19 Cfr 103-35

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, DHS; Treasury
(2) Administer or enforce multilateral or bilateral agreements to which
the U.S. is a party;
(3) Assist in investigative, judicial
and quasi-judicial proceedings in the
U.S.; and
(4) An action comparable to any of
those described in paragraphs (a) (1)
through (3) of this section undertaken
by a foreign customs or law enforcement agency, or in relation to a proceeding in a foreign country.
(b)(1) Information may be provided to
foreign customs and law enforcement
agencies under paragraph (a) of this
section only if the Commissioner or his
designee obtains assurances from such
agencies that such information will be
held in confidence and used only for
the law enforcement purposes for
which such information is provided to
such agencies by the Commissioner or
his designee.
(2) No information may be provided
under paragraph (a) of this section to
any foreign customs or law enforcement agency that has violated any assurances described in paragraph (b)(1)
of this section.
[T.D. 86–196, 51 FR 40792, Nov. 10, 1986. Redesignated by T.D. 96–36, 61 FR 19838, May 3,
1996]

§ 103.34 Sanctions for improper actions by Customs officers or employees.
(a) The improper disclosure of the
confidential information contained in
Customs documents, or the disclosure
of information relative to the business
of one importer or exporter that is acquired by a Customs officer or employee in an official capacity to any
person not authorized by law or regulations to receive this information is a
ground for dismissal from the United
States Customs Service, suspension, or
other disciplinary action, and if done
for a valuable consideration subjects
that person to criminal prosecution.
(b) Sanctions for improper denials of
information by Customs officers or employees are set forth in § 103.9(c).
[T.D. 81–168, 46 FR 32565, June 24, 1981. Redesignated by T.D. 96–36, 61 FR 19838, May 3,
1996]

§ 103.35

§ 103.35 Confidential commercial information; exempt.
(a) In general. For purposes of this
section, ‘‘commercial information’’ is
defined as trade secret, commercial, or
financial information obtained from a
person. Commercial information provided to CBP by a business submitter
will be treated as privileged or confidential and will not be disclosed pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) request or otherwise made
known in any manner except as provided in this section.
(b) Notice to business submitters of
FOIA requests for disclosure. Except as
provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, CBP will provide business submitters with prompt written notice of receipt of FOIA requests or appeals that
encompass their commercial information. The written notice will describe
either the exact nature of the commercial information requested, or enclose
copies of the records or those portions
of the records that contain the commercial information. The written notice also will advise the business submitter of its right to file a disclosure
objection statement as provided under
paragraph (c)(1) of this section. CBP
will provide notice to business submitters of FOIA requests for the business
submitter’s commercial information
for a period of not more than 10 years
after the date the business submitter
provides CBP with the information, unless the business submitter requests,
and provides acceptable justification
for, a specific notice period of greater
duration.
(1) When notice is required. CBP will
provide business submitters with notice of receipt of a FOIA request or appeal whenever:
(i) The business submitter has in
good faith designated the information
as commercially- or financially-sensitive information. The business submitter’s
claim
of
confidentiality
should be supported by a statement by
an authorized representative of the
business entity providing specific justification that the information in question is considered confidential commercial or financial information and
that the information has not been disclosed to the public; or

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Pt. 111

19 CFR Ch. I (4–1–11 Edition)

(ii) CBP has reason to believe that
disclosure of the commercial information could reasonably be expected to
cause substantial competitive harm.
(2) When notice is not required. The notice requirements of this section will
not apply if:
(i) CBP determines that the commercial information will not be disclosed;
(ii) The commercial information has
been lawfully published or otherwise
made available to the public; or
(iii) Disclosure of the information is
required by law (other than 5 U.S.C.
552).
(c) Procedure when notice given—(1)
Opportunity for business submitter to object to disclosure. A business submitter
receiving written notice from CBP of
receipt of a FOIA request or appeal encompassing its commercial information may object to any disclosure of
the commercial information by providing CBP with a detailed statement
of reasons within 10 days of the date of
the notice (exclusive of Saturdays,
Sundays, and legal public holidays).
The statement should specify all the
grounds for withholding any of the
commercial information under any exemption of the FOIA and, in the case of
Exemption 4, should demonstrate why
the information is considered to be a
trade secret or commercial or financial
information that is privileged or confidential. The disclosure objection information provided by a person pursuant to this paragraph may be subject
to disclosure under the FOIA.
(2) Notice to FOIA requester. When notice is given to a business submitter
under paragraph (b)(1) of this section,
notice will also be given to the FOIA
requester that the business submitter
has been given an opportunity to object to any disclosure of the requested
commercial information. The requester
will be further advised that a delay in
responding to the request may be considered a denial of access to records
and that the requester may proceed
with an administrative appeal or seek
judicial review, if appropriate. The notice will also invite the FOIA requester
to agree to a voluntary extension(s) of
time so that CBP may review the business submitter’s disclosure objection
statement.

(d) Notice of intent to disclose. CBP
will consider carefully a business submitter’s
objections
and
specific
grounds for nondisclosure prior to determining whether to disclose commercial information. Whenever CBP decides to disclose the requested commercial information over the objection
of the business submitter, CBP will
provide written notice to the business
submitter of CBP’s intent to disclose,
which will include:
(1) A statement of the reasons for
which the business submitter’s disclosure objections were not sustained;
(2) A description of the commercial
information to be disclosed; and,
(3) A specified disclosure date which
will not be less than 10 days (exclusive
of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public
holidays) after the notice of intent to
disclose the requested information has
been issued to the business submitter.
Except as otherwise prohibited by law,
CBP will also provide a copy of the notice of intent to disclose to the FOIA
requester at the same time.
(e) Notice of FOIA lawsuit. Whenever a
FOIA requester brings suit seeking to
compel the disclosure of commercial
information covered by paragraph
(b)(1) of this section, CBP will promptly notify the business submitter in
writing.
[CBP Dec. 03–02, 68 FR 47454, Aug. 11, 2003]

PART 111—CUSTOMS BROKERS
Sec.
111.0

Scope.

Subpart A—General Provisions
111.1 Definitions.
111.2 License and district permit required.
111.3 [Reserved]
111.4 Transacting customs business without
a license.
111.5 Representation before Government
agencies.

Subpart B—Procedure To Obtain License or
Permit
111.11 Basic requirements for a license.
111.12 Application for license.
111.13 Written examination for individual
license.
111.14 Investigation of the license applicant.
111.15 Issuance of license.
111.16 Denial of license.
111.17 Review of the denial of a license.

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