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Script: Freedom of Information Act - Part I |
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Intro:
Welcome to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service podcast. Each episode will bring
you cutting edge news and information about how FSIS is working to ensure public health
protection through food safety. While we’re on the job, you can rest assured that your
meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, properly labeled, and packaged
correctly. So turn up your volume and listen in.
Host:
Good day and welcome to this FSIS podcast. I’m Alexandra Tarrant. Today, we’re going
to talk about the Freedom of Information Act and how it affects your establishment.
With me is Jeff Ovall, who has more than 13 years experience in this field. He is
currently the Supervisory FOIA Specialist for the FSIS Freedom of Information Act
Service Center.
Thanks for being here, Jeff.
Guest:
Thanks for having me!
Host:
Jeff would you tell us a little bit about the Freedom of Information Act?
Guest:
Love to. Well, the Freedom of Information Act, which we usually call by the acronym
FOIA that’s F-O-I-A, is a Federal law that makes Executive Branch records available to
the public. The FOIA, however, does not apply to the Legislative or Judicial branches
of the Federal government.
The Act itself is found in Title 5 of the United States Code, Section 552. It has been
in effect since 1966 and is periodically updated.
Most states have some form of the FOIA in their codes as well, making state government
records available also.
Host:
Okay, so what information is subject to release under FOIA?
Guest:
Legally, all official information that sheds light on an agency’s performance of its
statutory duties is subject to release under the FOIA.
Host:
That covers just about everything, doesn’t it?
Guest:
Yeah, it would seem that way; however, the FOIA also provides for nine legal
exemptions.
Any information that falls under the nine FOIA exemptions is protected by law and
doesn’t have to be released to the public.
It’s important to remember, however, that the FOIA requires agencies to review records
using a presumption in favor of disclosure.
Therefore, while a specific record or portion of record may fall under one of the nine
FOIA exemptions, agencies often make discretionary releases depending on the nature of
the documents in question.
When a record or portion of record is withheld, the portion that is not subject to
release is redacted, or removed.
Host:
How does FOIA affect small and very small plant owners and operators?
Guest:
Well FSIS collects all types of records from the plants that it regulates. It does so
to fulfill the Agency’s mission of ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of
meat, poultry, and processed egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled
and packaged.
Under Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 390, these records are
subject to FOIA requests.
Host:
I can understand why that might concern owners of small businesses.
Guest:
Yeah, so can I. But I’d like to reassure them that trade secrets and commercial or
financial information – the release of which would cause substantial harm to the
competitive position of the business, or would impair the government’s ability to
obtain necessary information in the future – is protected from release by one of the
nine exemptions provided under the Act.
Host:
Could you elaborate on these exemptions?
Guest:
Sure! See, the first exemption is for classified national security information
concerning defense and foreign policy. For example, a document classified as Top
Secret would be withheld under this exemption.
The second exemption applies to internal agency rules and practices. Security –
Vulnerability Assessments, or Computer security plans, are examples of information
that would be withheld under this exemption.
Information that is prohibited from disclosure by another law is covered under
exemption 3.
Exemption 4 relates to trade secrets and other confidential business information.
We’ll discuss this exemption in greater detail in next week’s podcast.
Host:
So what are the other exemptions?
Guest:
Well the next exemption concerns inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are
protected by legal privileges. An example would be Pre-decisional Internal Agency
records, or Attorney Work Product.
Exemption number 6 covers information involving matters of personal privacy. This
exemption, along with number 4, are the two FSIS cites most often when withholding
records.
The seventh exemption pertains to certain information compiled for law enforcement
purposes, while the next one deals with information relating to the supervision of
financial institutions.
And finally, the ninth exemption relates to geological and geophysical information
concerning wells.
Host:
Jeff, thanks so much for stopping by, and we look forward to hearing more on FOIA next
week.
Guest:
It’s been a pleasure; I’m looking forward to coming back!
Host:
Excellent. And to our listeners, please be sure to join us for the next podcast when
we will cover exemptions 4 and 6 in more depth. Be sure to stay tuned to the FSIS Web
site at www.fsis.usda.gov for all our
future podcasts.
Outro:
Well, that’s all for this episode. We’d like your feedback on our podcast. Or if you
have ideas for future podcasts, send us an e-mail at
podcast@fsis.usda.gov. To learn more about food safety, try our web site at
www.fsis.usda.gov. Thanks for tuning
in.
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Last Modified: March 16, 2009 |
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