Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008

including

President’s Management Agenda

Federal Trade

Commission

Performance Plan

Table of Contents Fiscal Year 2008

Table of Contents

Performance Plan

Performance Plan Tables ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� 6

Consumer Protection Mission

Fiscal Year 2007 ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ���15

Maintaining Competition Mission

Fiscal Year 2007 ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ���37

Consumer Protection Mission

Fiscal Year 2008 ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ���61

Maintaining Competition Mission

Fiscal Year 2008 ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ���83

President’s Management Agenda ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� 107

Federal Trade Commission

Performance Plan

Tables
Performance Plan 6 Fiscal Year 2008

Goal 1: Prevent fraud, deception, and unfair 

business practices in the marketplace

FY 2007 

FTE

FY 2007 

Amount

FY 2008 

FTE

FY 2008 

Amount

Objective 1.1

Identify fraud, deception, and unfair practices 

that cause the greatest consumer injury

92 $24,416 94 $26,844

Objective 1.2

Stop fraud, deception and unfair practices 

through law enforcement

397 $84,038 405 $89,860

Objective 1.3

Prevent consumer injury through education 50 $11,157 52 $15,338

Objective 1.4

Enhance consumer welfare through research, 

reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange

30 $6,780 30 $7,080

Total: 569 $126,391 581 $139,122

Budgeted Resources by Objective

($ in thousands)

Goal 2: Prevent anticompetitive mergers and 

other anticompetitive business practices in the 

marketplace

FY 2007 

FTE

FY 2007 

Amount

FY 2008 

FTE

FY 2008 

Amount

Objective 2.1

Identify anticompetitive mergers and practices 

that cause the greatest consumer injury

54 $10,314 55 $10,855

Objective 2.2

Stop anticompetitive mergers and practices 

through law enforcement

401 $76,749 398 $80,257

Objective 2.3

Prevent consumer injury through education 31 $5,912 31 $6,196

Objective 2.4

Enhance consumer welfare through research, 

reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange 

19 $3,634 19 $3,809

Total: 505 $96,609 503 $101,117

Maintaining Competition Mission

Consumer Protection Mission
Performance Plan 7 Fiscal Year 2008

Consumer 

Protection 

Mission

Fiscal Year 2007 Fiscal Year 2008

Objective Number: Total

FTEs

Objective Number: Total

FTEs 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Privacy & Identity 

Protection 5 27 2 2 36 6 31 2 3 42

Financial Practices 4 42 2 4 52 4 42 2 4 52

Marketing Practices 6 102 2 2 112 6 102 2 2 112

Advertising Practices 6 46 1 3 56 6 46 1 3 56

Enforcement 4 57 2 1 64 4 57 2 1 64

Planning & Information 38 4 2 --- 44 39 5 2 --- 46

International Consumer 

Protection --- --- --- 2 2 --- --- --- --- ---

Consumer & Business 

Education --- --- 21 1 22 --- --- 23 1 24

Economic & Consumer 

Policy Analysis --- 1 1 3 5 --- 1 1 3 5

Program Management 5 15 3 4 27 5 15 3 4 27

CP Mission Support 24 103 14 8 149 24 106 14 9 153

Total Mission: 92 397 50 30 569 94 405 52 30 581

Maintaining

Competition

Mission

Fiscal Year 2007 Fiscal Year 2008

Objective Number: Total

FTEs

Objective Number: Total

FTEs 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Premerger Notification 14 1 8 1 24 14 1 8 1 24

Merger & Joint Venture 

Enforcement 13 163 7 4 187 13 161 7 4 185

Merger & Joint Venture 

Compliance 1 9 1 1 12 1 9 1 1 12

Nonmerger Enforcement 7 108 4 3 122 7 107 4 3 121

Nonmerger Compliance --- 1 --- --- 1 --- 1 --- --- 1

Antitrust Policy Analysis 1 2 1 3 7 1 2 1 3 7

Other Direct Mission 

Resources 4 12 2 2 20 4 12 2 2 20

MC Mission Support 14 105 8 5 132 15 105 8 5 133

Total Mission: 54 401 31 19 505 55 398 31 19 503

Objectives by Program FTE
Performance Plan 8 Fiscal Year 2008

FY 2007 

Target

FY 2008 

Target

Consumer Protection Mission

Goal 1: To prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace.

Objective 1.1–Identify fraud, deception, and unfair practices that cause the greatest consumer injury:

Measure 1.1.1: Collect and enter complaints and inquiries into the consumer database. 1.0 million 1.05 million

Measure 1.1.3: Determine the percent of agency’s consumer protection law enforcement actions 

that are responsive to the consumer complaint information gathered by the agency. 50% 50%

Objective 1.2–Stop fraud, deception, and unfair practices through law enforcement:

Measure 1.2.5: Stop fraudulent and deceptive practices by obtaining orders. 130 130

Measure 1.2.1: Stop economic injury to consumers through law enforcement resulting in savings 

to consumers. $400 million $400 million

Objective 1.3–Prevent consumer injury through education:

Measure 1.3.1: Track consumer protection messages accessed online or in print. 45 million 50 million

Measure 1.3.2: Track consumer protection messages, related to identity theft, accessed online or 

in print. 8 million 9 million

Measure 1.3.3: Track consumer protection messages, in Spanish, accessed online or in print. 2.2 million 3.0 million

Measure 1.3.4: Track the number of times print media publish articles that refer to FTC consumer protection activities and the circulation of the media that publish those articles.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline

Objective 1.4–Enhance consumer welfare through research, reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange:

Measure 1.4.1: Convene or participate substantially in workshops and conferences on novel or 

challenging consumer protection problems or issues. 6 6

Measure 1.4.2: Issue reports on novel or challenging consumer protection problems or issues. 8 8

Measure 1.4.3: File public and advocacy comments with other federal and state government 

agencies. 6 6

Measure 1.4.4: Cooperate with foreign government agencies on enforcement matters with crossborder components. 20 20

Measure 1.4.5: Provide policy or technical input to foreign government agencies or international 

organizations on consumer protection issues. 20 20

Annual Performance Measures

Fiscal Years 2007- 2008

Note: The Performance Measures for Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008 reflect the updates contained in the 

Federal Trade Commission’s GPRA Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2006-2011. These measures continue 

to use the numbering schema from previous years to maintain historical integrity. The Performance 

Measures for Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008 appear in the sequence in which they are presented in the 

Federal Trade Commission’s GPRA Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2006-2011.
Performance Plan 9 Fiscal Year 2008

FY 2007 

Target

FY 2008 

Target

Maintaining Competition Mission 

Goal 2: To prevent anticompetitive mergers and other anticompetitive business practices in the marketplace.

Objective 2.1–Identify anticompetitive mergers and practices that cause the greatest consumer injury:

Measure 2.1.4: Track the number of enforcement actions for the total mission, and separately for 

the merger and nonmerger programs.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline

Measure 2.1.1: Achieve positive outcomes in matters in which HSR requests for additional 

information are issued. At least 90% 90%

Measure 2.1.5 Report the number of second requests, reportable transactions for which premerger notifications were received, HSR investigations that resulted in enforcement action, 

transactions in which antitrust issues were resolved through voluntary abandonment or restructuring because of FTC concerns, and investigations closed because the evidence indicated that a 

competitive problem was unlikely.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline

Measure 2.1.3: Achieve positive outcomes in significant nonmerger investigations. At least 90% 90%

Measure 2.1.6: Track the number of significant nonmerger investigations closed each year, with 

or without enforcement action.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline

Objective 2.2–Stop anticompetitive mergers and practices through law enforcement:

Measure 2.2.1: Achieve positive results in cases in which the FTC takes enforcement actions. 80% 80%

Measure 2.2.3: Take action against mergers likely to harm competition in markets with annual 

sales that meet the target. $25 billion $25 billion

Measure 2.2.2: Achieve savings for consumers through merger enforcement. $500 million $500 million

Measure 2.2.6 Save consumers more than the amount of agency resources allocated to merger 

programs. 600% 600%

Measure 2.2.5: Take action against anticompetitive conduct in markets with annual sales that 

meet the target. $8 billion $8 billion

Measure 2.2.4: Achieve savings for consumers through nonmerger enforcement. $80 million $80 million

Measure 2.2.7: Save consumers more than the amount of agency resources allocated to nonmerger enforcement programs. 400% 400%

Objective 2.3–Prevent consumer injury through education:

Measure 2.3.2: Track the volume of traffic on the ftc.gov antitrust related pages that are relevant 

to policymakers, the business and legal communities, and the public at large.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline

Measure 2.3.5: Track the number of times print media publish articles that refer to FTC competition activities and the circulation of the media that publish those articles.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline

Objective 2.4–Enhance consumer welfare through research, reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange:

Measure 2.4.6: Track the volume of traffic on ftc.gov relating to competition research, reports, 

advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline

Measure 2.4.1: Convene or participate substantially in workshops, conferences, seminars, and 

hearings involving significant competition-related issues. 4 4

Measure 2.4.2: Issue studies, reports, and working or issues papers on significant competitionrelated issues. 8 8

Measure 2.4.3: Make advocacy filings with other federal and state government agencies urging them to assess the competitive ramifications and costs and benefits to consumers of their 

policies.

6 6

Measure 2.4.4: Issue advisory opinions to persons seeking agency review of proposed business 

actions. 2 to 3 2 to 3 

Measure 2.4.5: File amicus briefs with courts addressing competition-related issues. 2 to 3 2 to 3 

Measure 2.4.7: Track the number of cases on which the FTC cooperated with a foreign competition authority, number of consultations with or comments to foreign competition authorities, 

number of written submissions on international fora, number of international events attended, 

and number of leadership positions held by FTC staff in international competition organizations.

establish 

baseline

establish 

baseline
Performance Plan 10 Fiscal Year 2008

Consumer Protection Mission

Goal 1: Prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business 

practices in the marketplace

FY 2002 

Actual

FY 2003 

Actual

FY 2004 

Actual

FY 2005 

Actual

FY 2006 

Actual

Objective 1.1

Identify fraud, deception, and unfair practices that cause the greatest consumer injury:

Measure 1.1.1: 

Annual number of consumer complaints and inquiries entered into 

database.

680,000 944,000 994,000 1,015,000 950,000

Measure 1.1.2: 

Annual number of consumer complaints and inquiries related to 

identity theft entered into database.

---- 321,000 314,000 348,000 350,000

Objective 1.2

Stop fraud, deception and unfair practices through law enforcement:

Measure 1.2.1: 

Dollar savings for consumers from FTC actions which stop fraud.

$561 

million

$606 

million

$349 

million

$366 

million

$400 

million

Measure 1.2.2: 

Total expenditures of deceptive or unfair advertising campaigns 

stopped.

$40 

million

---- ---- ---- ----

Measure 1.2.3: 

Number of data searches conducted by FTC and law enforcement 

personnel of the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database.

---- 27,685 87,000 79,000 40,000

Measure 1.2.4: 

Number of data searches conducted by law enforcement personnel of 

the FTC’s identity theft database.

---- 2,167 2,120 1,680 2,100

Objective 1.3

Prevent consumer injury through education:

Measure 1.3.1: 

Number of education publications distributed to or accessed electronically by consumers.

19.3 

million

28.0 

million

26.5 

million

35.3 

million

25.0 

million

Measure 1.3.2: 

Number of education publications related to Identity Theft distributed to or accessed electronically by consumers.

---- 3.0 

million

3.7 

million

6.0 

million

3.3 

million

Measure 1.3.3: 

Number of Spanish-language education publications distributed to or 

accessed electronically by consumers.

---- 458,000 737,000 1,157,000 550,000

Annual Performance Measures - Historical

Fiscal Years 2002- 2006
Performance Plan 11 Fiscal Year 2008

Maintaining Competition Mission 

Goal 2: Prevent anticompetitive mergers and other 

anticompetitive business practices in the marketplace

FY 2002 

Actual

FY 2003 

Actual

FY 2004 

Actual

FY 2005 

Actual

FY 2006 

Actual

Objective 2.1

Identify anticompetitive mergers and practices that cause the greatest consumer injury:

Measure 2.1.1: Percent of HSR second requests resulting in enforcement action.68% 70% 55% 52% 60-80%

Measure 2.1.2: Number of nonmerger investigations opened per year. 59 50 ---- ---- ----

Measure 2.1.3: Percent of nonmerger investigations which result in 

enforcement action.

---- ---- 63% 50% 60-80%

Objective 2.2

Stop anticompetitive mergers and practices through law enforcement:

Measure 2.2.1: Positive outcome of cases brought by FTC due to alleged violations.100% 100% 100% 95% 80%

Measure 2.2.2: Dollar savings for consumers resulting from FTC actions stopping anticompetitive mergers.

$726 

million

$292 

million

---- ---- ----

Measure 2.2.3: Dollar volume of commerce in markets in which FTC 

took action to prevent anticompetitive mergers.

---- ---- $8.5 

billion

$61.8 

billion

$40 

billion

Measure 2.2.4: Dollar savings for consumers resulting from FTC actions stopping anticompetitive nonmerger activity.

$86 

million

$211 

million

---- ---- ----

Measure 2.2.5: Dollar volume of commerce in markets in which FTC 

took action to prevent anticompetitive conduct.

---- ---- $2.6 

billion

$19.4 

billion

$20 

billion

Objective 2.3

Prevent consumer injury through education:

Measure 2.3.1: Quantify number of education and outreach efforts. 285 306 ---- ---- ----

Measure 2.3.2: Quantify number of hits on antitrust information on 

FTC Web site.

4.4 

million

Over 

10 

million

---- 9.8 

million

10 

million

Measure 2.3.3: Measure and establish appropriate targets for the 

number of hits on the FTC antitrust Web site relevant to business and 

legal communities.*

---- ---- 7.7 

million

---- ----

Measure 2.3.4: Measure and establish appropriate targets for the 

number of hits on the FTC antitrust Web site relevant to policy makers 

and the general public.*

---- ---- 0.3 

million

---- ----

*For FY 2004, Objective 2.3 has two different components – educating the legal and business communities about enforcement policies and standards to facilitate compliance with the law, and (2) educating the public in general, as well as policymakers, about 

the benefits of competition. For this reason, the FTC established two performance measures based on the volume of traffic on the 

FTC’s Internet site. See Federal Trade Commission Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2003 - 2008 at 17. While the underlying rationale 

remains sound, this distinction has proved far more difficult to implement than first anticipated. Much of the antitrust-related 

content on the FTC’s Internet site, such as press releases and speeches, is of interest to the general public as well as the business 

and legal communities. Some material is likely relevant primarily to the business and legal communities, very little (e.g., the 

FTC’s “Plain English Guide to the Antitrust Laws”) could be said to be of interest only to the general public. Because it is very 

difficult to make a meaningful distinction between the FTC’s relative success in educating the business and legal communities 

versus the general public, the agency discontinued Measures 2.3.3 and 2.3.4 and re-established Measure 2.3.2 which is the total 

volume of antitrust-related Internet traffic on the FTC Web site.

Annual Performance Measures - Historical

Fiscal Years 2002- 2006

Federal Trade Commission

Fiscal Year 2007

Performance Plan

Performance Plan 15 Fiscal Year 2007

Consumer Protection Mission

Fiscal Year 2007

Goal 1: To prevent

fraud, deception, and

unfair business practices

in the marketplace

Objective 1.1: Identify fraud, deception, and unfair 

practices that cause the greatest consumer injury

To fulfill its consumer protection mission, the FTC 

must identify consumer protection problems and 

trends in the fast-changing, increasingly global 

marketplace. The agency strives to understand the 

issues affecting consumers, including any newly 

emerging methods of fraud or deceit, to address 

these problems more effectively. The FTC reports 

this information to other law enforcement authorities and encourages those authorities to assist in 

its efforts, either independently or jointly. In this 

way, the FTC can leverage its resources by ensuring 

multiple “cops on the beat.”

To fulfill this objective, the FTC is using new technologies creatively and building on its broad base 

of private and public sector partners. The agency 

continues to collect consumer complaint information directly through four principal sources: (1) a 

toll-free helpline (1-877-FTC-HELP); (2) an identity 

theft hotline (1-877-ID-THEFT); (3) the National Do 

Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov); and (4) the 

online consumer complaint forms that support each 

of these efforts, as well as online complaint forms 

dedicated to members of the U.S. Armed Forces 

and to cross-border fraud complaints. In addition, 

the FTC continues to gather consumer complaint 

information from other sources, including law 

enforcement agencies, Better Business Bureaus, and 

private entities. The agency makes this and other 

information available online to its law enforce-
Performance Plan 16 Fiscal Year 2007

Strategies

ment partners through a secure Internet Web site.

Currently, that site is accessed by more than 1,600 

law enforcement partner agencies in the United 

States, Canada, and Australia. The FTC’s law enforcement partners and other groups also identify 

issue areas and refer targets. Since 1998, the FTC 

has maintained an electronic mailbox (spam@uce.

gov) to which Internet customers are encouraged to 

forward spam. This spam is stored in a searchable 

database enabling the FTC staff to track trends and 

identify law enforcement targets when researching 

potential cases. In addition, the agency augments 

identification of targets from its databases with traditional strategies for generating enforcement leads.

Continue to upgrade and enhance the online 

consumer complaint database and Web site to 

respond to increasing demands and maintain it 

as the premier consumer protection law enforcement information resource.

Improve and expand the tools that are provided 

through this Web site by pulling multiple systems together onto one platform and making it 

the gateway for law enforcement officials who 

want information about the consumer protection problems affecting consumers.

Expand the pool of entities that make their 

consumer complaint data available to the law 

enforcement community through this Web site.

