[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 22, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 22CFR171.13]

[Page 708-709]
 
                       TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS
 
                     CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE
 
PART 171_AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS TO THE PUBLIC
--Table of Contents
 
             Subpart B_Freedom of Information Act Provisions
 
Sec. 171.13  Business information.

    (a) Business information obtained by the Department from a submitter 
will be disclosed under the FOIA only in compliance with this section.
    (b) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
    (1) Business information means information obtained by the 
Department from a submitter that arguably may be exempt from disclosure 
as privileged or confidential under Exemption 4 of the FOIA.
    (2) Submitter means any person or entity from which the Department 
obtains business information. The term includes corporations, 
partnerships, sole proprietorships; State, local, and tribal 
governments; and foreign governments.
    (c) Designation of business information. A submitter of information 
will use good-faith efforts to designate, by appropriate markings, 
either at the time of submission or at a reasonable time thereafter, any 
portions of its submission that it considers exempt from disclosure 
under Exemption 4. These designations will expire ten years after the 
date of the submission unless the submitter requests, and provides 
justification for, a longer designation period.
    (d) Notice to submitters. The Department shall provide a submitter 
with prompt written notice of a FOIA request or administrative appeal of 
a denial of such a request that seeks its information whenever required 
under paragraph (e) of this section, except as provided in paragraph (f) 
of this section, in order to give the submitter an opportunity to object 
to disclosure of any specified portion of that information. The notice 
shall either describe the information requested or include copies of the 
requested records or record portions containing the information.
    (e) When notice is required. Notice shall be given to a submitter 
whenever:
    (1) The information has been designated in good faith by the 
submitter as information considered protected from disclosure under 
Exemption 4; or
    (2) The Department has reason to believe that the information may 
not be protected from disclosure under Exemption 4.
    (f) When notice is not required. The notice requirements of 
paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section shall not apply if:
    (1) The Department determines that the information should not be 
disclosed;
    (2) The information lawfully has been published or has been 
officially made available to the public;
    (3) Disclosure of the information is required by statute (other than 
the FOIA) or by a regulation issued in accordance with the requirements 
of Executive Order 12600; or
    (4) The designation made by the submitter under paragraph (c) of 
this section appears obviously frivolous--except that, in such a case, 
the Department shall, within a reasonable time prior to a specified 
disclosure date, give the submitter written notice of any final decision 
to disclose the information.
    (g) Opportunity to object to disclosure. The Department will allow a 
submitter a reasonable time to respond to the notice described in 
paragraph (d) of this

[[Page 709]]

section and will specify that time period in the notice. If a submitter 
has any objection to disclosure, a detailed written statement in support 
of the objection must be submitted. The statement must specify all 
grounds for withholding any portion of the information under any 
exemption of the FOIA and, in the case of Exemption 4, it must show why 
the information is a trade secret or commercial or financial information 
that is privileged or confidential. In the event that a submitter fails 
to respond to the notice within the time specified in it, the submitter 
will be considered to have no objection to disclosure of the 
information. Information provided by a submitter under this paragraph 
may itself be subject to disclosure under the FOIA.
    (h) Notice of intent to disclose. The Department shall consider a 
submitter's objections and specific grounds for nondisclosure in 
deciding whether to disclose business information. Whenever the 
Department decides to disclose business information over the objection 
of a submitter, it shall give the submitter written notice, which shall 
include:
    (1) A statement of the reason why each of the submitter's disclosure 
objections was not sustained;
    (2) A description of the information to be disclosed; and
    (3) A specified disclosure date, which shall be a reasonable time 
subsequent to the notice.
    (i) Notice of lawsuit. Whenever a requester files a lawsuit seeking 
to compel the disclosure of information, the Department shall promptly 
notify the submitter.
    (j) Notice to requester. Whenever the Department provides a 
submitter with notice and an opportunity to object to disclosure under 
paragraph (d) of this section, the Department shall also notify the 
requester. Whenever the Department notifies a submitter of its intent to 
disclose requested information under paragraph (h) of this section, the 
Department shall also notify the requester. Whenever a submitter files a 
lawsuit seeking to prevent the disclosure of business information, the 
Department shall notify the requester.