Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73
§176a Confidential nature of information furnished Bureau
Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - STATISTICAL AND COMMERCIAL INFORMATION › § 176a
Summary
Information given in confidence to the Bureau must remain private, used only for statistics, shown only to sworn Bureau employees (except under subchapter III of chapter 35 of title 44), and never published in a way that identifies the supplier.
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §176a
Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Any statistical information furnished in confidence to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce by individuals, corporations, and firms shall be held to be confidential, and shall be used only for the statistical purposes for which it is supplied. Except as provided in subchapter III of chapter 35 of title 44, the Director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce shall not permit anyone other than the sworn employees of the Bureau to examine such individual reports, nor shall he permit any statistics of domestic commerce to be published in such manner as to reveal the identity of the individual, corporation, or firm furnishing such data.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2019—Pub. L. 115–435 substituted “subchapter III of chapter 35 of title 44” for “the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002”. 2002—Pub. L. 107–347 substituted “Except as provided in the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002, the” for “The”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2019 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–435 effective 180 days after Jan. 14, 2019, see section 403 of Pub. L. 115–435, set out as a note under section 306 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Transitional and
Savings Provision
sFor transitional and
Savings Provision
s related to the amendment of this section and other provisions of law by title III of Pub. L. 115–435, see section 302(d) of Pub. L. 115–435, set out as a note under section 3561 of Title 44, Public Printing and Documents.
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
For
Transfer of Functions
of Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, see note set out under section 172 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 176a
Title 15 — Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73