Improve information sharing with law enforcement partners through this Web site.

•

•

•

•
Performance Plan 17 Fiscal Year 2007

FY 2007 Implementation Plan

Continue outreach to international law enforcement partners and organizations to improve 

information sharing.

Continue to strengthen the FTC’s capabilities 

to analyze the increasing volume of consumer 

complaints and augment complaints with other 

sources to develop case leads and identify new 

or emerging concerns.

Monitor the marketplace to identify illegal 

practices that may not be fully captured by the 

database, for example, through the FTC Internet 

Lab, spam database, Web surveys (surfs), and 

through consumer surveys, such as the recent 

fraud and identity theft surveys.

Ensure the quality, security, and integrity of the 

database and Web site information.

Upgrade and enhance the online consumer complaint database and Web site and maintain it as 

the premier consumer protection law enforcement information resource.

Recruit state, local, federal, and international 

law enforcement agencies to join the online Web 

site and contribute complaint data, and train 

them to take full advantage of its features.

Make comprehensive consumer complaint 

information, as well as the analysis of that information, available to the FTC’s law enforcement 

partners through its secure Web site.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•
Performance Plan 18 Fiscal Year 2007

Improve the capacity to receive and integrate 

complaints from U.S. and international sources 

and facilitate the exchange of that data with 

law enforcement officials in the U.S. and other 

countries.

Encourage consumers to report fraud, identity 

theft, and do not call complaints by increasing 

public awareness of the complaint process.

Maintain service levels to consumers who 

contact the FTC, as the volume of contacts is 

expected to increase due to FACT Act outreach 

obligations.

Mine the reported complaint data to identify 

enforcement targets and provide pertinent information to public and private sector partners.

Coordinate with enforcement partners and other 

sources of case generation leads, and conduct 

advertising reviews, test shopping, and Web 

surfs.

Collect and enter into the FTC’s consumer information system more than 1 million complaints 

and inquiries.

Determine if at least one-half of the agency’s 

consumer protection law enforcement actions 

are responsive to the consumer complaint information gathered by the agency.

The FTC mines the complaint data and other information it collects to identify and target the most 

serious cases of fraud and deception and respond 

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

FY 2007 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 19 Fiscal Year 2007

quickly to emerging problems. The agency also 

makes this information available to its law enforcement partners. Information sharing helps the agency coordinate its efforts to fight the many serious 

problems facing consumers. These performance 

measures will ensure that the agency’s enforcement 

activities are targeted at areas of greatest consumer 

concern, thus making the agency responsive to consumer needs and changes in the marketplace and 

efficient in its consumer protection efforts. They 

also will help the agency effectively leverage law 

enforcement resources by sharing this important 

information.

Assess whether the FTC’s law enforcement 

and education efforts are addressing the leading areas identified by the consumer complaint 

information gathered by the agency.

Assess the extent to which the consumer complaint and other information made available by 

the agency is used by staff and its law enforcement partners. Implement changes to increase 

usage to assist ongoing investigations and 

identify new targets.

Review current functions, determine what 

changes or upgrades to the database would be 

helpful, and implement those changes.

Assess security and integrity protections for the 

database and proposed enhancements to the 

database and evaluate the policies in place.

•

•

•

•

Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 20 Fiscal Year 2007

In conducting its program evaluations under this 

objective, as well as each of the other objectives set 

forth in this strategic plan, the FTC will work to (1) 

improve the integration of budget and performance 

by linking goals and objectives to results, (2) develop improved processes for collection, use, and 

analysis of management data, and (3) follow a basic 

standard of data quality, including objectivity, utility, and integrity for the information used in measuring performance, and for any performance or 

other data that the agency may distribute publicly.

The FTC protects consumers by enforcing Section 5 

of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive 

acts or practices in or affecting commerce, as well as 

by enforcing an increasing number of statutes and 

rules proscribing specific unlawful practices. The 

agency initiates civil cases, primarily by filing actions in federal court, which allege that defendants 

have violated these laws and rules and seek injunctions and other relief.

The FTC will continue its efforts to protect consumers’ private information by educating consumers 

about how to protect their important data, and 

enforcing relevant laws when consumers’ data is 

stolen or a company’s security is breached. The FTC 

also will continue to focus on the Telemarketing 

Sales Rule (including the National Do Not Call 

Registry), identity theft, and the Children’s Online 

Privacy Protection Act, as well as enforcement of 

the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the FACT Act.

Other enforcement efforts in privacy will center 

on cases involving claims touting the privacy and 

security features of products and services.

Objective 1.2: Stop fraud, deception, and unfair 

practices through law enforcement

Privacy and Data Security
Performance Plan 21 Fiscal Year 2007

The FTC will continue to direct resources to enforce 

the FTC Act’s prohibition on deceptive and unfair 

practices and the CAN-SPAM Act, as well as working to stop spyware and other high-tech problems 

that plague consumers. The FTC will continue to 

bring cases against those who abuse technology 

and oversee initiatives to educate consumers on 

how to avoid these problems.

The FTC will continue to be involved in law enforcement and policy development efforts on the 

world stage. Law enforcement cases increasingly 

involve an international component as defendants, 

their operations, or their assets are moved offshore.

This makes it difficult to locate and stop scams or to 

provide redress to consumers. The FTC is meeting 

these challenges by sustaining international partnerships to assist in identifying and pursuing these 

cases. As the FTC continues to develop initiatives 

relating to cross-border fraud, the agency will work 

to measure and report its performance in this area.

On the policy side, the FTC is promoting international development of market-oriented consumer 

protection policies, when such policies adequately 

address consumer harm.

The FTC will continue its vigorous pursuit of 

scammers targeting the Hispanic community, as it 

continues to take law enforcement action and work 

with its partners to fight fraud in this community.

The deceptive marketing of products that may 

affect consumer health and safety will continue to 

be an FTC priority. The FTC will focus on health 

care products, including dietary supplements.

Consumer demand for such products is increasing, and fraudulent or deceptive claims about these 

products can pose risks to consumers’ well-being.

Spam, Spyware, and Other 

High-Tech Problems

Globalization

Hispanic Enforcement 

Initiative

Health Care Products 

and Services
Performance Plan 22 Fiscal Year 2007

For most consumers, access to credit is essential to 

full participation in the nation’s economy. The FTC 

will target schemes that involve deceptive credit 

counseling and debt management services, as scam 

artists take money from consumers who already are 

struggling to make ends meet. Bogus organizations 

target consumers with bad credit or significant consumer debt, promising to help them manage their 

debt or obtain credit otherwise unavailable to them.

Consumers may pay hundreds of dollars for these 

services, only to receive nothing in return, or worse, 

to see their credit damaged even further. Some 

unscrupulous lenders deceive consumers about 

loan terms, rates, or fees. The FTC will continue 

enforcement efforts in collaboration with other law 

enforcement agencies and outreach to industry and 

consumers. The FTC also will continue to bring 

cases against companies engaged in deceptive debt 

collection practices.

The FTC will continue to promote the work of its 

Criminal Liaison Unit (CLU), dedicated to encourage criminal prosecution of consumer fraud by coordinating with criminal law enforcement authorities on consumer fraud cases. CLU identifies law 

enforcement agencies and case agents for referral 

of specific types of consumer fraud cases, educates 

criminal law enforcement authorities about the FTC 

and its mission, and coordinates training of FTC 

staff by criminal law enforcement to help staff prepare cases for referral and ensure smooth progress 

of parallel prosecutions.

Focus agency enforcement on cutting-edge 

issues that threaten consumer protection in 

emerging areas, including e-commerce, globalization, and the marketing of new products and 

services.

•

Deceptive Credit 

Counseling Services 

and Lending Practices

Liaison with Criminal 

Law Enforcers

Strategies
Performance Plan 23 Fiscal Year 2007

Stop injury to consumers by applying fundamental consumer protection principles to new 

practices, such as those arising from emerging 

payment systems and the convergence of information technologies.

Halt advertising and marketing practices that 

are most injurious to consumers or that prey on 

specific groups of vulnerable consumers.

Challenge practices that threaten consumer 

privacy.

Enforce consumer credit statutes and rules to 

protect consumers from deceptive lending practices and other illegal credit practices.

Use the results of the consumer fraud and identity theft surveys to determine where enforcement needs are greatest and meet these needs 

with targeted enforcement efforts.

Update, rescind, or promulgate trade regulation 

rules and other agency rules in response to regulatory reviews and Congressional mandates.

Create and implement a comprehensive orderenforcement program that targets those individuals and corporations that violate federal court 

and administrative orders obtained by the FTC.

Promote the criminal prosecution of the most 

egregious fraud violators through coordination 

and cooperation with criminal law enforcement 

authorities.

Continue to coordinate with local, state, federal, 

and international law enforcement partners for 

initiatives and sweeps.

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•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•
Performance Plan 24 Fiscal Year 2007

Target law enforcement toward violations that 

create the greatest risks to consumer health, 

safety, and economic well-being by reviewing 

complaints, evaluating practices in the marketplace, and monitoring industry data and other 

information.

Enforce protections for consumers from fraud, 

deception, and other abuse perpetrated through 

different media such as direct mail, telemarketing, Web sites, and new technologies.

Monitor national advertising in print, television, 

radio, and online to identify illegal practices 

that may not be captured fully by the complaint 

database.

Identify industries whose consumer data is at 

high risk and use law enforcement to promote 

better data security practices through enforcement of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act, and Section 5 of the FTC 

Act.

Administer and enforce the National Do Not 

Call Registry.

Enhance government efforts to deter, prevent, 

defend, investigate, and prosecute identity theft 

through participation in the Identity Theft Task 

Force and through the FTC’s own program.

Participate in international consumer protection organizations that share information about 

cross-border commercial activities that may 

affect consumer interests.

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FY 2007 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 25 Fiscal Year 2007

Identify key areas of noncompliance in the consumer credit reporting system.

In rulemakings, evaluate the regulatory effect 

on industry, consumers, and other parties, invite 

public comment, coordinate with other agencies, 

and promulgate rules accordingly.

Develop and maintain a new order-enforcement 

database to better monitor compliance with federal court and administrative orders and bring 

actions against those individuals and companies 

that violate those orders.

Train FTC staff to improve investigative and 

litigation skills through formal programs that 

teach best practices used in government and 

private industry.

Increase the FTC’s capacity to respond rapidly 

to fast-moving technology-based scams by 

enhancing the Internet Lab and increasing techsavvy litigation support.

Leverage FTC enforcement resources by recruiting, supporting, and coordinating local, state, 

federal, and international law enforcement 

partners for initiatives and sweeps.

Work with criminal prosecutors and investigators to promote criminal prosecution of FTC 

fraud defendants and those who assist their 

deceptive practices.

Continue to integrate e-government initiatives 

into mission activities.

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Performance Plan 26 Fiscal Year 2007

Stop fraudulent, deceptive, unfair, and other 

practices by obtaining at least 130 orders.

Stop approximately $400 million in economic 

injury to consumers through law enforcement.

Preventing economic injury to consumers is the 

principal goal of the FTC’s law enforcement efforts.

The FTC prevents consumer injury each time it 

stops unlawful conduct through litigation or settlement. The FTC prevents even more injury by leading joint law enforcement initiatives with federal, 

state, and international partners. The amount of 

injury it prevents will vary each year based on the 

number and types of illegal activity stopped.

The FTC calculates the economic harm caused to 

consumers by totaling the estimated annual fraudulent sales of defendants or other economic injury 

to consumers in the 12 months prior to the FTC’s 

filing a complaint. The calculation actually underestimates the agency’s impact because it ignores the 

deterrent effect of FTC enforcement.

The FTC targets its enforcement resources towards 

areas of greatest risk to consumer health, safety, 

and economic well-being, with particular attention 

to emerging threats from new practices or technologies. These measures will help guide deployment 

of the agency’s enforcement activities to ensure that 

they provide the most efficient level of protection to 

consumers. 

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FY 2007 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 27 Fiscal Year 2007

Measure the percentage (in full-time equivalent 

staff years) of the FTC’s consumer protection 

law enforcement resources focused on emerging 

practices or technologies.

Evaluate whether enforcement activities are 

tracking the areas of greatest concern and injury to consumers and whether there are new 

practices or technologies that require additional 

consumer protection law enforcement.

Consumer and business education serves as the 

first line of defense against fraud, deception, and 

unfair practices. Most FTC law enforcement initiatives include a consumer and/or business education component aimed at preventing consumer 

injury and unlawful business practices, and mitigating financial losses. From time to time, the agency 

conducts pre-emptive consumer and business 

education campaigns to raise awareness of new or 

emerging marketplace issues that have the potential to cause harm. The agency creatively uses new 

technologies and private and public partnerships 

to reach new and under-served audiences, particularly those who may not seek information directly 

from the FTC. The FTC will continue to publicize its 

consumer complaint and identity theft Web site addresses and toll-free numbers in an ongoing effort 

to increase public awareness of its programs and 

inform the public of the ways to contact the FTC to 

obtain information or file a complaint. 

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Program Evaluations

Objective 1.3: Prevent consumer injury through education
Performance Plan 28 Fiscal Year 2007

Focus consumer and business education efforts 

on areas where fraud, deception, unfair practices, and information gaps cause the greatest 

injury.

Leverage resources (by working with federal, 

state, local, international, and private sector 

partners) to maximize the reach of consumer 

and business education campaigns.

Target particular demographic groups with 

messages about marketplace issues that impact 

their health, safety, and economic well-being.

Use the results of the consumer fraud and identity theft surveys to determine where education 

needs are greatest and meet these needs with 

targeted education efforts.

Increase public awareness of consumer protection problems and solutions by conducting and 

publishing studies and filing advocacy comments on changes in the marketplace and the 

impact of business and government actions on 

consumers.

Deliver efficiently and effectively educational 

information in English and Spanish to consumers, industry members, and law enforcement 

partners on how to prevent consumer injury, 

avoid unlawful business practices, and enhance 

consumer welfare.

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Strategies

FY 2007 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 29 Fiscal Year 2007

Focus efforts on high-profile or emerging issues 

– for example, Internet scams, online privacy, 

identity theft, and financial literacy – to close 

information gaps. 

 Find new and creative ways to reach consumers with information about marketplace issues 

that can cause them financial injury and to 

reach businesses with information that increases knowledge about consumer risks and 

compliance.

Monitor, review, and provide guidance to parents and children on marketing that may affect 

children and teenagers.

Build partnerships with industry and advocacy 

organizations to lead more visitors to the FTC’s 

Web site (www.ftc.gov) and to other issue-oriented Web sites developed by the FTC such as, 

www.DoNotCall.gov, www.OnGuardOnLine.

gov, and www.DontServeTeens.gov.

Continue to build relationships with international organizations to educate consumers and 

businesses about cross-border consumer protection issues.

Increase media coverage to broadcast the agency’s education message to a broader audience.

Work toward implementing a toll-free number 

that provides certain disclosures to consumers 

about open end credit plans, as required by the 

Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer 

Protection Law of 2005.

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Performance Plan 30 Fiscal Year 2007

Track if FTC’s consumer protection messages 

are accessed online or in print a total of more 

than 45 million times.

Determine if, included in the total of FTC’s consumer protection messages accessed online or in 

print, the messages relating to identity theft are 

accessed more than 8 million times.

Determine if, included in the total of FTC’s 

consumer protection messages accessed online 

or in print, the messages in Spanish are accessed 

more than 2.2 million times.

Track the number of times external print media, 

such as newspapers, magazines, business and 

trade journals, and professional journals, publish articles that refer to FTC consumer protection activities and the circulation of the media 

that publish those articles to help determine the 

reach of FTC’s education efforts.

Consumer and business education are crucial tools 

in preventing and reducing consumer harm efficiently and effectively. These performance measures will help ensure that the agency is engaging 

in a sufficient amount of educational activity and 

that the educational materials are aimed at new 

trends and at particularly vulnerable populations.

Measure the number of education messages disseminated each year relating to high-profile or 

emerging issues where consumer and business 

education can help alleviate consumer injury.

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FY 2007 Performance Measures

Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 31 Fiscal Year 2007

Assess whether the appropriate mix of media 

is being used to communicate consumer education messages and whether the FTC is making 

the most efficient use of available media and 

technology.

Assess the number and range of public and 

private sector organizations that partner with 

the FTC on outreach.

Determine whether the FTC needs to reach new 

audiences, in light of any changes in demographics, advertising, and marketing practices, 

and what strategies or partnerships may allow 

the FTC to reach those audiences.

Review the focus of FTC education efforts and 

adjust them based on changing consumer and 

business needs.

Continue to assess the consumer information 

needs of the Spanish-speaking population.

The FTC uses a variety of strategies in addition to 

law enforcement and education to enhance consumer welfare. The agency convenes conferences 

and workshops through which experts and other 

experienced and knowledgeable parties identify 

novel or challenging consumer protection issues 

and discuss ways to address those issues. The FTC 

also issues reports that Congress has mandated or 

that the agency has prepared on its own initiative 

that analyze consumer protection problems and 

suggest public and private sector policies to address them, such as self-regulatory efforts. Further, 

the FTC files comments with federal and state gov-

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Objective 1.4: Enhance consumer welfare through research, 

reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange
Performance Plan 32 Fiscal Year 2007

ernment bodies advocating policies that promote 

the interests of consumers and highlight the role of 

consumer and empirical research in their decision 

making. In particular, the agency testifies before 

Congress on consumer protection issues. The FTC 

engages in a variety of international cooperation, 

exchange, and advocacy activities designed to promote market-based consumer protection policies 

and effective cross-border coordination. The FTC 

also files amicus briefs to aid courts’ considerations 

of important consumer protection issues.

