under the administrative protective order and not otherwise available to him, to any person other than

(i) Personnel of the Commission concerned with the investigation,

(ii) The person or agency from whom the confidential business information was obtained,

(iii) A person whose application for access to confidential business information under the administrative protective order has been granted by the Secretary, and

(iv) Other persons, such as paralegals and clerical staff, who are employed or supervised by an authorized applicant; who have a need thereof in connection with the investigation; who are not involved in competitive decisionmaking on behalf of an interested party which is a party to the investigation; and who have submitted to the Secretary a signed statement in a form approved by the Secretary that they agree to be bound by the administrative protective order (the authorized applicant shall be deemed responsible for such persons' compliance with the administrative protective order);

(2) Use such confidential business information solely for the purposes of the Commission investigation then in progress;

(3) Not consult with any person not described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section concerning such confidential business information without first having received the written consent of the Secretary and the party or the attorney of the party from whom such confidential business information was obtained;

(4) Whenever materials (e.g., documents, computer disks, etc.) containing such confidential business information are not being used, store such material in a locked file cabinet, vault, safe, or other suitable container;

(5) Serve all materials containing confidential business information as directed by the Secretary and pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section;

(6) Transmit all materials containing confidential business information with a cover sheet identifying the materials as containing confidential business information;

(7) Comply with the provisions of this section;

(8) Make true and accurate representations in the authorized applicant's application and promptly notify the Secretary of any changes that occur after the submission of the application and that affect the representations made in the application (e.g., change in personnel assigned to the investigation);

(9) Report promptly and confirm in writing to the Secretary any breach of the administrative protective order; and

(10) Acknowledge that breach of the administrative protective order may subject the authorized applicant to such sanctions or other actions as the Commission deems appropriate.

(c) Final disposition of material released under administrative protective order. At such date as the Secretary may determine appropriate for particular data, each authorized applicant shall return or destroy all copies of materials released to authorized applicants pursuant to this section and all other materials containing confidential business information, such as charts or notes based on any such information received under administrative protective order, and file with the Secretary a certificate attesting to his personal, good faith belief that all copies of such material have been returned or destroyed and no copies of such material have been made available to any person to whom disclosure was not specifically authorized.

(d) Commission responses to a breach of administrative protective order. A breach of an administrative protective order may subject an offender to:

(1) Disbarment from practice in any capacity before the Commission along with such person's partners, associates, employer, and employees, for up to seven years following publication of a determination that the order has been breached;

(2) Referral to the United States Attorney;

(3) In the case of an attorney, accountant, or other professional, referral to the ethics panel of the appropriate professional association;

(4) Such other administrative sanctions as the Commission determines to be appropriate, including public release

of or striking from the record any information or briefs submitted by, or on behalf of, the offender or the party represented by the offender, denial of further access to confidential business information in the current or any future investigations before the Commission, and issuance of a public or private letter of reprimand; and

(5) Such other actions, including but not limited to, a warning letter, as the Commission determines to be appropriate.

(e) Breach investigation procedure. (1) The Commission shall determine whether any person has violated an administrative protective order, and may impose sanctions or other actions in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section. At any time within sixty (60) days of the later of

(i) The date on which the alleged violation occurred or, as determined by the Commission, could have been discovered through the exercise of reasonable and ordinary care; or

(ii) The completion of an investigation conducted under this subpart, the Commission may commence an investigation of any breach of an administrative protective order alleged to have occurred at any time during the pendency of the investigation, including all appeals, remands, and subsequent appeals. Whenever the Commission has reason to believe that a person may have breached an administrative protective order issued pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall issue a letter informing such person that the Commission has reason to believe a breach has occurred and that the person has a reasonable opportunity to present his views on whether a breach has occurred. If subsequently the Commission determines that a breach has occurred and that further investigation is warranted, then the Secretary shall issue a letter informing such person of that determination and that the person has a reasonable opportunity to present his views on whether mitigating circumstances exist and on the appropriate sanction to be imposed, but no longer on whether a breach has occurred. Once such person has been afforded a reasonable opportunity to present his views, the Commission

shall determine what sanction if any to impose.

(2) Where the sanction imposed is a private letter of reprimand, the Secretary shall expunge the sanction from the recipient's record two (2) years from the date of issuance of the sanction, provided that

(i) The recipient has not received another unexpunged sanction pursuant to this section at any time prior to the end of the two year period, and

(ii) The recipient is not the subject of an investigation for possible breach of administrative protective order under this section at the end of the two year period. Upon the completion of such a pending breach investigation without the issuance of a sanction, the original sanction shall be expunged. The Secretary shall notify a sanction recipient in the event that the sanction is expunged.

