Documents to be submitted to the Commission must be filed with Docket Services at 500 E Street, S.W., Room 112-A, Washington, D.C. 20436. As discussed below, certain public documents may be filed electronically.6 Documents, whether filed in person, by mail, or electronically, will be accepted for filing by the Commission only during its regular business hours: 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time. In the rare event that the Commission is closed, for example, as a result of inclement weather, a document due to the Commission on that day will be accepted for filing on the next business day that the Commission is open.
Documents may be hand delivered or mailed to Docket Services for filing, and will be deemed to be filed on the date of receipt by that office. Additionally, the Commission has undertaken a multi-phase implementation of electronic filing procedures consistent with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act which allows for electronic filing of certain public documents.7 Anyone wishing to file a document electronically should go to https://edis.usitc.gov and follow the instructions for submitting a document electronically to EDIS, including those pertaining to completion of the cover sheet. The instructions include the applicable hardware and software requirements for electronic filing. Under these procedures, documents eligible for electronic filing must be transmitted in portable document format (“PDF”) in accordance with the directions posted on the Commission’s website. Such documents will be deemed "signed" through the use of a password-protected registration protocol. The signatory must be a registered user and such document shall be deemed "signed" when either the document is physically signed by the signatory and scanned in optical format or is signed by the use of an “esignature.”
Ordinarily, a filing in paper form requires the submission of an original and six (6) copies of a document when a case is before an Administrative Law Judge. See C.F.R. § 210.4(f)(2)(i). When a case is before the Commission, a filing in paper form ordinarily requires an original and twelve (12) copies. See 19 C.F.R. §210.4(f)(2)(ii). Documents will not be accepted for filing if an insufficient number of copies are submitted. Also note that when filing in paper form, the original signed copy of the document, as well as one additional copy, should not be stapled, bound, or hole-punched, although the document may be held together by means of a clip. The additional copies required, if filing in paper form, should be individually stapled or bound.
All documents submitted for filing must be accompanied by an EDIS cover sheet, which must be filled out online on the EDIS web page https://edis.usitc.gov.8 The cover sheet contains certain information about the document, including the date of submission, the name of the signatory, and whether the document contains confidential business information. This information is used to index the documents in EDIS. Also, in our continuing effort to improve the accuracy and usability of EDIS, a Coding Manual was created to assist users with coding documents for EDIS. The Coding Manual is available in PDF format and may be downloaded at https://www.usitc.gov/docket_services/documents/edis_coding_manual.pdf.
Documents presented for filing must conform to the Commission's Rules on document specifications. Commission Rules 210.4 and 201.8, 19 C.F.R. §§ 210.4 and 201.8, set forth specifications for documents such as the requirement that each document be captioned with information about the pertinent proceeding, that each document have a certain standard typeface, and that each document be accompanied by a certificate of service. These rules also set forth a signature requirement similar to that of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, whereby a signature on a document is deemed to constitute a certification as to the propriety of filing the document and the veracity of the contents of the document. See Rule 210.4(b)-(d), 19 C.F.R. § 210.4(b)-(d).
Persons filing a document in paper form can usually obtain a date-stamped copy of the document provided that they bring an extra copy of the document with them at the time of filing. In this regard, couriers should be advised that they may not themselves use the Commission date-stamp, but should request assistance from a Docket Services staff member at the time of filing. Persons filing by mail can also obtain a date-stamped copy of a document if they provide an extra copy of the document, a letter requesting a date-stamped copy, and an addressed return envelope with the postage prepaid. Persons electronically filing a document will receive both a printable notice of electronic receipt and a notice of electronic filing via e-mail. The notice of electronic filing will verify the effective filing date and time.
6 The Commission will not accept filings by facsimile.
7 An Electronic Filing Procedures Handbook (March 2006) can be accessed through the Commission’s Electronic Document Information System website at
https://www.usitc.gov/documents/handbook_on_filing_procedures.pdf.
8 See 19 C.F.R. § 201.8(g). The Electronic Document Information System is an electronic repository of the official record of documents filed at the Commission. Further information regarding this system is set forth below in Question and Answer No. 8.