Focus workshops and conferences on emerging 

or challenging consumer protection problems, 

especially those related to new technologies.

Issue reports mandated by law and other reports that articulate concrete measures that the 

public and private sectors could take to address 

consumer protection problems, particularly 

those related to new technologies or emerging 

technologies.

Target advocacy activities to encourage state, 

federal, and foreign government policymakers to evaluate both the costs and benefits of 

their policies for consumers, emphasizing the 

impact on consumers of policies that unnecessarily affect the dissemination of truthful, nonmisleading information to consumers and the 

interplay of competition and consumer protection concerns.

Use letters and public comments to urge state, 

federal, and foreign government policymakers 

to consider consumer research and other empirical data in their decisions regarding the costs 

and benefits of their policies for consumers.

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Strategies
Performance Plan 33 Fiscal Year 2007

Pursue the development of an international 

market-based consumer protection model, 

which focuses on protecting consumers from 

significant harm while maximizing economic 

benefit, consumer access to information, and 

consumer choice.

Encourage industry self-regulation where consumer protection problems are emerging, industry has a comparative advantage in addressing 

the problems, or legal or practical limitations 

constrain the government’s ability to act.

Identify novel or challenging consumer protection problems, especially those related to new 

technologies.

Convene workshops and conferences and issue 

reports (including those required by law) concerning such consumer protection problems.

Analyze federal and state government policies 

and identify those that impose costs on consumers that may exceed their benefits to consumers, 

especially policies that affect the dissemination of truthful, non-misleading information to 

consumers.

File comments or otherwise engage in advocacy 

with state, federal, and foreign government policymakers that evaluate both the costs and benefits of proposed policies on consumers, with 

a particular emphasis on the role of consumer 

research and other empirical data in their decisions, and an awareness of the intersection of 

competition and consumer protection concerns.

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FY 2007 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 34 Fiscal Year 2007

File amicus curiae briefs in state and federal 

courts urging adoption of legal principles that 

promote consumer welfare.

Present major policy speeches that discuss 

emerging or challenging consumer protection 

problems and explain the FTC’s approach to 

them.

Participate in international organizations to 

promote effective market-oriented consumer 

protection and privacy policies.

Identify through monitoring or other means 

consumer protection problems that industry 

self-regulation could effectively combat and 

work with industry to adopt such self-regulatory measures.

As mandated by Congress, perform a major, 

nationwide data gathering of 1,000 consumers’ 

credit reports to determine their accuracy with 

feedback from the scored consumers.

Convene or participate substantially in approximately six workshops and conferences and issue 

approximately eight reports on topics such as 

novel or challenging consumer protection problems, including issues related to the scope and 

effectiveness of self-regulation.

File approximately six public and advocacy 

comments with other federal and state government bodies helping them to assess the costs 

and benefits to consumers of their policies and 

the implication of consumer research and other 

empirical data for their policy decisions, where 

appropriate.

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FY 2007 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 35 Fiscal Year 2007

Cooperate with foreign government agencies on 

at least 20 enforcement matters with cross-border components.

Provide policy or technical input to foreign 

government agencies or international organizations in at least 20 instances involving consumer 

protection.

Public policy that enhances consumer welfare is 

based on a thorough understanding of complex 

issues, which arises from dialogue, study, and 

empirical research. Such policy also appreciates 

that stakeholders other than government, such as 

industry associations or private standard-setting 

organizations, may be better placed to address certain consumer protection issues. These performance 

measures will help ensure that the agency augments its enforcement and education efforts by encouraging discussions among all interested parties, 

as well as careful study of and empirical research 

on novel or challenging consumer protection problems. These activities will help enhance consumer 

welfare by guiding the FTC’s consumer protection 

policy decisions, as well as the decisions of other 

state, federal, and international policymakers.

Include evaluation forms with workshop and 

conference materials to help assess whether 

the workshops and conferences are an effective 

means of joining the debate relating to these 

issues.

Determine whether reports issued by the FTC 

following workshops or conferences are issued 

timely (approximately within nine months for 

reports that summarize the proceedings), and 

contribute to progress on the issue of the workshop or conference.

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Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 36 Fiscal Year 2007

Determine whether statutory deadlines for 

reports required by Congress have been met.

Evaluate whether the FTC is filing comments 

or otherwise engaging in advocacy with state, 

federal, and foreign government bodies on 

consumer protection policies that will have a 

significant impact on consumers and whether 

the recipients of these comments give weight to 

the views expressed in these comments in making policy decisions that affect consumers.

Assess whether industry gives weight to the 

FTC’s evaluation, monitoring, and advocacy 

and whether market interests are affected.

Determine the scope and frequency of citation 

of and reference to FTC reports, studies, conference materials, and major policy speeches by 

other policymakers, academics, the courts, and 

the media.

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Performance Plan 37 Fiscal Year 2007

Maintaining Competition Mission

Fiscal Year 2007

Goal 2: To prevent

anticompetitive

mergers and other

anticompetitive

business practices in

the marketplace

Objective 2.1: Identify anticompetitive mergers and 

practices that cause the greatest consumer injury

The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Premerger 

Notification Act provides the FTC an effective starting point for identifying anticompetitive mergers 

before they are consummated. The FTC administers the HSR program both for itself and for the 

Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, 

which shares authority to challenge anticompetitive mergers. Mergers reported to the FTC vary 

tremendously in their complexity and potential 

anticompetitive effect. In some cases, the agency 

can make a reasonable judgment within a few days 

of filing about whether a merger has the potential 

to be anticompetitive or procompetitive, simply by 

reviewing materials filed with the notification. In 

other cases, an investigation can take months and 

require a major commitment of resources. Far more 

transactions fall into the former category than the 

latter. The FTC also uses trade press articles, consumer and competitor complaints, and other means 

to identify potentially anticompetitive mergers that 

were not required to be reported under HSR, or 

that were not reported in violation of HSR.

On the nonmerger side, there is no comparable 

statutorily mandated program to help identify 

anticompetitive business practices. The FTC must 

instead employ a variety of methods to identify 

potentially anticompetitive practices (for example, 

consumer and competitor complaints, referrals 

from other government agencies, and monitoring 

the trade press).
Performance Plan 38 Fiscal Year 2007

Continue to make efficient use of the initial 

30-day period after HSR filings (or 15 days for 

a cash tender offer) to determine whether a 

more detailed investigation is needed to assess 

whether a merger is likely to harm competition, 

and to avoid unnecessary extended investigations, including prompt inter-agency clearance 

and timely review.

Use trade press articles, consumer and competitor complaints, and other means to identify potentially anticompetitive mergers that were not 

required to be reported under HSR, or that were 

not reported in violation of HSR, and potentially 

anticompetitive nonmerger business practices.

When appropriate, issue requests for additional 

information under HSR to determine whether a 

merger is likely to be anticompetitive.

When appropriate, use compulsory process in 

merger and nonmerger investigations to obtain additional information needed to make an 

informed judgment about the anticompetitive 

potential of mergers and nonmerger practices.

Apply the merger process reforms to conduct 

investigations more efficiently, in order to enhance enforcement outcomes while minimizing 

burdens on business.

Employ integrated teams of lawyers, economists, and other professionals to conduct an economically sound, fact-based analysis of mergers 

and other potentially anticompetitive business 

practices. Retain outside experts and consultants 

in relevant fields of expertise, as needed, when 

enforcement outcomes would be enhanced by 

specialized supplementary resources.

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Strategies
Performance Plan 39 Fiscal Year 2007

Work with state or local officials, other federal 

agencies, or international agencies to maximize 

resources in identifying anticompetitive mergers and business practices, and to minimize, to 

the extent possible, burdens on enforcers and 

business and duplication of effort, and to avoid 

conflicting remedies.

Track and maintain the timeliness of investigations and merger review under the HSR 

program.

Refine the investigative and decisional tools 

used in both merger and nonmerger investigations through continuous learning.

Identify emerging trends and focus on potentially anticompetitive business practices or 

other issues that need to be addressed because 

of changes in the economy, technology, and the 

marketplace, drawing upon the results of hearings, task forces, agency studies and reports, 

and other means.

Continue to integrate e-government initiatives, 

such as electronic premerger filing, into mission 

activities.

Continue to improve the investigative skills and 

antitrust analysis training programs.

Identify “best practices” used by government 

and private antitrust attorneys and use this 

knowledge in training FTC staff.

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FY 2007 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 40 Fiscal Year 2007

Continue effective screening of mergers under 

the HSR program so that all reported mergers 

that raise potentially significant competitive issues undergo an appropriate investigation. 

Monitor the merger review process to determine 

if additional changes are needed to improve the 

effectiveness and efficiency of investigations.

Continue to use and improve existing techniques for identifying anticompetitive business 

practices, such as (1) monitoring the trade press, 

(2) responding to and following up on case 

leads by Congressional offices, other Executive 

Branch agencies, and state and local governments, and (3) informing potentially aggrieved 

parties that they can lodge complaints with the 

agency by “getting FTC’s message out” through 

speeches to and electronic and other publications for consumer, bar, and business groups 

(including those representing specific industries), and general public outreach.

Continue effective administration of the review 

of nonmerger practices so that the FTC may investigate those that raise potentially significant 

competitive issues.

Apply to FTC practices the results of hearings, 

conferences, reports, studies, and workshops on 

significant competition issues.

Continue discussions among attorneys in the 

FTC’s regional offices and in the nonmerger 

divisions on ways to improve techniques for 

monitoring business practices and for identifying anticompetitive practices.

Collect data, for management review, regarding 

the FTC’s efficiency in conducting investigations, such as the amount of time required to 

complete the HSR review process, the number 

of HSR matters requiring issuance of an investi-

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Performance Plan 41 Fiscal Year 2007

gative second request, the number of HSR and 

significant nonmerger investigations that result 

in enforcement action, the number of hours of 

staff time spent on investigations, and other 

costs associated with investigations.

Review significant deviations from the statistical 

benchmarks for timely and efficient review of 

merger transactions and take corrective action 

where necessary.

Track the number of enforcement actions 

undertaken in the competition mission and, 

separately, in the merger and nonmerger programs, including Commission authorization 

of a complaint for preliminary injunction or 

permanent relief in federal court, issuance of an 

administrative complaint, and acceptance of a 

consent agreement, and, for mergers, the parties’ voluntary abandonment or restructuring of 

a proposed transaction based on FTC antitrust 

concerns.

Continue effective administration of merger 

review under the HSR program so that at least 

90% of HSR requests for additional information 

result in a positive outcome, which includes 

Commission authorization of a complaint for 

preliminary injunction in federal court, issuance 

of an administrative complaint, acceptance of a 

consent agreement, the parties’ voluntary abandonment or restructuring of a proposed transaction based on FTC antitrust concerns, and 

closing of an investigation without subsequent 

events indicating that the transaction injured 

competition.

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FY 2007 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 42 Fiscal Year 2007

In conjunction with the prior merger measure, 

and to facilitate evaluation of results, the FTC 

will also report the number of second requests 

issued, the number of reportable transactions for 

which premerger notifications were received, 

the number of HSR investigations that resulted 

in enforcement action, the number of transactions in which antitrust issues were resolved 

through voluntary abandonment or restructuring because of FTC concerns, and the number of 

investigations closed because the evidence indicated that a competitive problem was unlikely.

Continue effective administration of the nonmerger program so that at least 90% of significant nonmerger investigations (those with 

at least 150 hours of investigative effort) will 

result in a positive outcome, which includes 

Commission authorization to file a complaint 

in federal court, issuance of an administrative 

complaint, acceptance of a consent agreement, 

resolution of antitrust concerns without enforcement action, or closing of an investigation 

without subsequent events indicating that the 

business practice injured competition.

In conjunction with the prior nonmerger measure, and to facilitate evaluation of results, the 

FTC will also report the number of significant 

nonmerger investigations closed each year, with 

or without enforcement action.

Success on these measures will indicate that the 

FTC is effectively screening HSR-reported mergers 

and nonmerger investigations to identify those that 

raise significant antitrust issues and warrant further investigation and possible enforcement action.

Setting high goals for positive outcomes from these 

investigations demonstrates the FTC’s commitment 

to targeting its enforcement resources effectively.

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Performance Plan 43 Fiscal Year 2007

An unacceptably high percentage of negative outcomes, such as closing investigations that are later 

determined to raise significant antitrust issues, 

would result in an evaluation of the FTC’s screening process used to identify potential competition 

problems and target investigatory resources. 

Assess markets where investigations were 

closed without enforcement action, explore 

whether outcomes remain positive over time, 

and use this information to enhance the agency’s ability to predict likely competitive consequences in future investigations.

If there was a failure to investigate a merger or 

business practice, known to the agency, that had 

a significant potential for causing competitive 

and consumer harm, assess whether there were 

factors that indicated the presence of a competitive problem that the agency should have reasonably been able to identify.

Assess the burden imposed on merger parties by the HSR merger investigation process, 

explore ways of reducing that burden without 

compromising effectiveness of investigations, 

and explore methods of measuring HSR compliance burden.

Assess the FTC’s efficiency in conducting antitrust investigations, explore ways to increase 

efficient use of investigatory resources and reduce burdens on business, and explore whether 

efficiency in conducting investigations can more 

meaningfully be measured.

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Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 44 Fiscal Year 2007

This enforcement objective includes both obtaining orders to stop anticompetitive activity (either 

through litigation or by consent) and ensuring that 

the remedies imposed by those orders are effective.

Conduct that reduces competition is likely to cause 

consumers to pay higher prices or enjoy lower quality than they otherwise would. Antitrust enforcement provides substantial benefits to consumers 

by preventing anticompetitive mergers and other 

coordinated or unilateral conduct that is likely to 

lessen competition.

Continue to benefit consumers in markets involving billions of dollars in annual sales by 

challenging anticompetitive mergers and other 

nonmerger anticompetitive conduct, negotiating 

consent orders, and winning litigated orders, 

resulting in millions of dollars in consumer 

savings.

Negotiate merger and nonmerger consent 

orders and win litigated orders that have significant remedial, precedential, and deterrent 

effects.

Improve negotiation and litigation skills 

through continuous learning.

Apply the merger process reforms to conduct 

investigations more efficiently, in order to enhance enforcement outcomes while minimizing 

burdens on business.

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Objective 2.2: Stop anticompetitive mergers and 

practices through law enforcement

Strategies
Performance Plan 45 Fiscal Year 2007

Improve the FTC’s capacity to promote consumer welfare by applying the information gained 

through workshops, hearings, and research 

projects that improve its understanding of significant antitrust issues.

Retain outside experts and consultants in 

relevant fields of expertise, as needed, when 

enforcement outcomes would be enhanced by 

specialized supplementary resources.

Continue to integrate e-government initiatives 

into mission activities.

Ensure that administrative litigation and adjudication reach a timely resolution.

Improve the integration of budget and performance by linking goals and objectives to results; 

develop improved processes for use and analysis of management data.

Challenge anticompetitive mergers and business 

practices in federal court or through administrative litigation, and obtain relief with significant 

remedial, precedential, and deterrent effects.

Resolve anticompetitive mergers and practices, 

where possible, by negotiating consent orders 

that secure relief with significant remedial, precedential, and deterrent effects without the need 

for litigation.

Retain outside experts and consultants in 

relevant fields of expertise, as needed, when 

enforcement outcomes would be enhanced by 

specialized supplementary resources.

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FY 2007 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 46 Fiscal Year 2007

Continue to improve negotiation and litigation 

skills through training programs. Ensure that 

lead attorneys and managers collect any important lessons learned at the close of each significant negotiation and litigation and transmit 

them to appropriate personnel for incorporation 

in training programs and model pleadings.

Continue to monitor implementation of divestitures and other requirements of the FTC’s merger consent orders. Seek civil penalties where 

appropriate if a respondent fails to fulfill its 

obligations under an order in a timely fashion.

Continue to seek improvements in both the 

substantive aspects of remedies, as well as the 

process by which they are derived.

Achieve a positive result (including consent 

orders, litigation victories, or, for mergers, 

transactions abandoned after recommendation 

of a complaint) in at least 80 percent \of cases in 

which the FTC takes enforcement action.

Take action against mergers likely to harm 

competition in markets with a total of at least 

$25 billion in sales.

Save consumers an estimated $500 million 

through enforcement actions against mergers 

likely to harm competition in markets.

Achieve a level of consumer savings from 

merger enforcement that is at least six times the 

amount of agency resources (in dollars of total 

resources) allocated to the merger program during that period.

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FY 2007 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 47 Fiscal Year 2007

Take action against nonmerger anticompetitive 

conduct in markets with a total of at least $8 billion in annual sales.

Save consumers an estimated $80 million 

through enforcement actions against nonmerger 

anticompetitive conduct likely to harm competition in markets.

Achieve a level of consumer savings from nonmerger enforcement that is at least four times 

the amount of agency resources (in dollars of 

total resources) allocated to the nonmerger 

program during that period.

Because external factors may cause the results to 

fluctuate significantly from year to year, the latter 

six goals are to be evaluated in terms of an aggregate target for the five-year strategic plan period, 

rather than as a yearly target.

