) is the premier resource for American companies competing in the global marketplace. ITA has 2,100 employees assisting U.S. exporters in more than 100 U.S. cities and 77 countries worldwide. For more information on ITA visit www.trade.gov.
The International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, manages this global trade site to provide access to ITA information on promoting trade and investment, strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein. This site contains PDF documents. A PDF reader is available from Adobe Systems Incorporated.