Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 110 /Tuesday, June 9, 1998 / Notices 31479

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection

Activities; Proposed Collection;

Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) is soliciting public

comments on the proposed extension of

Paperwork Reduction Act clearances for

information collection requirements

contained in its regulations under the

Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco

Health Education Act of 1986

(‘‘Smokeless Tobacco Act’’ or the

‘‘Act’’). The Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) clearance expires on

August 31, 1998. The FTC proposes that

OMB extend its approval for the

regulation an additional three years

through August 31, 2001. The proposed

information collection requirements

described below will be submitted to

OMB for review, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before August 10, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to

Gary M. Greenfield, Office of the

General Counsel, Federal Trade

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580,

(202) 326–2753. All comments should

be identified as responding to this

notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the proposed information

requirements should be addressed to

Nancy Warder, Attorney, Division of

Advertising Practices, Bureau of

Consumer Protection, Federal Trade

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580,

(202) 326–3048.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA)

(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal agencies

must obtain approval from OMB for

each collection of information they

conduct or sponsor. ‘‘Collection of

information’’ is defined in 44 U.S.C.

3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and

includes agency request or requirements

that members of the public submit

reports, keep records, or provide

information to a third party. As required

by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the

FTC is providing this opportunity for

public comment before requesting that

OMB extend the existing paperwork

clearance for the regulations under the

Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco

Health Education Act of 1987 (OMB

Control Number 3084–0082).

The FTC invites comments on: (1)

Whether the proposed collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

(2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of the burden of the proposed collection

of information, including the validity of

the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility,

and clarity of the information to be

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on those who are to respond, including

through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or

other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information

technology, e.g., permitting electronic

submission of responses. The FTC will

submit the proposed information

collection requirements to OMB for

review, as required by the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35, as amended).

Description of the collection of

information and proposed use: The

Smokeless Tobacco Act, 15 U.S.C.

4401–4408, requires, among other

things, that manufacturers, packagers,

and importers of smokeless tobacco

products include health warnings on

packages and in advertisements. The

Act also requires that each

manufacturer, packager, and importer of

smokeless tobacco products submit a

plan to the Commission specifying the

method to rotate, display, and distribute

the warning statement required to

appear in advertising and labeling. The

Commission is required to determine

that these plans provide for rotation,

display, and distribution of warnings in

compliance with the Act and

implementing regulations. All the

affected companies have previously

filed plans, but the plan submission

requirement continues to apply to a

company that amends its plan, or to a

new company that enters the market.

Estimate of information collection

annual hourly burden: 1,000 hours

(rounded). The FTC is reducing the

estimated burden for fourteen smokeless

tobacco companies to prepare and

submit amended compliance plans from

the current estimate of 2,000 hours to

1,000 hours, rounded up from 560. Staff

believes the reduced estimate is

conservative. Prior burden estimates

were based on companies’ experience

preparing and filing their initial plans.

At this stage, however, all affected

companies having long ago filed their

plans with the Commission (there have

been no entrants to the industry since

1986). Additional annual reporting

burdens would occur only if these

companies opt to change the way they

display the warnings required by the

Smokeless Tobacco Act.

Although it is not possible to predict

whether any of these companies will

seek to amend an existing approved

plan (and possibly none will), staff

conservatively assumes that each

company will file one amendment per

year. This estimate is conservative

because, over the past three years, only

one company has submitted an

amendment to its plan, excepting

required amendments regarding the

display of the warnings on point-of-sale

and non-point-of-sale promotional items

that were included as annual hours in

the prior submission pursuant to the

Paperwork Reduction Act. This

amendment required only 40 hours to

prepare, which is considerably less time

than individual companies’ preparation

of their initial plans. Commission staff

believes it reasonable to assume that

each company would consume

approximately that amount of time to

prepare an amended plan. Based on

these assumptions, the total annual

hourly burden should not exceed 1,000

hours (14 companies X 40 hrs. each,

rounded to the nearest thousand).

Estimate of information collection

annual cost burden: none. The

Commission knows of no annual

recodkeeping cost burden associated

with the plans for the display of the

warnings. After the Commission

approves the plan for the display of the

warnings required by the Smokeless

Tobacco Act, the companies are

required to make additional

submissions to the Commission only if

there is a change in the way that they

choose to display the warnings. Once

the companies have prepared plates to

print the required warnings on their

labels, there are no additional set-up

costs associated with the display of the

warnings in labeling. Similarly, once the

companies have prepared acetates of the

required warnings for advertising and

promotional materials, there are no

additional set-up costs associated with

printing the warnings in those materials.

These set-up costs were incurred prior

to October 1, 1995.

Debra A. Valentine,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98–15304 Filed 6–8–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750–01–M