These measures evaluate agency performance in 

several ways: the percentage of enforcement actions that have successful outcomes, the volume 

of commerce affected (benefited) by merger and 

nonmerger enforcement action, the estimated dollar 

savings to consumers resulting from merger and 

nonmerger enforcement action, and the estimated 

dollar savings to consumers per dollar of enforcement resources. In the absence of case-specific 

information, the dollar savings to consumers is conservatively estimated as one percent of the volume 

of commerce in the affected markets (for two years 

in merger cases and for one year in nonmerger 

cases). It is not intended as a precise estimate of 

consumer savings, but, rather, as an indication of 

general magnitude. A more precise estimate based 

on case-specific information will be used whenever 

possible. The use of a volume of sales performance 

measure does not mean that the FTC will only 

investigate and take enforcement action in markets 

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Performance Plan 48 Fiscal Year 2007

with large sales volumes. The FTC will continue to 

investigate and take enforcement action as necessary in all markets where considerable consumer 

harm is likely. The benchmarks for the estimated 

dollar savings to consumers per dollar of enforcement resources for merger and nonmerger actions 

are based on historical experience, reflecting the 

different mix of cases and the different investigative 

and enforcement processes.

These measures will help guide the agency in challenging conduct that causes substantial consumer 

injury through targeting of its resources effectively 

and efficiently. These measures evaluate appropriate case selection and resolution, whether through 

litigation or settlement, as well as the crafting of 

sufficient and effective remedies.

Assess the scope of the FTC’s annual merger enforcement activities, as reflected by the volume 

of commerce in markets in which the agency 

took merger enforcement action. Determine 

whether the total volume of commerce in such 

markets is likely to reach $40 billion and determine whether the level of consumer savings is 

likely to reach $800 million. Compare the likely 

consumer welfare impact in these markets to the 

resources spent on the mission.

Assess the scope of the FTC’s annual nonmerger enforcement activities, as reflected by 

the volume of commerce in markets in which 

the agency took nonmerger enforcement action. Determine whether the total volume of 

commerce in such markets is likely to reach 

$20 billion and determine whether the level of 

consumer savings is likely to reach $200 million.

Compare the likely consumer welfare impact 

in these markets to the resources spent on the 

mission.

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Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 49 Fiscal Year 2007

Assess qualitatively the deterrence value and 

precedential significance of the enforcement actions brought during FY 2007.

Conduct periodic retrospective studies of past 

investigative and enforcement activity to determine the extent to which the FTC’s case selection process is accurately identifying matters 

that require FTC intervention.

Evaluate litigation performance for lessons that 

may be applicable to future litigation.

Review the results of major competition research initiatives to identify their usefulness in 

guiding FTC decisions and influencing other 

policymakers’ approaches to competition issues.

The FTC increases awareness of antitrust law 

through guidance to the business community; 

outreach efforts to federal, state, and local agencies, 

business groups, and consumers; development and 

publication of antitrust guidelines and policy statements; and speeches and publications. In carrying 

out these functions, the FTC strives to ensure that 

any publicly disseminated data or information subject to the Data Quality Act (section 515 of Public 

Law No. 106-554) meets basic quality standards.

Educate consumers and businesses about antitrust issues through traditional means such as 

guidelines, advisory opinions, reports, articles 

in professional or other publications, speeches, 

and participation in professional organizations.

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Objective 2.3: Prevent consumer injury through education

Strategies
Performance Plan 50 Fiscal Year 2007

Educate consumers through detailed information regarding agency actions on the FTC Web 

site, and in press releases, reports, articles, and 

other publications.

Educate businesses through detailed information regarding agency actions on the FTC Web 

site, and in press releases, reports, articles, and 

other publications.

Continue to conduct and disseminate the results 

of public hearings, conferences, and workshops 

on practices and developments in the marketplace and the results of economic research on 

how markets operate.

Continue to enhance avenues of communication 

with consumers and business, such as email and 

the FTC Web site.

Ensure that the content of complaints, press 

releases, and analyses to aid public comment 

are “transparent,” that is, that they explain in 

sufficient detail and with sufficient clarity the 

evidence and theory of a case, within the constraints of confidentiality requirements. 

Expand the use of other public statements to 

explain why the Commission elected not to take 

enforcement action in certain matters to further 

improve the public’s understanding of the FTC’s 

enforcement policies.

Engage in outreach to lay groups such as 

schools to provide information about the work 

of the FTC and basic principles of economics 

and competition.

Engage in outreach to foreign competition agencies to facilitate the agency’s efforts to promote 

convergence toward sound consumer-welfarebased competition enforcement and policy.

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Performance Plan 51 Fiscal Year 2007

Issue guidance to help businesses understand 

and comply with the application of the antitrust 

laws in certain areas, such as horizontal mergers, international operations, intellectual property, and health care.

Continue to provide Commission and staff advisory opinions on various competition issues; 

continue to provide guidance in response to 

informal requests, particularly concerning HSR 

matters.

Monitor the content of complaints, press releases, and analyses to aid public comment to 

ensure they are “transparent,” that is, that they 

explain in sufficient detail and with sufficient 

clarity the evidence and theory of a case, within 

the constraints of confidentiality requirements. 

Expand the use of press releases and other public statements to explain why the Commission 

elected not to take enforcement action in certain 

matters to further improve the public’s understanding of the FTC’s enforcement policies.

Make available prepared texts of speeches and 

develop other materials that explain FTC policies and procedures.

Continue to have Commissioners and staff 

speak at and participate in seminars, panel 

discussions, and conferences to explain how 

the FTC analyzes mergers and other business 

practices.

Make available to the public the materials 

relating to public hearings, conferences, and 

workshops on practices and developments in 

the marketplace, including transcripts, written 

submissions, and reports.

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FY 2007 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 52 Fiscal Year 2007

Make available on the FTC’s Web site the guidance issued by the FTC, advisory opinions, 

advocacy comments, written releases, texts of 

speeches, Bureau of Economics reports, and 

other materials that explain the FTC’s policies 

and procedures.

When opportunities arise, engage in outreach 

to lay groups to provide information about the 

work of the FTC and basic principles of economics and competition.

Engage in outreach to foreign competition 

authorities and international competition 

organizations

Track volume of traffic on the FTC Web site on 

antitrust-related pages that are relevant to policymakers, the business and legal communities, 

and the public at large.

Track the number of times external print media, 

such as newspapers, magazines, business and 

trade journals, and professional journals, publish articles that refer to FTC competition activities and the circulation of the media that publish 

those articles.

Evaluate what antitrust content on the FTC Web 

site generates the largest amount of public interest, and why, and use this information in setting 

future priorities.

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FY 2007 Performance Measures

Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 53 Fiscal Year 2007

Seek input from consumer groups, business 

groups, bar groups, international competition 

organizations, and other FTC “customers” on 

the effectiveness of FTC educational efforts.

Evaluate the transparency of FTC merger review policy by assessing the extent to which 

significant changes in such policy are communicated to stakeholders.

In addition to its enforcement authority, the FTC 

has unique jurisdiction to gather, analyze, and 

make public certain information concerning the nature of competition as it affects U.S. commerce. The 

FTC uses that authority to hold public hearings, 

convene conferences and workshops, conduct economic studies on competition issues of significant 

public importance, and issue reports of its findings. 

This authority advances the competition mission in 

numerous ways.

The agency uses the information internally to refine 

the theoretical framework for analyzing competition issues and the empirical understanding of 

industry practices, which contributes substantially 

to an effective response to changing marketplace 

conditions. The information gained through this 

authority, combined with the agency’s professional 

expertise on competition issues, also contributes to 

a better understanding of business practices and 

their competitive and economic implications by 

various entities, including the business sector, the 

legal community, other enforcement authorities, 

the judiciary, foreign competition agencies, and 

governmental decision makers and policymakers 

at the federal, state, and local levels. In particular, 

the agency testifies before Congress on competition 

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Objective 2.4: Enhance consumer welfare through research, 

reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange
Performance Plan 54 Fiscal Year 2007

issues. The FTC uses its expertise to encourage governmental actors at all levels to evaluate both the 

costs and the benefits of their policies for consumers, and to ensure such policies promote consumer 

welfare. This advocacy includes formal and informal dialogue with state and federal policymakers 

and amicus curiae briefs filed with state and federal 

courts. Dialogue with competition authorities of 

other countries and international organizations, 

and, in some cases, technical assistance to other 

competition authorities, promotes procedural consistency and the adoption of competition policies 

that protect and enhance consumer welfare, which 

ultimately will accrue to the benefit of American 

consumers as well as those in other countries.

Conduct public hearings, conferences, and 

workshops that bring together interested parties 

to enhance understanding of various practices 

and developments in the marketplace.

Conduct studies as requested by Congress and 

other studies as appropriate.

Conduct economic studies of the effects of 

business actions on competition and consumer 

welfare in accordance with agency data quality 

standards, as applicable, to ensure the quality of 

information that may be disseminated publicly.

Target advocacy activities to encourage state, 

federal, and foreign government policymakers 

to evaluate both the costs and the benefits of 

their policies for consumers, emphasizing the 

impact on consumers of policies that unnecessarily restrict competition.

File amicus curiae briefs with state and federal 

courts deciding important competition policy 

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Strategies
Performance Plan 55 Fiscal Year 2007

issues urging them to adopt legal rules that 

benefit consumers by promoting competition.

Participate in dialogue with competition authorities of other countries and international organizations on trans-national competition issues 

that affect American consumers and businesses 

and to promote sound consumer-welfare-based 

competition policy.

Participate in technical assistance missions to 

countries with new competition regimes.

Conduct hearings, conferences, and workshops 

on significant competition issues. 

Continue to support outreach efforts to international bodies to explain U.S. antitrust perspectives on competition theories and approaches; 

participate in dialogue with competition authorities of other countries and international organizations on trans-national competition issues 

that affect American consumers and businesses; 

continue to aid the development of antitrust 

laws and programs in developing nations by 

participating in technical assistance missions.

File comments or otherwise engage in advocacy 

with state, federal, and foreign government policymakers to encourage them to adopt policies 

that maximize consumer welfare by evaluating 

both the costs and the benefits of their policies 

for consumers.

Prepare amicus briefs addressing important 

competition policy issues under consideration in 

court proceedings.

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FY 2007 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 56 Fiscal Year 2007

Track volume of traffic on the FTC Web site 

pages relating to research, reports, advocacy, 

and international cooperation and exchange.

Convene, or participate substantively in, at least 

four workshops, conferences, seminars, and 

hearings involving significant competition-related issues.

Issue at least eight studies, reports, working 

papers and issues papers on significant competition-related issues.

Make at least six advocacy filings with other 

federal and state government agencies urging 

them to assess the competitive ramifications and 

costs and benefits to consumers of their policies. 

Issue at least two to three advisory opinions 

to persons seeking agency review of proposed 

business actions.

 File at least two to three amicus briefs with 

courts addressing competition-related issues.

Track the number of cases on which the agency 

cooperated with a foreign competition authority, the number of consultations with or 

comments to foreign competition authorities 

on competition issues, the number of written 

submissions to international fora on competition issues, the number of international events 

attended to discuss competition issues, and 

the number and level of leadership positions 

held by FTC staff in international competition 

organizations.

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Performance Measures
Performance Plan 57 Fiscal Year 2007

Because external factors may cause the results to 

fluctuate significantly from year to year, the latter 

five goals are to be evaluated in terms of an aggregate target for the five-year strategic plan period. 

These measures will help ensure that the agency is 

engaging in appropriate types and sufficient levels 

of research, reports, advocacy, and international 

cooperation and exchange to ensure that they are 

relevant to consumers, policymakers, business, and 

the legal community.

Include evaluation forms with workshop and 

conference materials to help assess whether 

the workshops and conferences are an effective 

means of joining the debate relating to these 

issues.

Seek input from consumer groups, business 

groups, bar groups, international organizations, 

and others on the value of the agency’s research, 

reports, advocacy submissions, and international activities relating to the competition mission.

Evaluate whether the FTC is filing comments 

or otherwise engaging in advocacy with state, 

federal, and foreign government bodies on 

competition policies that will have a significant 

impact on consumers and whether the recipients of these comments have given weight to the 

views expressed in these comments in making 

policy decisions that affect consumers.

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Program Evaluations

Federal Trade Commission

Fiscal Year 2008

Performance Plan

Performance Plan 61 Fiscal Year 2008

Consumer Protection Mission

Fiscal Year 2008

Goal 1: To prevent

fraud, deception, and

unfair business practices

in the marketplace

Objective 1.1: Identify fraud, deception, and unfair 

practices that cause the greatest consumer injury

To fulfill its consumer protection mission, the FTC 

must identify consumer protection problems and 

trends in the fast-changing, increasingly global 

marketplace. The agency strives to understand the 

issues affecting consumers, including any newly 

emerging methods of fraud or deceit, to address 

these problems more effectively. The FTC reports 

this information to other law enforcement authorities and encourages those authorities to assist in 

its efforts, either independently or jointly. In this 

way, the FTC can leverage its resources by ensuring 

multiple “cops on the beat.”

To fulfill this objective, the FTC is using new technologies creatively and building on its broad base 

of private and public sector partners. The agency 

continues to collect consumer complaint information directly through four principal sources: (1) a 

toll-free helpline (1-877-FTC-HELP); (2) an identity 

theft hotline (1-877-ID-THEFT); (3) the National Do 

Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov); and (4) the 

online consumer complaint forms that support each 

of these efforts, as well as online complaint forms 

dedicated to members of the U.S. Armed Forces 

and to cross-border fraud complaints. In addition, 

the FTC continues to gather consumer complaint 

information from other sources, including law 

enforcement agencies, Better Business Bureaus, and 

private entities. The agency makes this and other 

information available online to its law enforce-
Performance Plan 62 Fiscal Year 2008

ment partners through a secure Internet Web site.

Currently, that site is accessed by more than 1,600 

law enforcement partner agencies in the United 

States, Canada, and Australia. The FTC’s law enforcement partners and other groups also identify 

issue areas and refer targets. Since 1998, the FTC 

has maintained an electronic mailbox (spam@uce.

gov) to which Internet customers are encouraged to 

forward spam. This spam is stored in a searchable 

database enabling the FTC staff to track trends and 

identify law enforcement targets when researching 

potential cases. In addition, the agency augments 

identification of targets from its databases with traditional strategies for generating enforcement leads.

Continue to upgrade and enhance the online 

consumer complaint database and Web site to 

respond to increasing demands and maintain it 

as the premier consumer protection law enforcement information resource.

Improve and expand the tools that are provided 

through this Web site by pulling multiple systems together onto one platform and making it 

the gateway for law enforcement officials who 

want information about the consumer protection problems affecting consumers.

Expand the pool of entities that make their 

consumer complaint data available to the law 

enforcement community through this Web site.

Improve information sharing with law enforcement partners through this Web site.

Continue outreach to international law enforcement partners and organizations to improve 

information sharing.

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Strategies
Performance Plan 63 Fiscal Year 2008

 Continue to strengthen the FTC’s capabilities 

to analyze the increasing volume of consumer 

complaints and augment complaints with other 

sources to develop case leads and identify new 

or emerging concerns.

Monitor the marketplace to identify illegal 

practices that may not be fully captured by the 

database, for example, through the FTC Internet 

Lab, spam database, Web surveys (surfs), and 

through consumer surveys, such as the recent 

fraud and identity theft surveys.

Ensure the quality, security, and integrity of the 

database and Web site information.

Upgrade and enhance the online consumer complaint database and Web site and maintain it as 

the premier consumer protection law enforcement information resource.

Recruit state, local, federal, and international 

law enforcement agencies to join the online Web 

site and contribute complaint data, and train 

them to take full advantage of its features.

Make comprehensive consumer complaint 

information, as well as the analysis of that information, available to the FTC’s law enforcement 

partners through its secure Web site.

Improve the capacity to receive and integrate 

complaints from U.S. and international sources 

and facilitate the exchange of that data with 

law enforcement officials in the U.S. and other 

countries.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 64 Fiscal Year 2008

Encourage consumers to report fraud, identity 

theft, and do not call complaints by increasing 

public awareness of the complaint process.

Mine the reported complaint data to identify 

enforcement targets and provide pertinent information to public and private sector partners.

Coordinate with enforcement partners and other 

sources of case generation leads, and conduct 

advertising reviews, test shopping, and Web 

surfs.

Collect and enter into the FTC’s consumer information system more than 1.05 million complaints and inquiries.

Determine if at least one-half of the agency’s 

consumer protection law enforcement actions 

are responsive to the consumer complaint information gathered by the agency.

The FTC mines the complaint data and other information it collects to identify and target the most 

serious cases of fraud and deception and respond 

quickly to emerging problems. The agency also 

makes this information available to its law enforcement partners. Information sharing helps the agency coordinate its efforts to fight the many serious 

problems facing consumers. These performance 

measures will ensure that the agency’s enforcement 

activities are targeted at areas of greatest consumer 

concern, thus making the agency responsive to consumer needs and changes in the marketplace and 

efficient in its consumer protection efforts. They 

also will help the agency effectively leverage law 

enforcement resources by sharing this important 

information.

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FY 2008 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 65 Fiscal Year 2008

Assess whether the FTC’s law enforcement 

and education efforts are addressing the leading areas identified by the consumer complaint 

information gathered by the agency.

Assess the extent to which the consumer complaint and other information made available by 

the agency is used by staff and its law enforcement partners. Implement changes to increase 

usage to assist ongoing investigations and 

identify new targets.

Review current functions, determine what 

changes or upgrades to the database would be 

helpful, and implement those changes.

Assess security and integrity protections for the 

database and proposed enhancements to the 

database and evaluate the policies in place.

In conducting its program evaluations under this 

objective, as well as each of the other objectives set 

forth in this strategic plan, the FTC will work to (1) 

improve the integration of budget and performance 

by linking goals and objectives to results, (2) develop improved processes for collection, use, and 

analysis of management data, and (3) follow a basic 

standard of data quality, including objectivity, utility, and integrity for the information used in measuring performance, and for any performance or 

other data that the agency may distribute publicly.

