§ 7.69 - Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.

(a) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential are within this statutory exemption. This includes:

(1) Commercial or financial information which, if disclosed, is likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the submitter of the requested information;

(2) Commercial or financial information which if disclosed, is likely to impair the Government's ability to obtain necessary information in the future through purely voluntary cooperation;

(3) Commercial or financial information customarily subjected to an attorney-client or similar evidentiary privilege; or

(4) Information that constitutes a trade secret.

(5) Commercial or financial information which, if disclosed, would impair any other identifiable government interest or hinder agency officials in carrying out their mandate.

(b) The purpose of this section is to exempt from mandatory disclosure trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential. This section assures the confidentiality of trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained by the Department through questionnaires and required reports to the extent that the information would not customarily be made public by the person from whom it was obtained. In any case in which the Department has obligated itself not to disclose trade secrets and commercial or financial information it receives, this section indicates the Department's intention to honor that obligation to the extent permitted by law. In addition, this section recognizes that certain materials, such as research data and materials, formulae, designs, and architectural drawings, have significance as items of property acquired, in many cases, at public expense. Such material may be treated as exempt from mandatory disclosure in any case in which similar proprietary material in private hands would be held in confidence. To the extent feasible, any person submitting information to the Department which may qualify for this exemption should request that the information not be disclosed.