(f) Service. (1) Any party filing written submissions which include confidential business information to the Commission during an investigation shall at the same time serve complete copies of such submissions upon all authorized applicants specified on the list established by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (a)(4) of this section, and, except as provided in §206.8(c), a nonconfidential version on all other parties. All such submissions must be accompanied by a certificate attesting that complete copies of the submission have been properly served. In the event that a submission is filed before the Secretary's list is established, the document need not be accompanied by a certificate of service, but the submission shall be served within two (2) days of the establishment of the list and a certificate of service shall then be filed.

(2) A party may seek an exemption from the service requirement of paragraph (f)(1) of this section for particular confidential business information by filing a request for exemption from disclosure in accordance with paragraph (g) of this section. The Secretary shall promptly respond to the request. If a request is granted, the Secretary shall accept the information. The party

shall file three versions of the submission containing the information in accordance with paragraph (g) of this section, and serve the submission in accordance with the requirements of §206.8(b) and paragraph (f)(1) of this section, with the specific information as to which exemption from disclosure under administrative protective order has been granted redacted from the copies served. If a request is denied, the copy of the information lodged with the Secretary shall promptly be returned to the requester.

(3) The Secretary shall not accept for filing into the record of an investigation submissions filed without a proper certificate of service. Failure to comply with paragraph (f) of this section may result in denial of party status and such sanctions as the Commission deems appropriate. Confidential business information in submissions must be clearly marked as such when submitted, and must be segregated from other material being submitted.

(g) Exemption from disclosure (1) In general. Any person may request exemption from the disclosure of confidential business information under administrative protective order, whether the person desires to include such information in a petition filed under this Subpart B, or any other submission to the Commission during the course of an investigation. Such a request shall only be granted if the Secretary finds that such information is privileged information, classified information, or specific information of a type which there is a clear and compelling need to withhold from disclosure.

(2) Request for exemption. A request for exemption from disclosure must be filed with the Secretary in writing with the reasons therefor. At the same time as the request is filed, one copy of the confidential business information in question must be lodged with the Secretary solely for the purpose of obtaining a determination as to the request. The confidential business information for which exemption from disclosure is sought shall remain the property of the requester, and shall not become or be incorporated into any agency record until such time as the request is granted. A request should, when possible, be filed two business

days prior to the deadline, if any, for filing the document in which the information for which exemption from disclosure is sought is proposed to be included. The Secretary shall promptly notify the requester as to whether the request has been approved or denied.

(3) Procedure if request is approved. If the request is approved, the person shall file three versions of the submission containing the confidential business information in question. One version shall contain all confidential business information, bracketed in accordance with § 206.8(c), with the specific information as to which exemption from disclosure was granted enclosed in double brackets. This version shall have the following warning marked on every page: "CBI exempted from disclosure under APO enclosed in double brackets." The other two versions shall conform to and be filed in accordance with the requirements of §206.8, except that the specific information as to which exemption from disclosure was granted shall be redacted from those versions of the submission.

(4) Procedure if request is denied. If the request is denied, the copy of the information lodged with the Secretary shall promptly be returned to the requester.

§ 206.18 Time for determinations, reporting.

(a) In general. The Commission will make its determination with respect to injury within 120 days after the date on which the petition is filed, the request or resolution is received, or the motion is adopted, as the case may be, except that

(1) If the Commission determines before the 100th day that the investigation is extraordinarily complicated, the Commission will make its determination within 150 days; or

(2) If critical circumstances are alleged, the Commission will make its determination within 120 days after completion of its investigation with respect to critical circumstances. The Commission will make its report to the President at the earliest practicable time, but not later than 180 days (240 days if critical circumstances are alleged) after the date on which the petition is filed, the request or resolution

is received, or the motion is adopted, as the case may be.

(b) Perishable agricultural product. In the case of a request in a petition for provisional relief with respect to a perishable agricultural product that has been the subject of monitoring by the Commission, the Commission will report its determination and any finding to the President not later than 21 days after the date on which the request for provisional relief is received.

(c) Critical circumstances. If petitioner alleges the existence of critical circumstances in the petition, the Commission will report its determination regarding such allegation and any finding on or before the 60th day after such filing date.

$206.19 Public report.

Upon making a report to the President of the results of an investigation to which this Subpart B relates, the Commission will make such report public (with the exception of information which the Commission determines to be confidential) and cause a summary thereof to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

Subpart C-Investigations Relating to a Surge in Imports From a NAFTA Country

$206.21 Applicability of subpart.

This subpart C applies specifically to investigations under section 312(c) of the NAFTA Implementation Act. For other applicable rules, see subpart A of this part and part 201 of this chapter.

