[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 205 (Thursday, October 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60708-60709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26693]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Public Input on Improving Agency Procedures

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice and solicitation of written comments.

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SUMMARY: The United States International Trade Commission invites 
public input on specific ways in which it could improve its document 
management and electronic filing system, EDIS.

DATES: To be assured of consideration, written comments must be 
received in the Office of the Secretary to the Commission no later than 
5:15 p.m. on or before November 6, 2003.

ADDRESSES: A signed original and 8 copies of each set of comments, 
along with a cover letter, should be submitted by mail or hand delivery 
to the Secretary, United States International Trade Commission, 500 E 
Street, SW., Room 112, Washington, DC 20436. The Commission's rules do 
not authorize filing of submissions with the Secretary by facsimile or 
electronic means, except to the extent permitted by Sec.  201.8 of the 
Commission's Rules (19 CFR 201.8) (see Handbook for Electronic Filing 
Procedures, ftp://usitc.gov/pub/reports/electronic_filing_handbook.pdf.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn R. Abbott (202-205-2799), 
Secretary, or Ann Jones, Deputy Secretary (202-205-1801), United States 
International Trade Commission. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain 
information on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal 
on 202-205-1810. The Commission's document management and electronic 
filing system, EDIS, may be viewed at http://edis.usitc.gov. General 
information concerning the Commission may also be obtained by accessing 
its World Wide Website (http://www.usitc.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission is an independent, quasi-
judicial federal agency with a wide range of trade-related mandates. 
During the conduct of its work, the Commission collects, creates, and 
disseminates a large number of documents. These may include data from 
interested parties (such as domestic and foreign producers, U.S. 
importers, and purchasers); staff reports summarizing information 
collected concerning such indicators as imports, production, shipments, 
employment, profits and losses, and prices; hearings-related documents; 
and written opinions explaining the Commission's conclusions on factual 
and legal issues.
    In 1996, the Commission established an electronic document imaging 
system to store and provide access to docket records in agency 
investigations. During FY 1999, the Commission made non-confidential 
official documents available online via the internally developed EDIS-
Online (EOL) system as a pilot test of the feasibility of self-service 
access to its public records on the Web. In January 2003, the 
Commission implemented a new document management system (EDIS-II, 
http://edis.usitc.gov) with the capability to accept documents 
electronically. Consistent with the Government Paperwork Elimination 
Act (GPEA) (Div. C, Title XVII, Pub. L. 105-277), the Commission's 
Rules of Practice and Procedure currently provide for the filing of 
certain documents in electronic form.
    Section 335 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1335) authorizes 
the Commission to adopt such reasonable procedures, rules, and 
regulations as it deems necessary to carry out its functions and 
duties. The Commission is interested in comments concerning all aspects 
of its EDIS document management and electronic filing initiative. To 
this end, the Commission is seeking input from the public, including 
persons and entities that appear before the agency, regarding (1) what 
features of the EDIS-II system have proven to be beneficial; (2) what 
technical difficulties have arisen in connection with use of the 
system; (3) how the agency can improve upon existing features; (4) what 
additional features may improve EDIS; and (5) how the agency might 
implement electronic filing and search/retrieval of confidential 
business and business proprietary information on EDIS.
    With respect to documents containing confidential business 
information (CBI) or business proprietary information (BPI), the 
Commission is considering permitting parties and other persons to file 
these documents with the agency electronically. In addition to 
technical considerations, such as the implementation of encryption, the 
Commission is interested in whether or how to provide notice to parties 
of a filing, and business policy and procedures that may need to be 
addressed.

[[Page 60709]]

    The Commission is also considering allowing the search/retrieval of 
CBI/BPI material by interested parties to investigations. Comments 
regarding such issues as who should be granted search/retrieval 
permissions, controls over user IDs and passwords, and when access 
should be terminated, are encouraged.
    Comments on the usability and intuitiveness of the functional 
design of EDIS are of interest to the Commission. The agency encourages 
comments focusing on enhancing the search/retrieval process, to display 
and download documents, and generally, whether and how to make EDIS 
more user-friendly.
    Written Submissions: Interested persons are invited to submit 
written statements concerning these or other matters related to the 
document management and electronic filing system. The Commission does 
not anticipate that any private sector party would need to include 
confidential business information in any submission filed in response 
to this notice. All comments received will be posted to EDIS as 
investigation number MISC-030.

    Issued: October 16, 2003.

    By order of the Commission.
Marilyn R. Abbott,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-26693 Filed 10-22-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P