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Program Evaluations 
Performance Plan 66 Fiscal Year 2008

The FTC protects consumers by enforcing Section 5 

of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive 

acts or practices in or affecting commerce, as well as 

by enforcing an increasing number of statutes and 

rules proscribing specific unlawful practices. The 

agency initiates civil cases, primarily by filing actions in federal court, which allege that defendants 

have violated these laws and rules and seek injunctions and other relief.

The FTC will continue its efforts to protect consumers’ private information by educating consumers 

about how to protect their important data, and 

enforcing relevant laws when consumers’ data is 

stolen or a company’s security is breached. The FTC 

also will continue to focus on the Telemarketing 

Sales Rule (including the National Do Not Call 

Registry), identity theft, and the Children’s Online 

Privacy Protection Act, as well as enforcement of 

the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the FACT Act.

Other enforcement efforts in privacy will center 

on cases involving claims touting the privacy and 

security features of products and services.

The FTC will continue to direct resources to enforce 

the FTC Act’s prohibition on deceptive and unfair 

practices and the CAN-SPAM Act, as well as working to stop spyware and other high-tech problems 

that plague consumers. The FTC will continue to 

bring cases against those who abuse technology 

and oversee initiatives to educate consumers on 

how to avoid these problems.

The FTC will continue to be involved in law enforcement and policy development efforts on the 

world stage. Law enforcement cases increasingly 

involve an international component as defendants, 

their operations, or their assets are moved offshore.

This makes it difficult to locate and stop scams or to 

Objective 1.2: Stop fraud, deception, and unfair 

practices through law enforcement

Privacy and Data Security

Spam, Spyware, and Other 

High-Tech Problems

Globalization
Performance Plan 67 Fiscal Year 2008

provide redress to consumers. The FTC is meeting 

these challenges by sustaining international partnerships to assist in identifying and pursuing these 

cases. As the FTC continues to develop initiatives 

relating to cross-border fraud, the agency will work 

to measure and report its performance in this area.

On the policy side, the FTC is promoting international development of market-oriented consumer 

protection policies, when such policies adequately 

address consumer harm.

The FTC will continue its vigorous pursuit of 

scammers targeting the Hispanic community, as it 

continues to take law enforcement action and work 

with its partners to fight fraud in this community.

The deceptive marketing of products that may 

affect consumer health and safety will continue to 

be an FTC priority. The FTC will focus on health 

care products, including dietary supplements.

Consumer demand for such products is increasing, and fraudulent or deceptive claims about these 

products can pose risks to consumers’ well-being.

For most consumers, access to credit is essential to 

full participation in the nation’s economy. The FTC 

will target schemes that involve deceptive credit 

counseling and debt management services, as scam 

artists take money from consumers who already are 

struggling to make ends meet. Bogus organizations 

target consumers with bad credit or significant consumer debt, promising to help them manage their 

debt or obtain credit otherwise unavailable to them.

Consumers may pay hundreds of dollars for these 

services, only to receive nothing in return, or worse, 

to see their credit damaged even further. Some 

unscrupulous lenders deceive consumers about 

loan terms, rates, or fees. The FTC will continue 

enforcement efforts in collaboration with other law 

enforcement agencies and outreach to industry and 

consumers. The FTC also will continue to bring 

cases against companies engaged in deceptive debt 

collection practices.

Hispanic Enforcement 

Initiative

Health Care Products 

and Services

Deceptive Credit 

Counseling Services 

and Lending Practices
Performance Plan 68 Fiscal Year 2008

The FTC will continue to promote the work of its 

Criminal Liaison Unit (CLU), dedicated to encourage criminal prosecution of consumer fraud by coordinating with criminal law enforcement authorities on consumer fraud cases. CLU identifies law 

enforcement agencies and case agents for referral 

of specific types of consumer fraud cases, educates 

criminal law enforcement authorities about the FTC 

and its mission, and coordinates training of FTC 

staff by criminal law enforcement to help staff prepare cases for referral and ensure smooth progress 

of parallel prosecutions.

Focus agency enforcement on cutting-edge 

issues that threaten consumer protection in 

emerging areas, including e-commerce, globalization, and the marketing of new products and 

services.

Stop injury to consumers by applying fundamental consumer protection principles to new 

practices, such as those arising from emerging 

payment systems and the convergence of information technologies.

Halt advertising and marketing practices that 

are most injurious to consumers or that prey on 

specific groups of vulnerable consumers.

Challenge practices that threaten consumer 

privacy.

Enforce consumer credit statutes and rules to 

protect consumers from deceptive lending practices and other illegal credit practices.

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Liaison with Criminal 

Law Enforcers

Strategies
Performance Plan 69 Fiscal Year 2008

Use the results of the consumer fraud and identity theft surveys to determine where enforcement needs are greatest and meet these needs 

with targeted enforcement efforts.

Update, rescind, or promulgate trade regulation 

rules and other agency rules in response to regulatory reviews and Congressional mandates.

Create and implement a comprehensive orderenforcement program that targets those individuals and corporations that violate federal court 

and administrative orders obtained by the FTC.

Promote the criminal prosecution of the most 

egregious fraud violators through coordination 

and cooperation with criminal law enforcement 

authorities.

Continue to coordinate with local, state, federal, 

and international law enforcement partners for 

initiatives and sweeps.

Target law enforcement toward violations that 

create the greatest risks to consumer health, 

safety, and economic well-being by reviewing 

complaints, evaluating practices in the marketplace, and monitoring industry data and other 

information.

Enforce protections for consumers from fraud, 

deception, and other abuse perpetrated through 

different media such as direct mail, telemarketing, Web sites, and new technologies.

Monitor national advertising in print, television, 

radio, and online to identify illegal practices 

that may not be captured fully by the complaint 

database.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 70 Fiscal Year 2008

Identify industries whose consumer data is at 

high risk and use law enforcement to promote 

better data security practices through enforcement of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act, and Section 5 of the FTC 

Act.

Administer and enforce the National Do Not 

Call Registry.

Enhance government efforts to deter, prevent, 

defend, investigate, and prosecute identity theft 

through participation in the Identity Theft Task 

Force and through the FTC’s own program.

Participate in international consumer protection organizations that share information about 

cross-border commercial activities that may 

affect consumer interests.

Identify key areas of noncompliance in the consumer credit reporting system.

In rulemakings, evaluate the regulatory effect 

on industry, consumers, and other parties, invite 

public comment, coordinate with other agencies, 

and promulgate rules accordingly.

Develop and maintain a new order-enforcement 

database to better monitor compliance with federal court and administrative orders and bring 

actions against those individuals and companies 

that violate those orders.

Train FTC staff to improve investigative and 

litigation skills through formal programs that 

teach best practices used in government and 

private industry.

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Performance Plan 71 Fiscal Year 2008

 Increase the FTC’s capacity to respond rapidly 

to fast-moving technology-based scams by 

enhancing the Internet Lab and increasing techsavvy litigation support.

Leverage FTC enforcement resources by recruiting, supporting, and coordinating local, state, 

federal, and international law enforcement 

partners for initiatives and sweeps.

Work with criminal prosecutors and investigators to promote criminal prosecution of FTC 

fraud defendants and those who assist their 

deceptive practices.

Continue to integrate e-government initiatives 

into mission activities.

Stop fraudulent, deceptive, unfair, and other 

practices by obtaining at least 130 orders.

Stop approximately $400 million in economic 

injury to consumers through law enforcement.

Preventing economic injury to consumers is the 

principal goal of the FTC’s law enforcement efforts.

The FTC prevents consumer injury each time it 

stops unlawful conduct through litigation or settlement. The FTC prevents even more injury by leading joint law enforcement initiatives with federal, 

state, and international partners. The amount of 

injury it prevents will vary each year based on the 

number and types of illegal activity stopped.

The FTC calculates the economic harm caused to 

consumers by totaling the estimated annual fraudulent sales of defendants or other economic injury 

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FY 2008 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 72 Fiscal Year 2008

to consumers in the 12 months prior to the FTC’s 

filing a complaint. The calculation actually underestimates the agency’s impact because it ignores the 

deterrent effect of FTC enforcement.

The FTC targets its enforcement resources towards 

areas of greatest risk to consumer health, safety, 

and economic well-being, with particular attention 

to emerging threats from new practices or technologies. These measures will help guide deployment 

of the agency’s enforcement activities to ensure that 

they provide the most efficient level of protection to 

consumers. 

Measure the percentage (in full-time equivalent 

staff years) of the FTC’s consumer protection 

law enforcement resources focused on emerging 

practices or technologies.

Evaluate whether enforcement activities are 

tracking the areas of greatest concern and injury to consumers and whether there are new 

practices or technologies that require additional 

consumer protection law enforcement.

Consumer and business education serves as the 

first line of defense against fraud, deception, and 

unfair practices. Most FTC law enforcement initiatives include a consumer and/or business education component aimed at preventing consumer 

injury and unlawful business practices, and mitigating financial losses. From time to time, the agency 

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Program Evaluations

Objective 1.3: Prevent consumer injury through education
Performance Plan 73 Fiscal Year 2008

conducts pre-emptive consumer and business 

education campaigns to raise awareness of new or 

emerging marketplace issues that have the potential to cause harm. The agency creatively uses new 

technologies and private and public partnerships 

to reach new and under-served audiences, particularly those who may not seek information directly 

from the FTC. The FTC will continue to publicize its 

consumer complaint and identity theft Web site addresses and toll-free numbers in an ongoing effort 

to increase public awareness of its programs and 

inform the public of the ways to contact the FTC to 

obtain information or file a complaint. 

Focus consumer and business education efforts 

on areas where fraud, deception, unfair practices, and information gaps cause the greatest 

injury.

Leverage resources (by working with federal, 

state, local, international, and private sector 

partners) to maximize the reach of consumer 

and business education campaigns.

Target particular demographic groups with 

messages about marketplace issues that impact 

their health, safety, and economic well-being.

Use the results of the consumer fraud and identity theft surveys to determine where education 

needs are greatest and meet these needs with 

targeted education efforts.

Increase public awareness of consumer protection problems and solutions by conducting and 

publishing studies and filing advocacy comments on changes in the marketplace and the 

impact of business and government actions on 

consumers.

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Strategies
Performance Plan 74 Fiscal Year 2008

Deliver efficiently and effectively educational 

information in English and Spanish to consumers, industry members, and law enforcement 

partners on how to prevent consumer injury, 

avoid unlawful business practices, and enhance 

consumer welfare.

Focus efforts on high-profile or emerging issues 

– for example, Internet scams, online privacy, 

identity theft, and financial literacy – to close 

information gaps. 

 Find new and creative ways to reach consumers with information about marketplace issues 

that can cause them financial injury and to 

reach businesses with information that increases knowledge about consumer risks and 

compliance.

Monitor, review, and provide guidance to parents and children on marketing that may affect 

children and teenagers.

Build partnerships with industry and advocacy 

organizations to lead more visitors to the FTC’s 

Web site (www.ftc.gov) and to other issue-oriented Web sites developed by the FTC such as 

www.DoNotCall.gov, www.OnGuardOnLine.

gov, and www.DontServeTeens.gov.

Continue to build relationships with international organizations to educate consumers and 

businesses about cross-border consumer protection issues.

Increase media coverage to broadcast the agency’s education message to a broader audience.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 75 Fiscal Year 2008

Launch a new media literacy survey and education program, targeting kids from elementary 

school through high school. 

Continue education programs to meet the demand for information about significant events 

in the marketplace, including data security, 

and other initiatives, including the Business 

Opportunity Rule, Energy Guide, etc.

Conduct a consumer education campaign to 

inform consumers who may need to re-register 

their telephone numbers with the National Do 

Not Call Registry, as the registrations expire 

after five years.

Track if FTC’s consumer protection messages 

are accessed online or in print a total of more 

than 50 million times.

Determine if, included in the total of FTC’s consumer protection messages accessed online or in 

print, the messages relating to identity theft are 

accessed more than 9 million times.

Determine if, included in the total of FTC’s 

consumer protection messages accessed online 

or in print, the messages in Spanish are accessed 

more than 3 million times.

Track the number of times external print media, 

such as newspapers, magazines, business and 

trade journals, and professional journals, publish articles that refer to FTC consumer protection activities and the circulation of the media 

that publish those articles to help determine the 

reach of FTC’s education efforts.

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FY 2008 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 76 Fiscal Year 2008

Consumer and business education are crucial tools 

in preventing and reducing consumer harm efficiently and effectively. These performance measures will help ensure that the agency is engaging 

in a sufficient amount of educational activity and 

that the educational materials are aimed at new 

trends and at particularly vulnerable populations.

Measure the number of education messages disseminated each year relating to high-profile or 

emerging issues where consumer and business 

education can help alleviate consumer injury.

Assess whether the appropriate mix of media 

is being used to communicate consumer education messages and whether the FTC is making 

the most efficient use of available media and 

technology.

Assess the number and range of public and 

private sector organizations that partner with 

the FTC on outreach.

Determine whether the FTC needs to reach new 

audiences, in light of any changes in demographics, advertising, and marketing practices, 

and what strategies or partnerships may allow 

the FTC to reach those audiences.

Review the focus of FTC education efforts and 

adjust them based on changing consumer and 

business needs.

Continue to assess the consumer information 

needs of the Spanish-speaking population.

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Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 77 Fiscal Year 2008

The FTC uses a variety of strategies in addition to 

law enforcement and education to enhance consumer welfare. The agency convenes conferences 

and workshops through which experts and other 

experienced and knowledgeable parties identify 

novel or challenging consumer protection issues 

and discuss ways to address those issues. The FTC 

also issues reports that Congress has mandated or 

that the agency has prepared on its own initiative 

that analyze consumer protection problems and 

suggest public and private sector policies to address them, such as self-regulatory efforts. Further, 

the FTC files comments with federal and state government bodies advocating policies that promote 

the interests of consumers and highlight the role of 

consumer and empirical research in their decision 

making. In particular, the agency testifies before 

Congress on consumer protection issues. The FTC 

engages in a variety of international cooperation, 

exchange, and advocacy activities designed to promote market-based consumer protection policies 

and effective cross-border coordination. The FTC 

also files amicus briefs to aid courts’ considerations 

of important consumer protection issues.

Focus workshops and conferences on emerging 

or challenging consumer protection problems, 

especially those related to new technologies.

Issue reports mandated by law and other reports that articulate concrete measures that the 

public and private sectors could take to address 

consumer protection problems, particularly 

those related to new technologies or emerging 

technologies.

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Objective 1.4: Enhance consumer welfare through research, 

reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange

Strategies
Performance Plan 78 Fiscal Year 2008

Target advocacy activities to encourage state, 

federal, and foreign government policymakers to evaluate both the costs and benefits of 

their policies for consumers, emphasizing the 

impact on consumers of policies that unnecessarily affect the dissemination of truthful, nonmisleading information to consumers and the 

interplay of competition and consumer protection concerns.

Use letters and public comments to urge state, 

federal, and foreign government policymakers 

to consider consumer research and other empirical data in their decisions regarding the costs 

and benefits of their policies for consumers.

Pursue the development of an international 

market-based consumer protection model, 

which focuses on protecting consumers from 

significant harm while maximizing economic 

benefit, consumer access to information, and 

consumer choice.

Encourage industry self-regulation where consumer protection problems are emerging, industry has a comparative advantage in addressing 

the problems, or legal or practical limitations 

constrain the government’s ability to act.

Identify novel or challenging consumer protection problems, especially those related to new 

technologies.

Convene workshops and conferences and issue 

reports (including those required by law) concerning such consumer protection problems.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 79 Fiscal Year 2008

Analyze federal and state government policies 

and identify those that impose costs on consumers that may exceed their benefits to consumers, 

especially policies that affect the dissemination of truthful, non-misleading information to 

consumers.

File comments or otherwise engage in advocacy 

with state, federal, and foreign government policymakers that evaluate both the costs and benefits of proposed policies on consumers, with 

a particular emphasis on the role of consumer 

research and other empirical data in their decisions, and an awareness of the intersection of 

competition and consumer protection concerns.

File amicus curiae briefs in state and federal 

courts urging adoption of legal principles that 

promote consumer welfare.

Present major policy speeches that discuss 

emerging or challenging consumer protection 

problems and explain the FTC’s approach to 

them.

Participate in international organizations to 

promote effective market-oriented consumer 

protection and privacy policies.

Identify through monitoring or other means 

consumer protection problems that industry 

self-regulation could effectively combat and 

work with industry to adopt such self-regulatory measures.

Further the FTC’s Congressionally-endorsed 

efforts to promote industry self-regulation in the 

marketing of entertainment and food.

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Performance Plan 80 Fiscal Year 2008

Convene or participate substantially in approximately six workshops and conferences and issue 

approximately eight reports on topics such as 

novel or challenging consumer protection problems, including issues related to the scope and 

effectiveness of self-regulation.

File approximately six public and advocacy 

comments with other federal and state government bodies helping them to assess the costs 

and benefits to consumers of their policies and 

the implication of consumer research and other 

empirical data for their policy decisions, where 

appropriate.

Cooperate with foreign government agencies on 

at least 20 enforcement matters with cross-border components.

Provide policy or technical input to foreign 

government agencies or international organizations in at least 20 instances involving consumer 

protection.

Public policy that enhances consumer welfare is 

based on a thorough understanding of complex 

issues, which arises from dialogue, study, and 

empirical research. Such policy also appreciates 

that stakeholders other than government, such as 

industry associations or private standard-setting 

organizations, may be better placed to address certain consumer protection issues. These performance 

measures will help ensure that the agency augments its enforcement and education efforts by encouraging discussions among all interested parties, 

as well as careful study of and empirical research 

on novel or challenging consumer protection prob-

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 81 Fiscal Year 2008

lems. These activities will help enhance consumer 

welfare by guiding the FTC’s consumer protection 

policy decisions, as well as the decisions of other 

state, federal, and international policymakers.