§ 206.22 Definition applicable to subpart C.

For the purposes of this subpart, the term surge means a significant increase in imports over the trend for a recent representative base period.

§ 206.23 Who may file a request.

If the President, under section 312(b) of the NAFTA Implementation Act, has excluded imports from a NAFTA country or countries from an action under chapter 1 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974, any entity that is representative of an industry for which such action is being taken may request

the Commission to conduct an investigation to determine whether a surge in such imports undermines the effectiveness of the action.

$206.24 Contents of request.

The request for an investigation shall include the following information:

(a) The identity of the entity submitting the request; a description of the relief action the effectiveness of which is allegedly being undermined; and a description of the imported article, identifying the United States tariff provision under which it is classified, and the name of the country or countries from which the surge in imports is alleged to be coming;

(b) The information required in §206.14(b) of this subpart concerning representativeness of the entity filing the request;

(c) Data concerning imports from the NAFTA country or countries that form the basis of requestor's claim that a surge in imports has occurred;

(d) Information supporting the claim that such surge in imports undermines the effectiveness of the relief action.

§ 206.25 Time for reporting.

The Commission will submit the findings of its investigation to the President no later than 30 days after the request is received.

$206.26 Public report.

Upon making a report to the President of the results of an investigation to which this subpart C relates, the Commission will make such report public (with the exception of any confidential business information) and cause a summary thereof to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

Subpart D-Investigations Relating to Bilateral Safeguard Actions

§ 206.31 Applicability of subpart.

This subpart D applies specifically to investigations under section 302(b) of the NAFTA Implementation Act. For other applicable rules, see subpart A of this part and part 201 of this chapter.

$206.32 Definitions applicable to subpart D.

For the purposes of this subpart, the following terms have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

(a) Critical circumstances mean such circumstances as are described in section 202(b)(3)(B) of the Trade Act;

(b) Perishable agricultural product means any agricultural article or citrus product, including livestock, which is the subject of monitoring pursuant to section 202(d) of the Trade Act.

$206.33 Who may file a petition.

(a) In general. A petition under this subpart D may be filed by an entity, including a trade association, firm, certified or recognized union, or group of workers, that is representative of a domestic industry producing an article that is like or directly competitive with a Canadian or Mexican article that is allegedly, as a result of the reduction or elimination of a duty provided for under the North American Free Trade Agreement, being imported into the United States in such increased quantities (in absolute terms) and under such conditions so that imports of the article alone constitute a substantial cause of serious injury, or (except in the case of a Canadian article) a threat of serious injury, to such domestic industry.

(b) Perishable agricultural product. An entity of the type described in paragraph (a) of this section that represents a domestic industry producing a perishable agricultural product may petition for provisional relief with respect to imports of such product from Canada or Mexico only if such product has been subject to monitoring by the Commission for not less than 90 days as of the date the allegation of injury is included in the petition.

(c) The President is authorized to provide import relief with respect to an article from Canada or Mexico during the period provided for in section 305(a) of the NAFTA Implementation Act; the President may provide relief after the expiration of this period, but only if the Government of Canada or Mexico, as the case may be, consents to such provision (see section 305(b) of the NAFTA Implementation Act).

§ 206.34 Contents of petition.

A petition under this Subpart D shall include specific information in support of the claim that, as a result of the reduction or elimination of a duty provided for under the North American Free Trade Agreement, a Canadian or Mexican article, as the case may be, is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities (in absolute terms) and under such conditions so that imports of the article, alone, constitute a substantial cause of serious injury, or (except in the case of a Canadian article) a threat of serious injury, to the domestic industry producing an article that is like or directly competitive with the imported article. Such petition shall state whether provisional relief is sought because critical circumstances exist or because the imported article is a perishable agricultural product. In addition, such petition shall include the following information, to the extent that such information is publicly available from governmental or other sources, or best estimates and the basis therefor if such information is not available:

(a) Product description. The name and description of the imported article concerned, specifying the United States tariff provision under which such article is classified and the current tariff treatment thereof, and the name and description of the like or directly competitive domestic article concerned;

(b) Representativeness. (1) The names and addresses of the firms represented in the petition and/or the firms employing or previously employing the workers represented in the petition and the locations of their establishments in which the domestic article is produced; (2) The percentage of domestic production of the like or directly competitive domestic article that such represented firms and/or workers account for and the basis for claiming that such firms and/or workers are representative of an industry; and

(3) The names and locations of all other producers of the domestic article known to the petitioner;

(c) Import data. Import data for at least each of the most recent 5 full years that form the basis of the claim that the Canadian or Mexican article