PUBLIC LAW 96-39—JULY 26, 1979
93 STAT. 187
'SEC. 777. ACCESS TO INFORMATION.
19 USC 1677f.
"(a) INFORMATION GENERALLY MADE AVAILABLE.— "(1) PUBLIC INFORMATION FUNCTION.—There
shall be established a library of information relating to foreign subsidy practices and countervailing measures. Copies of material in the library shall be made available to the public upon payment of the costs of preparing such copies. "(2) PROGRESS OF INVESTIGATION REPORTS.—The administering authority and the Commission shall, from time to time upon request, inform the parties to an investigation of the progress of that investigation. "(3) Ex PARTE MEETINGS.—The administering authority and
the Commission shall maintain a record of ex parte meetings between— "(A) interested parties or other persons providing factual information in connection with an investigation, and "(B) the person charged with making the determination, and any person charged with making a final recommendation to that person, in connection with that investigation. The record of the ex parte meeting shall include the identity of the persons present at the meeting, the date, time, and place of the meeting, and a summary of the matters discussed or submitted. The record of the ex parte meeting shall be included in the record of the proceeding. "(4) SUMMARIES; NONCONFIDENTIAL SUBMISSIONS.—The administering authority and the Commission may disclose— "(A) any confidential information received in the course of a proceeding if it is disclosed in a form which cannot be associated with, or otherwise be used to identify, operations of a particular person, and "(B) any information submitted in connection with a proceeding which is not designated as confidential by the person submitting it. "(b) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.— "(1) CONFIDENTIALITY MAINTAINED.—Except
as provided in subsection (a)(4)(A) and subsection (c), information submitted to the administering authority or the Commission which is designated as confidential by the person submitting it shall not be disclosed to any person (other than an officer or employee of the administering authority or the Commission who is directly concerned with carrying out the investigation in connection with which the information is submitted) without the consent of the person submitting it. The administering authority and the Commission may require that information for which confidential treatment is requested be accompanied by a non-confidential summary in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence, or a statement that the information is not susceptible to summary, accompanied by a statement of the reasons in support of the contention. "(2)
UNWARRANTED
DESIGNATION.—If
the
administering
authority or the Commission determines, on the basis of the nature and extent of the information or its availability from public sources, that designation of any information as confidential is unwarranted, then it shall notify the person who submitted it and ask for an explanation of the reasons for the designation. Unless that person persuades the administering authority or the Commission that the designation is warranted,
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