Summary of Commission Practice Relating to Administrative Protective Orders

Issuing agencies

Abstract

Since February 1991, the U.S. International Trade Commission ("Commission") has published in the Federal Register reports on the status of its practice with respect to breaches of its administrative protective orders ("APOs") under title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 in response to a direction contained in the Conference Report to the Customs and Trade Act of 1990. Over time, the Commission has added to its report discussions of APO breaches in Commission proceedings other than under title VII and violations of the Commission's rules, including the rule on bracketing business proprietary information (the "24-hour rule") under title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This notice provides a summary of APO breach investigations completed during fiscal year 2023. This summary addresses APO breach investigations related to proceedings under both title VII and section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The Commission intends for this summary to inform representatives of parties to Commission proceedings of the specific types of APO breaches before the Commission and the corresponding types of actions that the Commission has taken.