Include evaluation forms with workshop and 

conference materials to help assess whether 

the workshops and conferences are an effective 

means of joining the debate relating to these 

issues.

Determine whether reports issued by the FTC 

following workshops or conferences are issued 

timely (approximately within nine months for 

reports that summarize the proceedings), and 

contribute to progress on the issue of the workshop or conference.

Determine whether statutory deadlines for 

reports required by Congress have been met.

Evaluate whether the FTC is filing comments 

or otherwise engaging in advocacy with state, 

federal, and foreign government bodies on 

consumer protection policies that will have a 

significant impact on consumers and whether 

the recipients of these comments give weight to 

the views expressed in these comments in making policy decisions that affect consumers.

Assess whether industry gives weight to the 

FTC’s evaluation, monitoring, and advocacy 

and whether market interests are affected.

Determine the scope and frequency of citation 

of and reference to FTC reports, studies, conference materials, and major policy speeches by 

other policymakers, academics, the courts, and 

the media.

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Program Evaluations

Performance Plan 83 Fiscal Year 2008

Maintaining Competition Mission

Fiscal Year 2008

Goal 2: To prevent

anticompetitive

mergers and other

anticompetitive

business practices in

the marketplace

Objective 2.1: Identify anticompetitive mergers and 

practices that cause the greatest consumer injury

The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Premerger 

Notification Act provides the FTC an effective starting point for identifying anticompetitive mergers 

before they are consummated. The FTC administers the HSR program both for itself and for the 

Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, 

which shares authority to challenge anticompetitive mergers. Mergers reported to the FTC vary 

tremendously in their complexity and potential 

anticompetitive effect. In some cases, the agency 

can make a reasonable judgment within a few days 

of filing about whether a merger has the potential 

to be anticompetitive or procompetitive, simply by 

reviewing materials filed with the notification. In 

other cases, an investigation can take months and 

require a major commitment of resources. Far more 

transactions fall into the former category than the 

latter. The FTC also uses trade press articles, consumer and competitor complaints, and other means 

to identify potentially anticompetitive mergers that 

were not required to be reported under HSR, or 

that were not reported in violation of HSR.

On the nonmerger side, there is no comparable 

statutorily mandated program to help identify 

anticompetitive business practices. The FTC must 

instead employ a variety of methods to identify 

potentially anticompetitive practices (for example, 

consumer and competitor complaints, referrals 

from other government agencies, and monitoring 

the trade press).
Performance Plan 84 Fiscal Year 2008

Continue to make efficient use of the initial 

30-day period after HSR filings (or 15 days for 

a cash tender offer) to determine whether a 

more detailed investigation is needed to assess 

whether a merger is likely to harm competition, 

and to avoid unnecessary extended investigations, including prompt inter-agency clearance 

and timely review.

Use trade press articles, consumer and competitor complaints, and other means to identify potentially anticompetitive mergers that were not 

required to be reported under HSR, or that were 

not reported in violation of HSR, and potentially 

anticompetitive nonmerger business practices.

When appropriate, issue requests for additional 

information under HSR to determine whether a 

merger is likely to be anticompetitive.

When appropriate, use compulsory process in 

merger and nonmerger investigations to obtain additional information needed to make an 

informed judgment about the anticompetitive 

potential of mergers and nonmerger practices.

Apply the merger process reforms to conduct 

investigations more efficiently, in order to enhance enforcement outcomes while minimizing 

burdens on business.

Employ integrated teams of lawyers, economists, and other professionals to conduct an economically sound, fact-based analysis of mergers 

and other potentially anticompetitive business 

practices. Retain outside experts and consultants 

in relevant fields of expertise, as needed, when 

enforcement outcomes would be enhanced by 

specialized supplementary resources.

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Strategies
Performance Plan 85 Fiscal Year 2008

Work with state or local officials, other federal 

agencies, or international agencies to maximize 

resources in identifying anticompetitive mergers and business practices, and to minimize, to 

the extent possible, burdens on enforcers and 

business and duplication of effort, and to avoid 

conflicting remedies.

Track and maintain the timeliness of investigations and merger review under the HSR 

program.

Refine the investigative and decisional tools 

used in both merger and nonmerger investigations through continuous learning.

Identify emerging trends and focus on potentially anticompetitive business practices or 

other issues that need to be addressed because 

of changes in the economy, technology, and the 

marketplace, drawing upon the results of hearings, task forces, agency studies and reports, 

and other means.

Continue to integrate e-government initiatives, 

such as electronic premerger filing, into mission 

activities.

Continue to improve the investigative skills and 

antitrust analysis training programs.

Identify “best practices” used by government 

and private antitrust attorneys and use this 

knowledge in training FTC staff.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 86 Fiscal Year 2008

 Continue effective screening of mergers under 

the HSR program so that all reported mergers 

that raise potentially significant competitive issues undergo an appropriate investigation. 

Monitor the merger review process to determine 

if additional changes are needed to improve the 

effectiveness and efficiency of investigations.

Continue to use and improve existing techniques for identifying anticompetitive business 

practices, such as (1) monitoring the trade press, 

(2) responding to and following up on case 

leads by Congressional offices, other Executive 

Branch agencies, and state and local governments, and (3) informing potentially aggrieved 

parties that they can lodge complaints with the 

agency by “getting FTC’s message out” through 

speeches to and electronic and other publications for consumer, bar, and business groups 

(including those representing specific industries), and general public outreach.

Continue effective administration of the review 

of nonmerger practices so that the FTC may investigate those that raise potentially significant 

competitive issues.

Apply to FTC practices the results of hearings, 

conferences, reports, studies, and workshops on 

significant competition issues.

Continue discussions among attorneys in the 

FTC’s regional offices and in the nonmerger 

divisions on ways to improve techniques for 

monitoring business practices and for identifying anticompetitive practices.

Collect data, for management review, regarding 

the FTC’s efficiency in conducting investigations, such as the amount of time required to 

complete the HSR review process, the number 

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Performance Plan 87 Fiscal Year 2008

of HSR matters requiring issuance of an investigative second request, the number of HSR and 

significant nonmerger investigations that result 

in enforcement action, the number of hours of 

staff time spent on investigations, and other 

costs associated with investigations.

Review significant deviations from the statistical 

benchmarks for timely and efficient review of 

merger transactions and take corrective action 

where necessary.

Track the number of enforcement actions 

undertaken in the competition mission and, 

separately, in the merger and nonmerger programs, including Commission authorization 

of a complaint for preliminary injunction or 

permanent relief in federal court, issuance of an 

administrative complaint, and acceptance of a 

consent agreement, and, for mergers, the parties’ voluntary abandonment or restructuring of 

a proposed transaction based on FTC antitrust 

concerns.

Continue effective administration of merger review under the HSR program so that at least 90 

percent of HSR requests for additional information result in a positive outcome, which includes 

Commission authorization of a complaint for 

preliminary injunction in federal court, issuance 

of an administrative complaint, acceptance of a 

consent agreement, the parties’ voluntary abandonment or restructuring of a proposed transaction based on FTC antitrust concerns, and 

closing of an investigation without subsequent 

events indicating that the transaction injured 

competition.

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FY 2008 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 88 Fiscal Year 2008

In conjunction with the prior merger measure, 

and to facilitate evaluation of results, the FTC 

will also report the number of second requests 

issued, the number of reportable transactions for 

which premerger notifications were received, 

the number of HSR investigations that resulted 

in enforcement action, the number of transactions in which antitrust issues were resolved 

through voluntary abandonment or restructuring because of FTC concerns, and the number of 

investigations closed because the evidence indicated that a competitive problem was unlikely.

Continue effective administration of the nonmerger program so that at least 90% of significant nonmerger investigations (those with 

at least 150 hours of investigative effort) will 

result in a positive outcome, which includes 

Commission authorization to file a complaint 

in federal court, issuance of an administrative 

complaint, acceptance of a consent agreement, 

resolution of antitrust concerns without enforcement action, or closing of an investigation 

without subsequent events indicating that the 

business practice injured competition.

In conjunction with the prior nonmerger measure, and to facilitate evaluation of results, the 

FTC will also report the number of significant 

nonmerger investigations closed each year, with 

or without enforcement action.

Success on these measures will indicate that the 

FTC is effectively screening HSR-reported mergers 

and nonmerger investigations to identify those that 

raise significant antitrust issues and warrant further investigation and possible enforcement action.

Setting high goals for positive outcomes from these 

investigations demonstrates the FTC’s commitment 

to targeting its enforcement resources effectively.

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Performance Plan 89 Fiscal Year 2008

An unacceptably high percentage of negative outcomes, such as closing investigations that are later 

determined to raise significant antitrust issues, 

would result in an evaluation of the FTC’s screening process used to identify potential competition 

problems and target investigatory resources.

Assess markets where investigations were 

closed without enforcement action, explore 

whether outcomes remain positive over time, 

and use this information to enhance the agency’s ability to predict likely competitive consequences in future investigations.

If there was a failure to investigate a merger or 

business practice, known to the agency, that had 

a significant potential for causing competitive 

and consumer harm, assess whether there were 

factors that indicated the presence of a competitive problem that the agency should have reasonably been able to identify.

Assess the burden imposed on merger parties by the HSR merger investigation process, 

explore ways of reducing that burden without 

compromising effectiveness of investigations, 

and explore methods of measuring HSR compliance burden.

Assess the FTC’s efficiency in conducting antitrust investigations, explore ways to increase 

efficient use of investigatory resources and reduce burdens on business, and explore whether 

efficiency in conducting investigations can more 

meaningfully be measured.

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 Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 90 Fiscal Year 2008

This enforcement objective includes both obtaining orders to stop anticompetitive activity (either 

through litigation or by consent) and ensuring that 

the remedies imposed by those orders are effective.

Conduct that reduces competition is likely to cause 

consumers to pay higher prices or enjoy lower quality than they otherwise would. Antitrust enforcement provides substantial benefits to consumers 

by preventing anticompetitive mergers and other 

coordinated or unilateral conduct that is likely to 

lessen competition.

Continue to benefit consumers in markets involving billions of dollars in annual sales by 

challenging anticompetitive mergers and other 

nonmerger anticompetitive conduct, negotiating 

consent orders, and winning litigated orders, 

resulting in millions of dollars in consumer 

savings.

Negotiate merger and nonmerger consent 

orders and win litigated orders that have significant remedial, precedential, and deterrent 

effects.

Improve negotiation and litigation skills 

through continuous learning.

Apply the merger process reforms to conduct 

investigations more efficiently, in order to enhance enforcement outcomes while minimizing 

burdens on business.

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Objective 2.2: Stop anticompetitive mergers and 

practices through law enforcement

Strategies
Performance Plan 91 Fiscal Year 2008

Improve the FTC’s capacity to promote consumer welfare by applying the information gained 

through workshops, hearings, and research 

projects that improve its understanding of significant antitrust issues.

Retain outside experts and consultants in 

relevant fields of expertise, as needed, when 

enforcement outcomes would be enhanced by 

specialized supplementary resources.

Continue to integrate e-government initiatives 

into mission activities.

Ensure that administrative litigation and adjudication reach a timely resolution.

Improve the integration of budget and performance by linking goals and objectives to results; 

develop improved processes for use and analysis of management data.

Challenge anticompetitive mergers and business 

practices in federal court or through administrative litigation, and obtain relief with significant 

remedial, precedential, and deterrent effects.

Resolve anticompetitive mergers and practices, 

where possible, by negotiating consent orders 

that secure relief with significant remedial, precedential, and deterrent effects without the need 

for litigation.

Retain outside experts and consultants in 

relevant fields of expertise, as needed, when 

enforcement outcomes would be enhanced by 

specialized supplementary resources.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 92 Fiscal Year 2008

Continue to improve negotiation and litigation 

skills through training programs. Ensure that 

lead attorneys and managers collect any important lessons learned at the close of each significant negotiation and litigation and transmit 

them to appropriate personnel for incorporation 

in training programs and model pleadings.

Continue to monitor implementation of divestitures and other requirements of the FTC’s merger consent orders. Seek civil penalties where 

appropriate if a respondent fails to fulfill its 

obligations under an order in a timely fashion.

Continue to seek improvements in both the 

substantive aspects of remedies, as well as the 

process by which they are derived.

Achieve a positive result (including consent 

orders, litigation victories, or, for mergers, transactions abandoned after recommendation of a 

complaint) in at least 80% of cases in which the 

FTC takes enforcement action.

Take action against mergers likely to harm 

competition in markets with a total of at least 

$25 billion in sales.

Save consumers an estimated $500 million 

through enforcement actions against mergers 

likely to harm competition in markets.

Achieve a level of consumer savings from 

merger enforcement that is at least six times the 

amount of agency resources (in dollars of total 

resources) allocated to the merger program during that period.

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FY 2008 Performance Measures
Performance Plan 93 Fiscal Year 2008

Take action against nonmerger anticompetitive 

conduct in markets with a total of at least $8 billion in annual sales.

Save consumers an estimated $80 million 

through enforcement actions against nonmerger 

anticompetitive conduct likely to harm competition in markets.

Achieve a level of consumer savings from nonmerger enforcement that is at least four times 

the amount of agency resources (in dollars of 

total resources) allocated to the nonmerger 

program during that period.

Because external factors may cause the results to 

fluctuate significantly from year to year, the latter 

six goals are to be evaluated in terms of an aggregate target for the five-year strategic plan period, 

rather than as a yearly target.

These measures evaluate agency performance in 

several ways: the percentage of enforcement actions that have successful outcomes, the volume 

of commerce affected (benefited) by merger and 

nonmerger enforcement action, the estimated dollar 

savings to consumers resulting from merger and 

nonmerger enforcement action, and the estimated 

dollar savings to consumers per dollar of enforcement resources. In the absence of case-specific 

information, the dollar savings to consumers is conservatively estimated as one percent of the volume 

of commerce in the affected markets (for two years 

in merger cases and for one year in nonmerger 

cases). It is not intended as a precise estimate of 

consumer savings, but, rather, as an indication of 

general magnitude. A more precise estimate based 

on case-specific information will be used whenever 

possible. The use of a volume of sales performance 

measure does not mean that the FTC will only 

investigate and take enforcement action in markets 

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Performance Plan 94 Fiscal Year 2008

with large sales volumes. The FTC will continue to 

investigate and take enforcement action as necessary in all markets where considerable consumer 

harm is likely. The benchmarks for the estimated 

dollar savings to consumers per dollar of enforcement resources for merger and nonmerger actions 

are based on historical experience, reflecting the 

different mix of cases and the different investigative 

and enforcement processes.

These measures will help guide the agency in challenging conduct that causes substantial consumer 

injury through targeting of its resources effectively 

and efficiently. These measures evaluate appropriate case selection and resolution, whether through 

litigation or settlement, as well as the crafting of 

sufficient and effective remedies.

Assess the scope of the FTC’s annual merger enforcement activities, as reflected by the volume 

of commerce in markets in which the agency 

took merger enforcement action. Determine 

whether the total volume of commerce in such 

markets is likely to reach $40 billion and determine whether the level of consumer savings is 

likely to reach $800 million. Compare the likely 

consumer welfare impact in these markets to the 

resources spent on the mission.

Assess the scope of the FTC’s annual nonmerger enforcement activities, as reflected by 

the volume of commerce in markets in which 

the agency took nonmerger enforcement action. Determine whether the total volume of 

commerce in such markets is likely to reach 

$20 billion and determine whether the level of 

consumer savings is likely to reach $200 million.

Compare the likely consumer welfare impact 

in these markets to the resources spent on the 

mission.

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Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 95 Fiscal Year 2008

Assess qualitatively the deterrence value and 

precedential significance of the enforcement actions brought during FY 2008.

Conduct periodic retrospective studies of past 

investigative and enforcement activity to determine the extent to which the FTC’s case selection process is accurately identifying matters 

that require FTC intervention.

Evaluate litigation performance for lessons that 

may be applicable to future litigation.

Review the results of major competition research initiatives to identify their usefulness in 

guiding FTC decisions and influencing other 

policymakers’ approaches to competition issues.

The FTC increases awareness of antitrust law 

through guidance to the business community; 

outreach efforts to federal, state and local agencies, 

business groups, and consumers; development and 

publication of antitrust guidelines and policy statements; and speeches and publications. In carrying 

out these functions, the FTC strives to ensure that 

any publicly disseminated data or information subject to the Data Quality Act (section 515 of Public 

Law No. 106-554) meets basic quality standards.

Educate consumers and businesses about antitrust issues through traditional means such as 

guidelines, advisory opinions, reports, articles 

in professional or other publications, speeches, 

and participation in professional organizations.

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Objective 2.3: Prevent consumer injury through education

Strategies
Performance Plan 96 Fiscal Year 2008

Educate consumers through detailed information regarding agency actions on the FTC Web 

site, and in press releases, reports, articles, and 

other publications.

Educate businesses through detailed information regarding agency actions on the FTC Web 

site, and in press releases, reports, articles, and 

other publications.

Continue to conduct and disseminate the results 

of public hearings, conferences, and workshops 

on practices and developments in the marketplace and the results of economic research on 

how markets operate.

Continue to enhance avenues of communication 

with consumers and business, such as email and 

the FTC Web site.

Ensure that the content of complaints, press 

releases, and analyses to aid public comment 

are “transparent,” that is, that they explain in 

sufficient detail and with sufficient clarity the 

evidence and theory of a case, within the constraints of confidentiality requirements. 

