Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 111/3/10/1

10 October 2011

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 611/2011

US : ITC's Final Rule on Electronic Filing Procedures in General Application, Safeguards, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty, and Adjudication and Enforcement

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) issued in the Federal Register (FR) of 6 October 2011 a final rule to adopt the proposed amendments to the rules on electronic filing practice and procedure concerning rules of general application, safeguards, antidumping and countervailing duty, and adjudication and enforcement. This final rule will take effect from 7 November 2011. The FR notice is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-10-06/pdf/2011-25646.pdf.

DETAILS

2.The trade was informed via Commercial Information Circular No. 416/2011 of 11 July 2011 that the ITC had issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its rules of practice and procedure concerning rules of general application, safeguards, antidumping and countervailing duty, and adjudication and enforcement to implement a new requirement for electronic filing of most documents with the ITC. The ITC is adopting as a final rule, to provide for the electronic filing of documents containing confidential business information and business proprietary information into the Electronic Document Information System (EDIS). The electronic filing is not applicable to witness testimony and hearing materials in import injury investigations and reviews, which would only be submitted in paper form. Moreover, the proposed changes to the filing process would not affect the current practice with respect to the filing of responses to the ITC questionnaires in import injury investigations and reviews.

3.The ITC also issued in the FR of 6 October 2011 the Handbook on Filing Procedures (the Handbook) to replace its Handbook on Electronic Filing Procedures. The revision is to implement a new requirement for electronic filing of most documents with the ITC and will take effect from 7 November 2011. The FR notice is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-10-06/pdf/2011-25645.pdf and the Handbook is available at: https://edis.usitc.gov.

ENQUIRIES

4.For enquiries concerning this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5403.

Yours faithfully,

(Ms Cindy CHENG)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry