Document headings vary by document type but may contain
                    the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document
the number of the CFR title and the number of each part
                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly
                      related to
the agency docket number / agency internal file number
the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in
                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory
                      Actions See the
                    Document Drafting Handbook
                    for more details.
 Federal Trade Commission
 AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
 ACTION: Notice.
 SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public comments on its proposal to extend for three years the current PRA clearances for information collection requirements contained in the Commission's rules and regulations under the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 (Wool Rules). The clearance expires on April 30, 2018.
 DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 19, 2018.
 ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the 
                        **SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION**
                         section below. Write “Wool Rules: FTC File No. P072108” on your comment, and file your comment online at 
                        *https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/​ftc/​woolrulespra1*
                         by following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.
 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for copies of the collection of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to Jock K. Chung, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Mail Code CC-9528, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2984.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Proposed Information Collection Activities Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, federal agencies must get OMB approval for each collection of information they conduct, sponsor, or require. 
                    ( print page 2155)
                    “Collection of information” means agency requests or requirements to submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c). 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 PRA clearance for the information collection requirements associated with the Commission's rules and regulations under the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 (“Wool Rules”), 16 CFR part 300 (OMB Control Number 3084-0100). *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. All comments must be received on or before March 19, 2018. Burden Estimates Staff's burden estimates for the Wool Rules are based on data from the Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census, the International Trade Commission, the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and data or other input from the main industry association, the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), and from 
                    *SICCode.com*
                    , which specializes in the business classification of SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) and NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes for business identification, verification, and targeting. The AAFA, a national trade association which represents U.S. apparel, footwear and other sewn products companies and their suppliers, has stated that “[t]he use of labels on textiles and apparels is beneficial to consumers, manufacturers, and business in general as it allows for the necessary flow of information along the supply chain.” [1]
                    
                     The relevant information collection requirements in these rules and staff's corresponding burden estimates follow. The estimates address the number of hours needed and the labor costs incurred to comply with the requirements. Staff believes that a significant portion of hours and labor costs currently attributable to burden below are time and financial resources usually and customarily incurred by persons in the course of their regular activity (
                    *e.g.,*
                     industry participants already have and/or would have care labels regardless of the rule(s)) and could be excluded from PRA-related burden.[2] The Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 (“Wool Act”) [3]
                    
                     prohibits the misbranding of wool products. The Wool Rules establish disclosure requirements that assist consumers in making informed purchasing decisions and recordkeeping requirements that assist the Commission in enforcing the Rules. *Estimated Annual Hours Burden:*
                     1,880,000 hours (160,000 recordkeeping hours + 1,720,000 disclosure hours). *Recordkeeping:*
                     Staff estimates that approximately 4,000 wool firms are subject to the Wool Rules' recordkeeping requirements. Based on an average annual burden of 40 hours per firm, the total recordkeeping burden is 160,000 hours. *Disclosure:*
                     Approximately 8,000 wool firms, producing or importing about 600,000,000 wool products annually, are subject to the Wool Rules' disclosure requirements. Staff estimates the burden of determining label content to be 30 hours per year per firm, or a total of 240,000 hours, and the burden of drafting and ordering labels to be 60 hours per firm per year, or a total of 480,000 hours. Staff believes that the process of attaching labels is now fully automated and integrated into other production steps for about 40 percent of all affected products. For the remaining 360,000,000 items (60 percent of 600,000,000), the process is semi-automated and requires an average of approximately ten seconds per item, for a total of 1,000,000 hours per year. Thus, the total estimated annual burden for all firms is 1,720,000 hours (240,000 hours for determining label content + 480,000 hours to draft and order labels + 1,000,000 hours to attach labels). Staff believes that any additional burden associated with advertising disclosure requirements would be minimal (less than 10,000 hours) and can be subsumed within the burden estimates set forth above. *Estimated Annual Cost Burden:*
                     $16,380,000, rounded to the nearest thousand (solely relating to labor costs). The chart below summarizes the total estimated costs. Task
Hourly rate
Burden hours
Labor costDetermine label content
$ 28.00
240,000
$6,720,000Draft and order labels
18.00
480,000
8,640,000Attach labels
4
                             5.50
1,000,000
5,500,000Recordkeeping
18.00
160,000
2,880,000Total


23,740,000
 Staff
                    
                     believes that there are no current start-up costs or other capital costs associated with the Wool Rules. Because the labeling of wool products has been an integral part of the manufacturing process for decades, manufacturers have 
                    ( print page 2156)
                    in place the capital equipment necessary to comply with the Rules. Based on knowledge of the industry, staff believes that much of the information required by the Wool Act and Rules would be included on the product label even absent their requirements. Similarly, recordkeeping and advertising disclosures are tasks performed in the ordinary course of business so that covered firms would incur no additional capital or other non-labor costs as a result of the Rules. Request for Comments You can file a comment online or on paper. March 19, 2018. Write “Wool Rules: FTC File No. P072108” on your comment. Your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission website, at 
                    *https://www.ftc.gov/​policy/​public-comments.*
                     Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your online comment, you must file it at 
                    *https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/​ftc/​woolrulespra1*
                     by following the instructions on the web based form. If this Notice appears at 
                    *https://www.regulations.gov,*
                     you also may file a comment through that website. If you file your comment on paper, write “Wool Rules: FTC File No. P072108” on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex C), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610, Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service. Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC website at 
                    *www.ftc.gov,*
                     you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential information. In particular, your comment should not include any sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social Security number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number; financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment should not include any “trade secret or any commercial or financial information which . . . is privileged or confidential”—as provided by Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)—including in particular competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names. Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled “Confidential,” and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular, the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has been posted on the public FTC website—as legally required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)—we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website, unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel grants that request. Visit the Commission website at 
                    *https://www.ftc.gov*
                     to read this Notice. The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that it receives on or before March 19, 2018. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at 
                    *https://www.ftc.gov/​site-information/​privacy-policy.* David C. Shonka, Acting General Counsel.


# Footnotes

1.
    
                         Page one from comment by Kevin M. Burke, President and CEO, American Apparel & Footwear Association, March 26, 2012, 
                        *Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; Request for Public Comment; Rules and Regulations under the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939;*77 FR 4498 (Jan. 30, 2012). Back to Citation
 2.
    
                         5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2). Back to Citation
 3.
    
                         15 U.S.C. 68 
                        *et seq.* Back to Citation
 4.
    
                         For imported products, the labels generally are attached in the country where the products are manufactured. According to information compiled by an industry trade association using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 97.5% of apparel used in the United States is imported. With the remaining 2.5% attributable to U.S. production at an approximate domestic hourly wage of $11 to attach labels, staff has calculated a weighted average hourly wage of $5.50 per hour attributable to U.S. and foreign labor combined. The estimated percentage of imports supplied by particular countries is based on trade data for the year ending in September 2014 compiled by the Office of Textiles and Apparel, International Trade Administration. Wages in major textile exporting countries, factored into the above hourly wage estimate, were based on 2012 data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
                        *See*
                         Table 1.1 Indexes of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 1996-2012 (Index, U.S. = 100) available at: 
                        *http://www.bls.gov/​fls/​#compensation.* Back to Citation


[FR Doc. 2018-00539 Filed 1-12-18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750-01-P