Expand the use of other public statements to 

explain why the Commission elected not to take 

enforcement action in certain matters to further 

improve the public’s understanding of the FTC’s 

enforcement policies.

Engage in outreach to lay groups such as 

schools to provide information about the work 

of the FTC and basic principles of economics 

and competition.

Engage in outreach to foreign competition agencies to facilitate the agency’s efforts to promote 

convergence toward sound consumer-welfarebased competition enforcement and policy.

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Performance Plan 97 Fiscal Year 2008

Issue guidance to help businesses understand 

and comply with the application of the antitrust 

laws in certain areas, such as horizontal mergers, international operations, intellectual property, and health care.

Continue to provide Commission and staff advisory opinions on various competition issues; 

continue to provide guidance in response to 

informal requests, particularly concerning HSR 

matters.

Monitor the content of complaints, press releases, and analyses to aid public comment to 

ensure they are “transparent,” that is, that they 

explain in sufficient detail and with sufficient 

clarity the evidence and theory of a case, within 

the constraints of confidentiality requirements. 

Expand the use of press releases and other public statements to explain why the Commission 

elected not to take enforcement action in certain 

matters to further improve the public’s understanding of the FTC’s enforcement policies.

Make available prepared texts of speeches and 

develop other materials that explain FTC policies and procedures.

Continue to have Commissioners and staff 

speak at and participate in seminars, panel 

discussions, and conferences to explain how 

the FTC analyzes mergers and other business 

practices.

Make available to the public the materials 

relating to public hearings, conferences, and 

workshops on practices and developments in 

the marketplace, including transcripts, written 

submissions, and reports.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 98 Fiscal Year 2008

Make available on the FTC’s Web site the guidance issued by the FTC, advisory opinions, 

advocacy comments, written releases, texts of 

speeches, Bureau of Economics reports, and 

other materials that explain the FTC’s policies 

and procedures.

When opportunities arise, engage in outreach 

to lay groups to provide information about the 

work of the FTC and basic principles of economics and competition.

Engage in outreach to foreign competition 

authorities and international competition 

organizations.

Track volume of traffic on the FTC Web site on 

antitrust-related pages that are relevant to policymakers, the business and legal communities, 

and the public at large.

Track the number of times external print media, 

such as newspapers, magazines, business and 

trade journals, and professional journals, publish articles that refer to FTC competition activities and the circulation of the media that publish 

those articles.

Evaluate what antitrust content on the FTC Web 

site generates the largest amount of public interest, and why, and use this information in setting 

future priorities.

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FY 2008 Performance Measures

Program Evaluations
Performance Plan 99 Fiscal Year 2008

Seek input from consumer groups, business 

groups, bar groups, international competition 

organizations, and other FTC “customers” on 

the effectiveness of FTC educational efforts.

Evaluate the transparency of FTC merger review policy by assessing the extent to which 

significant changes in such policy are communicated to stakeholders.

In addition to its enforcement authority, the FTC 

has unique jurisdiction to gather, analyze, and 

make public certain information concerning the nature of competition as it affects U.S. commerce. The 

FTC uses that authority to hold public hearings, 

convene conferences and workshops, conduct economic studies on competition issues of significant 

public importance, and issue reports of its findings. 

This authority advances the competition mission in 

numerous ways.

The agency uses the information internally to refine 

the theoretical framework for analyzing competition issues and the empirical understanding of 

industry practices, which contributes substantially 

to an effective response to changing marketplace 

conditions. The information gained through this 

authority, combined with the agency’s professional 

expertise on competition issues, also contributes to 

a better understanding of business practices and 

their competitive and economic implications by 

various entities, including the business sector, the 

legal community, other enforcement authorities, 

the judiciary, foreign competition agencies, and 

governmental decision makers and policymakers 

at the federal, state, and local levels. In particular, 

the agency testifies before Congress on competition 

issues. The FTC uses its expertise to encourage governmental actors at all levels to evaluate both the 

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Objective 2.4: Enhance consumer welfare through research, 

reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange
Performance Plan 100 Fiscal Year 2008

costs and the benefits of their policies for consumers, and to ensure such policies promote consumer 

welfare. This advocacy includes formal and informal dialogue with state and federal policymakers 

and amicus curiae briefs filed with state and federal 

courts. Dialogue with competition authorities of 

other countries and international organizations, 

and, in some cases, technical assistance to other 

competition authorities, promotes procedural consistency and the adoption of competition policies 

that protect and enhance consumer welfare, which 

ultimately will accrue to the benefit of American 

consumers as well as those in other countries.

Conduct public hearings, conferences, and 

workshops that bring together interested parties 

to enhance understanding of various practices 

and developments in the marketplace.

Conduct studies as requested by Congress and 

other studies as appropriate.

Conduct economic studies of the effects of 

business actions on competition and consumer 

welfare in accordance with agency data quality 

standards, as applicable, to ensure the quality of 

information that may be disseminated publicly.

Target advocacy activities to encourage state, 

federal, and foreign government policymakers 

to evaluate both the costs and the benefits of 

their policies for consumers, emphasizing the 

impact on consumers of policies that unnecessarily restrict competition.

File amicus curiae briefs with state and federal 

courts deciding important competition policy 

issues urging them to adopt legal rules that 

benefit consumers by promoting competition.

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Strategies
Performance Plan 101 Fiscal Year 2008

Participate in dialogue with competition authorities of other countries and international organizations on trans-national competition issues 

that affect American consumers and businesses 

and to promote sound consumer-welfare-based 

competition policy.

Participate in technical assistance missions to 

countries with new competition regimes.

Conduct hearings, conferences, and workshops 

on significant competition issues. 

Continue to support outreach efforts to international bodies to explain U.S. antitrust perspectives on competition theories and approaches; 

participate in dialogue with competition authorities of other countries and international organizations on trans-national competition issues 

that affect American consumers and businesses; 

continue to aid the development of antitrust 

laws and programs in developing nations by 

participating in technical assistance missions.

File comments or otherwise engage in advocacy 

with state, federal, and foreign government policymakers to encourage them to adopt policies 

that maximize consumer welfare by evaluating 

both the costs and the benefits of their policies 

for consumers.

Prepare amicus briefs addressing important 

competition policy issues under consideration in 

court proceedings.

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FY 2008 Implementation Plan
Performance Plan 102 Fiscal Year 2008

Track volume of traffic on the FTC Web site 

pages relating to research, reports, advocacy, 

and international cooperation and exchange.

Convene, or participate substantively in, at least 

four workshops, conferences, seminars, and 

hearings involving significant competition-related issues.

Issue at least eight studies, reports, working 

papers and issues papers on significant competition-related issues.

Make at least six advocacy filings with other 

federal and state government agencies urging 

them to assess the competitive ramifications and 

costs and benefits to consumers of their policies. 

Issue at least 2 to 3 advisory opinions to persons 

seeking agency review of proposed business 

actions.

 File at least 2 to 3 amicus briefs with courts addressing competition-related issues .

Track the number of cases on which the agency 

cooperated with a foreign competition authority, the number of consultations with or 

comments to foreign competition authorities 

on competition issues, the number of written 

submissions to international fora on competition issues, the number of international events 

attended to discuss competition issues, and 

the number and level of leadership positions 

held by FTC staff in international competition 

organizations.

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Performance Measures
Performance Plan 103 Fiscal Year 2008

Because external factors may cause the results to 

fluctuate significantly from year to year, the latter 

five goals are to be evaluated in terms of an aggregate target for the five-year strategic plan period. 

These measures will help ensure that the agency is 

engaging in appropriate types and sufficient levels 

of research, reports, advocacy, and international 

cooperation and exchange to ensure that they are 

relevant to consumers, policymakers, business, and 

the legal community.

Include evaluation forms with workshop and 

conference materials to help assess whether 

the workshops and conferences are an effective 

means of joining the debate relating to these 

issues.

Seek input from consumer groups, business 

groups, bar groups, international organizations, 

and others on the value of the agency’s research, 

reports, advocacy submissions, and international activities relating to the competition mission.

Evaluate whether the FTC is filing comments 

or otherwise engaging in advocacy with state, 

federal, and foreign government bodies on 

competition policies that will have a significant 

impact on consumers and whether the recipients of these comments have given weight to the 

views expressed in these comments in making 

policy decisions that affect consumers.

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Program Evaluations

Federal Trade Commission

President’s

Management Agenda

President’s Management Agenda 107 Fiscal Year 2008

President’s Management Agenda

In 2001, the Administration announced the 

President’s Management Agenda (PMA), a strategy for improving the management of the federal 

government. It focuses on five areas of management weakness across the government for which 

improvements and the most progress can be made.

The FTC is committed to this strategy and is managing its resources effectively and achieving immediate, concrete, and measurable results in each of 

the five PMA initiative areas: human capital; competitive sourcing; e-government; financial management; and integration of budget and performance.

Demands on the agency have grown dramatically 

over the past decade as commerce has become 

increasingly electronic, and the economy has become high-tech and global. During this period, the 

agency has found new ways to meet these growing 

demands and reach out to more consumers and 

businesses without an appreciable addition of personnel. To address these issues, the FTC has been 

engaged in long-term, concerted efforts to work 

smarter and more effectively. The FTC continues to 

work to improve management and program performance. The agency has a solid record of assessment, 

realignment, innovation, and improvement. There 

are several efforts underway to address, among 

other areas, recruitment and training, diversity and 

opportunity, program performance and associated 

costs, and financial systems modernization, and 

integrating budget and performance reporting.
President’s Management Agenda 108 Fiscal Year 2008

Initiative: Human Capital Management

The FTC is committed to enhancing staff training 

of all types and at all levels. Particularly now, as 

much of its workforce can contemplate retirement 

within the next five years, the agency recognizes 

that professional development for both managers and dedicated support staff enhances both our 

ability to retain seasoned staff, and to nurture the 

growth of junior employees. In FY 2006, the FTC 

hired employees specializing in occupational development to revamp and revitalize the FTC’s training 

programs. In cooperation with one of its two major 

legal bureaus, these employees have launched a 

comprehensive continuing legal education curriculum for all agency attorneys. The program includes 

a multi-year skills acquisition plan to ensure that 

FTC attorneys acquire and maintain expertise in the 

areas of consumer protection and/or competition.

Training at an off-site facility for new attorneys and 

economists permits them to learn about the agency 

and its mission prior to receiving specific assignments. This program has encouraged an agencywide interest in and commitment to the development of all employees to better ensure employee job 

satisfaction and opportunity and the availability of 

employees with requisite skills. The vision for the 

overall agency employee development program is 

to satisfactorily address the developmental needs 

of employees in all career paths within the agency, 

and to establish an in-house faculty that can deliver high-quality instructional programs to other 

employees.

The agency is re-instituting a revised Manager 

Series program, which has been the cornerstone of 

the agency’s management development and is mandatory for all supervisors and managers. The proKnowledge Management 

Leadership
President’s Management Agenda 109 Fiscal Year 2008

gram focuses on employee relations, performance 

management, and labor relations. The Leadership 

Series introduces participants to contemporary issues and concepts for today’s manager. The revised 

program will introduce such topics as motivating 

the near-retirement employee and coping with 

“burn-out.” Leadership mentors developed in 

previous years will participate in the development 

of more junior employees and new-hires, and to 

mentor employees one-on-one.

In January 2004, the FTC executives moved to a 

new performance management system that focused 

heavily on business results as the most important 

measure of performance success. With each successive year, the emphasis on business results has 

increased, and performance measures in individual 

executive performance plans have reflected that 

emphasis. The FTC has sought and received SES 

performance plan certification in each year in which 

such certification has been available, and the agency plans to continue its migration to a business plan 

focused executive performance management system. As the Senior Executive Service’s performance 

management system has evolved, the agency has 

continued to more closely tie executive performance expectations to agency strategic goals. As 

a more outcome-focused performance assessment 

model becomes the norm for agency executives, the 

opportunity to successfully revise this approach to 

defining accomplishment at lower levels increases 

significantly. In addition to moving toward a 

greater emphasis on identifying achievement with 

accomplishment of agency mission objectives, the 

agency intends to focus more on adherence to merit 

principles and enhancement of equal employment 

opportunity goals in its assessment of supervisory 

and managerial performance accomplishment in 

the GS ranks, as well as at the SES level.

Performance Management
President’s Management Agenda 110 Fiscal Year 2008

Over the last 10 years, the agency built an Honors 

Paralegal Program to relieve attorneys of the routine tasks in investigations and litigation that do 

not require a law degree and to allow attorneys to 

focus on complex matters of litigation policy, analysis, and strategy. The Honors Paralegals program 

depended on the “Outstanding Scholar” appointing 

authority, an authority implemented by the Office 

of Personnel Management in conjunction with its 

acceptance of the consent decree in the Luevano 

class action case. With the successful challenge to 

the legality of the “outstanding scholar” appointing 

authority in 2005, its use was suspended by OPM 

and by the FTC. However, by this time the need for 

the Honors Paralegal program had become critical 

to the FTC’s ability to successfully investigate and 

litigate antitrust and consumer protection cases.

Agency human resources professionals quickly 

identified alternative recruitment strategies for 

hiring the right talent, and teamed with program 

office recruiters to identify suitable talent pools and 

market the agency to them. As a result, the agency 

was able to identify, attract, and hire a suitable class 

of Honors Paralegals in 2006.

In today’s job market, federal agencies that operate 

under Title V for purposes of recruiting and setting 

pay for new hires are often at a disadvantage with 

the private sector and academia. Federal benefits, 

however, continue to prove very attractive to prospective employees, and can be a deciding factor in 

a candidate’s choice to accept or decline a job with 

the FTC. Although the FTC has regularly exercised 

pay flexibilities available government-wide, the 

agency believes that focusing even greater attention on the full range of federal benefits will further 

enhance its ability to attract and hire the employees 

it needs. In April 2006, therefore, the agency hired 

a seasoned federal work-life program coordinator 

to focus full time on these areas and on employee 

development. In fiscal year 2007, the agency intends 

Innovative Recruitment

Highlighting Benefits 

as a Recruitment Tool
President’s Management Agenda 111 Fiscal Year 2008

to review options in work-life and other benefits 

programs and wherever possible expand its program portfolio.

In FY 2006, the FTC deployed the Federal TradeStaffing and Employment Express or “FT-SEE,” 

an agency-specific adaptation of the QuickHire 

automated staffing system that allows applicants to 

apply on-line for open positions. The first recruitment action was completed through the system in 

January 2006. Agency program offices were assured that no use of the system would be required.

Requests to staff positions through the system 

grew steadily throughout the spring and summer 

of 2006. By August 2006 approximately 80% of all 

agency recruitment, including attorney recruitment, 

is now being conducted through FT-SEE. An important benefit of the system is its ability to provide 

applicant pool analysis and tracking, an ability the 

agency previously lacked.

The FTC identified 17 commercial FTE in its 2006 

FAIR Act inventory (see “Special Notices” at 

www.ftc.gov/ftc/who.htm). The agency continues 

to look for opportunities to compete commercial 

positions.

The FTC has streamlined clerical support, administrative, and technical functions, and replaced 

positions with reimbursable support service arrangements with other federal agencies. These 

include significant agency services such as payroll/

personnel, accounting/payment system operations, 

health units, retirement counseling, and the transit 

subsidy program.

Automated Staffing

Initiative: Competitive Sourcing

Federal Activities Inventory 

Reform (FAIR) Act

Reimbursable Support 

Service Arrangements
President’s Management Agenda 112 Fiscal Year 2008

The FTC awarded a performance-based service 

contract during FY 2006 for the Computer Help 

Desk Services. Additionally, all new requirements 

for services are reviewed for consideration as performance-based service contracts.

The FTC has been a leader in the use of technology 

and the Internet to inform citizens of its mission 

without having to enlarge its workforce significantly. Starting in the mid-1990s, the FTC began 

building interlinked public consumer protection 

Web sites, many in connection with other domestic 

or foreign law enforcement agencies, to educate 

consumers and to collect and analyze data on a 

broad range of consumer protection issues, including high-tech fraud and identity theft.

The FTC marked the three-year anniversary of 

the National Do Not Call Registry in June 2006.

The Registry makes it easier and more efficient for 

consumers to stop receiving telemarketing calls 

they do not want. Consumers have registered approximately 130 million numbers with the FTC, and 

about 60 percent were registered on the Internet.

Registration is free and is available in both English 

and Spanish. The Do Not Call Registry has received several national awards, and in 2005, Yahoo! 

ranked the launch of the FTC’s Do Not Call Web 

site as one of the top 100 moments on the Web in 

the last 10 years.

In June 2006, the FTC and Department of Justice 

(DOJ) announced that they are implementing an 

electronic filing system that allows merging parties 

to submit via the Internet premerger notification filings required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act.

Performance-Based 

Service Contracting

Initiative: Expanding e-Government

e-Government

National Do Not 

Call Registry

Electronic Filing of 

Premerger Information
President’s Management Agenda 113 Fiscal Year 2008

Electronic filings may be submitted quickly and 

easily, eliminating the time and expense entailed 

in duplicating and delivering documents. The 

Electronic Filing Application (e-Premerger) System 

is a single integrated system that is more efficient 

for business filers as well as taxpayers. Businesses 

need only file at a single location to provide the 

required information to both the FTC and DOJ, and 

taxpayers do not need to support two redundant 

systems. The FTC has managed the development 

and deployment of this integrated bi-agency system 

and will operate this system on behalf of the FTC 

and DOJ.

