[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 23, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28542-28543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-12885]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Forum on Issues Relating to Electronic Filing and Maintenance of 
Documents

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice announcing public forum.

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SUMMARY: The United States International Trade Commission announces a 
public forum on issues relating to electronic filing and maintenance of 
documents.

DATES: The forum will be held on Wednesday, June 20, 2001, beginning at 
10 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The forum will be held in Room 101, 500 E Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20436.
    The event is open to the public, and registration is not required 
to attend. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served 
basis. Any person wishing to make an initial statement, of no more than 
five minutes in length, may file a request to do so directed to the 
Secretary to the Commission. Other attendees will be given an 
opportunity to make statements, as time permits. A request to make an 
initial statement should indicate the following information: (1) The 
name of the person desiring to make a statement; (2) the organization 
or organizations represented by that person, if any; (3) contact 
information (address, telephone, and e-mail); and (4) information on 
the specific focus or interest of the person (or his or her 
organization) and any questions or issues the person would like to 
raise. A request may be sent by e-mail to ``[email protected],'' or by 
mail or hand delivery to the Secretary, United States International 
Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20436.
    The deadline for receipt of requests is Wednesday, June 13, 2001.
    Any person may file written comments about the issues discussed in 
this notice. Any such comments should be addressed to the Secretary, 
United States International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20436, and must be filed no later than July 6, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Abbott (202-205-2799), Deputy 
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade 
Commission, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired 
persons can obtain information on this matter by contacting the 
Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-1810. Persons with mobility 
impairments who will need special assistance in gaining access to the 
Commission should contact the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. 
General information concerning the Commission may also be obtained by 
accessing its Internet server (at URL http://www.usitc.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission is holding a forum to seek 
the public's views on issues relating to electronic filing and 
maintenance of documents. In particular, and as discussed more fully 
below, the Commission would like to obtain views on (1) What features 
of an electronic system might be helpful to users, (2) what technical 
difficulties might arise in connection with such a system, and (3) how 
the agency might implement such a system.
    In 1996, the Commission established the Electronic Document Imaging 
System (EDIS), which stores and provides access to docket records in 
agency investigations. The Commission now is contemplating replacing 
EDIS with a new document management system that would provide better 
functionality. In particular, Commission is seeking as part of the new 
system the capability to accept documents electronically.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure currently provide 
for the filing of documents with the agency in paper form. Consistent 
with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA)(Div. C, Title 
XVII, Pub. L. 105-277), the Commission is considering permitting 
parties and other persons to file some documents with the agency 
electronically. The Commission contemplates obtaining the capability 
to, inter alia: (1) Permit a person to make a filing by uploading it 
electronically to a Commission Web site; (2) provide security to 
protect confidential business and business proprietary information from 
unauthorized disclosure; (3) verify the identity of the submitter 
through a password, electronic signature, or other security system; (4) 
acknowledge receipt of the submission by an electronic message to 
establish when filing occurred; and (5) alert in-house users of new 
submissions. A new Commission document management system might also 
permit faster searches for and retrieval of documents in the 
Commission's docket files than currently permitted by EDIS.
    Permitting electronic filing would involve both the acquisition of 
new information technology and the revision of the agency's procedures, 
including the Rules of Practice and Procedure. The Commission will 
provide an opportunity for public comment on any proposed rules 
amendments, but is seeking the views of the public now on the broader 
issues raised by the prospect of allowing electronic filing. The 
Commission encourages party representatives, other document filers, and 
other interested persons to

[[Page 28543]]

participate in the forum and provide their views on the issues 
discussed below as well as others they wish to raise. Considerations 
such as technical and funding constraints may limit the Commission's 
ability to implement some of the features that may be suggested at the 
forum, but the agency plans to take all such views into account in 
determining whether and how to permit electronic filing and to provide 
other facilities for doing docket-related business with the Commission 
electronically.
    The Commission wants any document management system it may 
implement to benefit users inside and outside the agency. Permitting 
electronic filing would serve no purpose if document filers did not 
choose to file electronically. Consistent with the GPEA, the Commission 
does not intend to require electronic filing. The Commission encourages 
attendees to provide their views on what system features would be 
helpful to them. For example, some document formats may be easier to 
use than others. Moreover, some documents, such as papers drafted by 
the submitter, may be easier to file electronically than others, such 
as appendices containing material from reference works in hard copy. 
Further, how deadlines are set for electronic filing may affect a 
filer's decision to choose between paper and electronic filing.
    A particularly relevant topic for the forum would be the potential 
technical difficulties that may arise in connection with electronic 
filing. For example, the software that removes confidential business 
information from the public versions of paper filings may not suffice 
for an electronic filing. Also, various circumstances may result in a 
failure to connect to the agency's website, delaying or preventing 
filing. To aid in such a discussion, the Commission encourages 
participants in the forum to bring technical staff familiar with the 
computer systems of participants' organizations.
    The Commission is also interested in attendees' comments on how to 
change the filing process. Currently, filers generally must submit an 
original and fourteen paper copies of a document. Electronic filing 
would present the agency with a number of options for how to proceed 
with respect to that requirement. The Commission could remove entirely 
the requirement for submitting paper copies. That would mean that 
Commission personnel either would forgo the use of paper copies or 
would incur staff time and printing costs making copies for their use. 
Alternatively, the agency could continue, over the long or short term, 
to require a number of paper copies. Moreover, the Commission could 
permit filers to submit certain documents electronically while other 
types of document would continue to be filed in paper form. In 
addition, for those documents that eventually would be fileable 
electronically, electronic filing could be phased in over time so that 
initially parties could file some documents electronically, but other 
documents might continue in paper form.
    The Secretary to the Commission will preside at the forum, assisted 
by agency staff who are members of the agency's Document Imaging 
Oversight Committee. The forum will be open to the public. However, to 
seek an opportunity to make an initial statement, no longer than five 
minutes in length, a person must submit a request to do so by the 
deadline for requests set out above. A person who attends the forum 
without having submitted such a request will be given an opportunity to 
make a statement as time permits. A person may submit written comments 
on the issues raised in this notice by the deadline for written 
comments set out above whether or not he or she files a request or 
attends the forum.

    Issued: May 17, 2001.

    By order of the Commission.
Donna R. Koehnke,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-12885 Filed 5-22-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P