Executive Order 12600: Predisclosure notification procedures for confidential commercial information
Summary
Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12600 on June 23, 1987 to give businesses and other information submitters an opportunity to object before an agency discloses potentially protected commercial information under the Freedom of Information Act. The agency must consider the objection and explain a decision to disclose despite it. The order is about advance procedure and informed agency decisions. It does not give a submitter a veto over FOIA, create a new disclosure exemption, or settle whether a particular record is confidential under current law.
Status: In effect. Yes. EO 12600 continues to supply the executive-branch framework for notifying submitters before proposed FOIA disclosure of covered confidential commercial information. Current Justice Department regulations retain the corresponding procedures and cite the order. A notice or an objection does not itself establish that the information must be withheld.
Key facts at a glance
| Signed | June 23, 1987 |
|---|---|
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Federal Register | 52 FR 23781; published June 25, 1987 |
| Current label | In effect |
| Amended by | No amendment listed in the reviewed disposition; see later-law qualifications below |
| Related orders | See statutory framework and sources below |
| Checked | October 25, 2026 |
What it requires today
Agencies must establish procedures for notifying submitters when requested records may contain confidential commercial information. The definition concerns records submitted to the government that arguably contain material exempt under FOIA Exemption 4. Agencies are to give submitters an opportunity to designate covered information when submitting it or within a reasonable time afterward, while also allowing agencies to identify potentially protected material when a designation is missing.
When notice is required, the submitter must receive a reasonable opportunity to state objections and explain the basis for withholding. The agency then evaluates those grounds. If it decides to release information despite an objection, its notice must explain why the objection was not sustained, describe the information to be disclosed and identify the intended disclosure date. Advance notice gives the submitter information about the decision; it does not make the submitter the final FOIA decisionmaker.
There are exceptions to the notice requirement, including information already publicly available, disclosure required by another law, qualifying published agency rules and specified situations concerning missing or obviously frivolous confidentiality designations. The order also requires notification when a requester sues to compel disclosure. Its detailed exceptions matter: reading only the general notice instruction can give a misleading impression that every mention of a company requires an identical process regardless of the record's source or public availability.
Who it affects
Agency FOIA offices, businesses and other commercial-information submitters, and requesters are the principal participants. A submitter can be a person or entity rather than only a large corporation. Requesters also receive notices when the agency provides a submitter with an opportunity to object and when the agency makes a final disclosure decision. The procedure is designed to inform the government's disclosure analysis while keeping the requester's interest in access visible, rather than allowing a confidentiality marking to end the inquiry.
How it came about
FOIA already contained Exemption 4 before EO 12600. The 1987 order addressed the government's procedures for obtaining and considering the submitter's position when applying the law. It directed agencies to establish or review regulations after notice and public comment, while allowing already compliant procedures to remain. This history explains why a modern agency regulation can contain its own detailed time limits and terminology even though the underlying presidential instruction is several decades old.
What agencies did under it
Justice Department FOIA regulations in 28 CFR part 16 contain the current commercial-information notice procedure. In the present arrangement the confidential-commercial-information provision is section 16.7; section 16.8 addresses appeals. Older guides and historical rules can use different numbering, so a citation copied from an older account needs to be checked against the current part. The continuing regulation expressly identifies EO 12600 in its notice exceptions.
An agency's process begins by identifying the potentially covered records, evaluating whether notice is necessary and obtaining sufficiently specific objections. A generalized assertion that every submitted document is confidential does not decide the statutory question. The agency must apply the current exemption law and its own rules to the actual information. The order's statement that objections are considered is not a promise that every requested withholding will be accepted.
The current FOIA exemption standard and the advance-notice procedure should be analyzed separately. A development in Exemption 4 case law can affect the substantive withholding decision without repealing the notice framework. Equally, giving notice does not cure an otherwise unlawful withholding or establish a lawful basis for disclosure. The final agency determination, governing statutes, applicable rules and any court judgment provide the relevant legal answer for the particular records.
Implementation records: Current annual CFR: Justice Department FOIA procedures, including section 16.7; Current Justice Department confidential-commercial-information rule.
Amendments and family tree
The reviewed Federal Register disposition identifies no express whole-order revocation of EO 12600. The order's continuing implementation can be seen in current agency FOIA regulations, not merely in the survival of a historical web page. It does not revoke FOIA or replace Exemption 4 with a presidential confidentiality rule. Later changes to agency regulations and judicial interpretations need to be identified for their own effects rather than described as amendments to the signed presidential text without evidence.
Court cases
No court ruling specifically on EO 12600 was identified in the official order, disposition and agency sources reviewed as of October 25, 2026. A FOIA withholding judgment, a submitter challenge to disclosure and the agency’s advance-notice procedure concern related but distinct issues. A change to Exemption 4 doctrine is not automatically a revocation of EO 12600. The actual agency regulation and controlling court decision must be identified for a specific records dispute.
Common questions
Can a company stop disclosure just by marking information confidential?
A designation can trigger review and notice, but the agency must decide whether disclosure is permitted or required under the applicable law. The order requires consideration of objections; it does not transfer the government's FOIA decision to the submitter.
Does the requester hear about the submitter process?
Section 9 requires requester notification when the agency provides the specified notice and opportunity to comment, and again when it notifies the submitter of a final disclosure decision. The process therefore includes notice to both affected sides.
Is every notice required to use the same deadline?
The order uses reasonableness requirements and directs agencies to adopt implementing procedures. The applicable agency regulation supplies the detailed process. A timetable from one agency or an obsolete edition should not automatically be applied to another.
Does EO 12600 create a right to sue on its own?
Section 10 says the order is intended to improve internal government management and does not itself create an enforceable substantive or procedural right or benefit. Any available challenge must be assessed under the relevant law rather than assumed from the order alone.
Legal basis
The order implements an internal executive procedure in the setting of 5 U.S.C. 552, especially Exemption 4. It expressly disclaims creation of an independently enforceable right or benefit. The relevant agency regulations, the Administrative Procedure Act where applicable, and current FOIA law remain separate parts of the legal analysis. Advance consultation cannot authorize disclosure prohibited by another statute.
Further reading
Sources
Cite this page
EO Explained, “Executive Order 12600: Predisclosure notification procedures for confidential commercial information”, checked October 25, 2026. https://eoexplained.com/historic-orders/historic-12600-predisclosure-notification-procedures-for-confidential-commercial-information. Include an access date when citing this dated account. For the presidential instrument itself, cite 52 FR 23781 and the official text.
Last checked
. EO 12600 was checked against its signed record, current disposition and cited implementation sources for the status and scope described above. Report an error or a later official source.