The FTC Web site provides a wide array of information about the actions and operations of the 

agency and direct access to consumer and business 

education information and publications. In the last 

several years, electronic distribution of education 

materials has far surpassed print distribution. The 

site also permits citizens to file online complaints 

about consumer fraud and identity theft. These 

complaints are used to target the agency’s law 

enforcement and education efforts. Consumers currently can access the Web site (including the complaint form) in four languages. Through the www.

consumer.gov/sentinel link, consumers can view 

summary data collected by the FTC, such as the 

scams that garner the most consumer complaints; 

the scams that cost consumers most; the number of 

identity theft complaints, by state; the types of identity theft most frequently reported; and how to spot 

and avoid fraud and deception online and off. The 

FTC Web site also has a direct link to the government-wide public site, www.firstgov.gov.

For over a decade, the FTC has recognized that 

the complexity of the federal government makes it 

difficult for citizens to know where to go for information and assistance on consumer issues. In the 

Integrated OneStop Systems

Citizen Information Access
President’s Management Agenda 114 Fiscal Year 2008

1990’s, the FTC led a group of five agencies with 

consumer protection responsibilities to create a 

Web site, www.consumer.gov, as a “one-stop” link 

to a broad range of federal consumer information 

resources available online. This site has become 

the portal for interagency consumer information 

that the federal government provides to the public 

through www.firstgov.gov.

The FTC Consumer Response Center receives 

consumer complaints and inquiries through two 

toll-free telephone lines, postal mail, and the 

Internet. Information from these complaints and 

inquiries is collected in a consumer information 

system database, which contains approximately 

5.9 million entries. This information is used to 

target the FTC’s law enforcement and education 

activities. The FTC also developed and hosts a 

secure Web site that makes certain consumer fraud 

complaints accessible to other federal, state, local, 

and international law enforcement partners. The 

fraud and identity theft complaints in the database 

are accessible to more than 1,600 law enforcement 

partners (e.g., the FBI, the Postal Inspection Service, 

50 State Attorneys General, the Secret Service, 

Social Security Administration Inspector General, 

and U.S. Attorney Offices). The agency also implemented a Web service to update the FTC Identity 

Theft database with records from the National 

White Collar Crime Center. Collecting this information in one database and sharing it electronically 

with other agencies reduces redundancy and helps 

the law enforcement community identify general 

trends in consumer fraud issues, track the illegal 

activities of specific businesses, and coordinate 

investigations and litigation.

The FTC’s Information Technology Management 

Office (ITMO) will support a major Consumer 

Protection initiative to fully outsource the 

Consumer Information System (CIS) along with all 

Cross-Agency 

Information Sharing

Consumer Information 

System Replacement
President’s Management Agenda 115 Fiscal Year 2008

its affiliated systems and processes. Staff will model 

this effort after the successful National Do Not Call 

Registry project, employing an integrated team 

from across the FTC. ITMO will provide information security and technical assistance during this 

process and define the acceptable architecture. 

The expected outcome will be a vendor-provided 

service that meets the FTC needs through a performance-based contract that covers gathering 

consumer complaints, consolidating complaint 

information from diverse sources, providing law 

enforcement access to the complaint data, ensuring the security of the data, and analyzing internal 

needs. The expected delivery is spring 2008, with 

the expected retirement of the existing CIS system 

in fall 2008.

The FTC’s ITMO has established an IT Investment 

Board comprised of FTC senior management in the 

selection and prioritization of information technology projects that directly support the missions and 

strategic goals. The Investment Board meets on a 

monthly basis to review IT Investment for Fiscal 

Years 2007 and 2008.

ITMO has consulted with the two FTC missions 

to launch a multi-year initiative to strengthen the 

FTC’s litigation support tools. The initiative has 

three components: (1) decentralizing litigation 

support functions by transferring primary responsibility for litigation support from ITMO to the missions; (2) investing designated funds over a twoyear period; and (3) establishing centrally managed 

processes for high volume scanning.

The FTC’s Records and Filings Office (RFO) is 

evaluating options for e-filing in administrative 

adjudicative matters, and eventually receiving as 

many filings as possible exclusively in electronic 

format. Under the current system, parties in administrative litigation submit both paper and electronic 

filings (with the paper filing constituting the official 

IT Investment Board

Litigation Support 

Initiative

Electronic Filing for 

Administrative Litigation
President’s Management Agenda 116 Fiscal Year 2008

record copy). One option under consideration is 

submission of filings as attachments to Web based 

forms, as many public comments are now submitted. Enabling parties to e-file in administrative matters without submitting paper filings will increase 

efficiency in the processing of adjudicative filings, 

including substantially reducing the need for manual scanning of filings. It will also facilitate posting 

filings to the FTC Web site. Life cycle management 

of these records in electronic – rather than paper 

– format will also provide added efficiencies.

The FTC has undergone a multi-year effort to 

replace its existing document management system with a new system, Documentum. Individual 

organization records repositories will be created 

for inclusion in the new system and the electronic 

connection made to existing applications so that 

the Documentum corporate repository can be 

deployed. The RFO will work with FTC stakeholders to further the development of electronic records 

management.

In FY 2006, the FTC tested and installed telecommunications equipment providing the capability for 

growth in the number of desktops supported without impact to network performance. The agency 

retired several legacy applications and servers, as 

part of an effort to consolidate services and conserve power and cooling within the data center. In 

addition, the e-mail architecture was redesigned to 

include spam filtering appliances, which intercept 

virus laden and phishing messages before they 

reach agency in-boxes.

Computer security continued to receive major 

emphasis during FY 2006. The FTC strengthened 

security controls on individual desktop computers by deploying anti-Spyware software and has 

completed the encryption of the hard drives on all 

laptop computers. Security controls on servers were 

enhanced by aggressive patching and frequent 

scanning for vulnerabilities. An automated vulnerDocumentum and 

Electronic Records

Infrastructure 

Enhancements

Computer Security
President’s Management Agenda 117 Fiscal Year 2008

ability management tool was selected and is in the 

process of being deployed. In addition, the FTC 

revised its Computer Security Awareness briefings 

and has begun to deploy a Web-based version. The 

annual Inspector General evaluation concluded that 

the FTC had improved its overall security posture 

from the previous year.

In FY 2005 and FY 2006, the Records and Filings 

Office (RFO) greatly expanded its use of Web forms 

for submission of electronic comments – utilizing 

Web forms not only for rulemaking proceedings, 

but also for agency workshops and studies. FTC is 

now using Web forms for comment submission on 

the vast majority of proceedings that solicit public 

comments. RFO is studying a plan to use Web 

forms for receipt of public comments in all remaining FTC proceedings that solicit public comments.

The standard use of Web forms, instead of email 

boxes, facilitates redaction of home contact information and other processing for Web posting. With 

the comment review software provided by a vendor, the Web forms also facilitate comment analysis 

and review by FTC staff. RFO will also work with 

OGC and OS to revise the address language in 

Federal Register notices seeking public comments, 

so that it strongly encourages the public to submit 

comments in electronic rather than paper format.

Increased use of Web based forms for submission of 

public comments helps the FTC to meet its strategic 

goals of protecting consumers and maintaining 

competition.

RFO was actively involved in the interagency 

group working on the first release of the government-wide electronic rulemaking system, the 

Federal Docket Management System (FDMS).

FDMS greatly expands the capabilities of regulations.gov and enables federal agencies to organize 

and manage rulemaking dockets (including public 

comments) electronically. The FTC plans to migrate 

from regulations.gov to FDMS during FY 2007.

Efficiencies in Public 

Comment Processing

Federal Docket 

Management System
President’s Management Agenda 118 Fiscal Year 2008

In FY 2006, RFO (working with ITMO and the 

FTC program areas) developed formal e-records 

file structures as part of the FTC’s new Shared 

Network Space policy. The new file structures and 

policy will facilitate the FTC’s work and ensure 

proper restrictions on access to electronic records.

During FY 2007, RFO will complete an agencywide inventory of on-site paper records and several 

major electronic records systems (e.g., CIS, Matter 

Management System, Do Not Call system, PreMerger Notification system). RFO will prepare 

draft file plans and updated or new records retention schedules for FTC records including those major electronic systems for review by FTC organizations, prior to submitting the retention schedules to 

the National Archives and Records Administration 

(NARA) for approval. Also, significantly, all FTC 

file plans and new/updated retention schedules 

will be media neutral and will, for the first time, 

enable FTC to maintain and dispose of records in 

electronic format (current schedules require paper 

format). The records retention schedules will be 

FTC’s first for electronic systems. The completed 

inventory, new file plans, and records schedules 

will help ensure effective, mission-driven life cycle 

records management throughout the FTC, including for the agency’s major electronic systems. The 

inventory also enables the FTC to assess the adequacy of documentation for official actions, identify 

vital records, and assess records security practices.

In addition, the inventory enables RFO and ITMO 

to identify and prioritize additional electronic systems for retention scheduling.

In FY 2007, RFO plans to look to an outside vendor to help with publication of Federal Register 

Notices. A vendor would add XML tagging to the 

Federal Register notices, which expedites processing and qualifies the FTC for the lowest rate at the 

Government Printing Office. By expediting processing of the notices and reducing FTC’s costs, this 

initiative will enable the FTC to improve efficiency 

and effectiveness.

Management of e-Records. 

Federal Register Notices
President’s Management Agenda 119 Fiscal Year 2008

The FTC’s planned and ongoing procurement 

enhancements are designed around the Integrated 

Acquisition Environment (IAE), one of the 

Administration’s e-government initiatives. The FTC 

conducts the majority of its acquisition processes 

electronically including issuance of solicitations 

and receipt of proposals. The FTC will continue 

to identify acquisition tasks suitable for electronic 

processing.

In FY 2006, the FTC implemented FedTraveler, 

a Web-based e-travel system. The new system 

provides FTC staff with an automated reservation 

system and a paperless travel authorization and 

expense report process. The FTC also offered its 

employees live instructor training via a WebEx 

Webcast over the Internet. This training method is 

the newest and most convenient training method 

available in the marketplace and very cost effective 

for training staff in the agency’s regional offices.

Prior to a statutorily mandated requirement, the 

FTC prepared Audited Financial Statements in a 

timely manner that complied with governmentwide accounting standards for ten consecutive 

years (1997 - 2005). Each year, the agency has 

received an unqualified opinion with no material 

weaknesses. The FTC’s audited financial statements for FYs 1998 - 2006 can be viewed at www.

ftc.gov/oig/oigaudit.htm. Beginning in FY 2004, 

the financial statements, notes, and other required 

supplementary information formed Part III of the 

agency’s Performance and Accountability Report 

(see Linking Goals and Objectives to Results 

below).

Developing e-Procurement

Implementing e-Travel

Initiative: Improve Financial Performance

Audited Financial 

Statements
President’s Management Agenda 120 Fiscal Year 2008

The FTC maintains a small, highly skilled, in-house 

financial staff and contracts with the Department of 

Interior’s (DOI) National Business Center (NBC) for 

more routine accounting, payroll, personnel, and 

voucher payment services. The result is the best 

use of agency resources and a significant improvement in the accuracy and timeliness of financial 

data available to agency managers. The FTC meets 

all Treasury, OMB, and agency financial reporting 

deadlines.

The FTC is in general compliance with all federal 

accounting principles and standards. As noted 

above the FTC utilizes the services of DOI NBC 

which includes hosting the agency’s Core Financial 

Management System (FMS) and certain transaction processing services. However, the Core FMS 

currently serving FTC has become a legacy system 

thereby making compliance with financial system 

requirements increasingly challenging. Further, the 

NBC has notified the FTC that the software vendor 

who designed the existing Core FMS will no longer 

support future releases of the product (CGI-AMS 

FFS). The FTC is in the process of migrating from 

its current FMS platform to a new Core FMS, which 

will be substantially compliant with all aspects of 

the Federal Financial Management Improvement 

Act (FFMIA) of 1996. As part of this effort the 

FTC plans to align its Accounting Classification 

Code (ACC) structure with OMB’s Common 

Government-wide Accounting Code project currently underway.

The FTC improved financial services for credit card 

transactions. Financial staff were trained on a new 

and interactive online verification and reconciliation system for credit card transactions. Guidance 

and instructions were developed and issued. To 

ensure that FTC credit card users are familiar with 

the new process, training and certification requirements were established. The FTC also expanded the 

Accurate and Timely 

Financial Information

Federal Accounting and 

Transaction Standards

Purchasing Improvements
President’s Management Agenda 121 Fiscal Year 2008

use of GSA Advantage, an online supply purchasing system, to its operating bureaus. This system 

permits online purchase of supplies at a competitive price through a streamlined and paperless 

acquisition process. Additionally, as part of migrating to a new FMS, the FTC will be upgrading its 

contract writing (acquisition) system to a module 

that will be fully integrated with the core financial 

system. The FY 2008 budget request dedicates 

almost $50,000 to acquisition training for staff.

During FY 2006 the Financial Management Office’s 

Acquisition branch developed a computer based 

training (CBT) course to educate COTRs on their 

responsibilities and emphasize compliance with the 

Federal Acquisition Regulation. This CBT will help 

to ensure that agency COTRs have the prerequisite 

knowledge that is essential in order to effectively 

fulfill their responsibilities. 

The FTC maintains a data warehouse, updated 

daily, that stores both financial and program performance data. Costs are related to mission activities in the data warehouse that supports day-to-day 

operations. In connection with the agency migrating to a new integrated (FMS), the FTC plans to 

improve the integration of performance goals and 

objectives with financial data captured and maintained in the Core FMS using capabilities offered 

by a more robust and modern Enterprise Resource 

Planning (ERP) solution.

In FY 2006, the FTC completed the PART review 

process in conjunction with OMB. At the time this 

document was prepared, the final results of the 

review were not published. However, the FTC 

expects to be rated as an “effective” performing 

agency.

Contracting Officer 

Technical Representative 

(COTR) Training

Initiative: Integrating Budget and Performance

Integrating Financial 

and Performance 

Management Systems

Program Assessment and 

Rating Tool (PART)
President’s Management Agenda 122 Fiscal Year 2008

In FY 2006, the FTC updated its strategic plan for 

FY’s 2006-2011. The plan was streamlined to meet 

new OMB requirements and more directly link 

budget and performance goals. The FTC has two 

strategic goals: Protect Consumers and Maintain 

Competition, each with four strategic objectives 

that relate to its performance measures. The plan 

was circulated to the FTC’s stakeholders for comment. It was received favorably by stakeholders 

and approved by the Commission.

The FTC assigns responsibilities to its budget staff 

according to program area. The FTC’s Budget 

Office works closely with the programs to build 

budget plans that ensure the most efficient use 

of the agency’s resources to achieve the goals of 

the annual Government Performance and Results 

Act (GPRA) Performance Plan. The agency also 

monitors implementation of operating plans by 

programs through the use of financial systems 

and periodic reports. The Budget Office conducts 

detailed reviews of the status of programs’ budget 

execution throughout the fiscal year to ensure that 

funds are sufficient to meet objectives. The FTC 

requires program managers to report on GPRA 

Performance Measures each quarter, and the FTC’s 

Commissioners review this information twice a 

year.

The agency is working to improve the link between performance and budget, both by refining 

the selection and the measurement of performance 

goals and measures and by developing improved 

management processes for data use and analysis.

Further, as noted above, the FTC will be realigning 

its ACC structure to facilitate linking performance 

goals and objectives to actual cost data. Over time, 

this work will enhance agency performance by 

improving the quality, access, and timeliness of 

management information throughout the FTC.

In November 2006, the FTC published its fourth 

Strategic Plan

Integrating Planning/

Evaluation and Budget

Linking Goals and 

Objectives to Results
President’s Management Agenda 123 Fiscal Year 2008

Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) 

linking its FY 2006 goals, objectives, performance, 

and audited financial statements. In addition, the 

FTC’s Strategic Plan for FYs 2006-2011, developed 

under the GPRA, identifies five-year strategies and 

performance measures that are an integral part of 

each fiscal year’s budget request. The Strategic Plan 

articulates strategies and measures that effectively 

relate to outcomes and that integrate budget and 

performance. The annual GPRA Performance Plans 

provide an assessment of the savings and benefits 

to consumers and businesses expected from the requested level of resources. Budget requests are tied 

to the GPRA objectives, and all requests to increase 

resources are justified in the Performance Plan 

and are tied to programs. The FTC’s Performance 

and Accountability Reports, Strategic Plan, and 

Performance Plans can be viewed at www.ftc.gov/

opp/gpra/index.htm.

The agency allocates resources to programs based 

on program goals and workload projections. As 

workload projections change throughout the year, 

the agency shifts resource allocations accordingly, making certain to comply with congressional parameters. The FTC uses its annual GPRA 

Performance Plan as the guideline to align agency 

resources to achieve targets. FTC budget staff work 

closely with program managers to ensure alignment of budget accounts, staff, and program activities to support program goals.

In FY 2004, the FTC adopted a 5-year strategic plan 

to institute a state-of-the-art, integrated core financial management system that encompasses accounting, budget, acquisitions, and performance measurement requirements. The goal is to offer FTC 

managers and staff accurate and timely financial 

management data and flexible query and reporting tools in a one-stop, easy-to-navigate system. In 

Aligning Budget Accounts 

and Program Activities 

Financial Management 

5-Year Strategic Plan
President’s Management Agenda 124 Fiscal Year 2008

FY 2006, the Financial Management Office formed 

a Financial Systems, Internal Controls, and Policy 

Branch, which will oversee the migration to a new 

financial management system. System requirements have been drafted, and the process to select 

a system is being planned. A new managerial cost 

accounting and performance system is a planned 

component of the new integrated financial management system. The improved system will allow 

easier access to financial information and performance information to facilitate management decisions and agency reporting.