[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29575-29576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13578]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-01-46]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports 
Clearance Officer on (404) 639-7090.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology. Send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC 
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, 
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days 
of this notice.
    Proposed Project: Willingness to Pay Project--NEW--Epidemiology 
Program Office (EPO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 
The mission of the Prevention Effectiveness Branch is to provide 
information and training to build internal and external capacity in 
economic and decision sciences.
    This project will use qualitative and quantitative research to 
develop and test informational approaches (educational materials or 
product labeling) to educate consumers about food safety issues, 
develop and test survey instruments and test experimental protocols to 
be used in the main quantitative data collection; provide a nationally-
representative estimate of consumer willingness to pay for (a) 
publicly-provided reductions in the probability of contracting 
foodborne illnesses; (b) reductions in severity of symptoms associated 
with foodborne illnesses, and (c) materials that facilitate private, 
defensive precautions against foodborne illness during home food 
preparation (e.g., meat thermometers, antibacterial soaps and cutting 
boards). Estimate the effect of education programs and product labeling 
on willingness to pay for the reductions; compare the empirical 
estimates of the above mentioned consumer willingness to pay derived 
from a conjoint analysis instrument and a simulated marketplace 
experiment.
    Public awareness and stated concern regarding foodborne illnesses 
have

[[Page 29576]]

increased rapidly over the past decade. The general public while 
seemingly well informed and concerned about some relevant food safety 
issues, appear unknowledgeable or ill-informed about emerging issues. 
The Food Safety Survey data suggest that information provided to 
consumers at the point of purchase may be a fruitful means of educating 
the public about food safety, and analyses of consumer purchase data 
indicate that health-related information provided at the point of 
purchase can make significant long-term changes in purchasing behavior.
    While providing health-related information about food has been the 
focus of major policy initiatives in the last few years, little 
empirical economic research has attempted to understand the market and 
welfare effects of different health information policies. In addition, 
previous research does not address the distribution of effects across 
different consumers. Policy makers and food manufacturers cannot 
provide labels that satisfy everyone's information desires while 
simultaneously catering to consumers' cognitive and time constraints. 
As a result, policy makers need to understand how different sectors of 
the consumer population will be affected, particularly those members of 
the population who face relatively high food safety risks.
    The lack of information hinders policy makers from making informed 
decisions on the proper allocation of resources in this area since the 
benefits or reducing the risk of illness are not well known. Not having 
the information readily available makes cost-effectiveness and cost-
benefit analyses difficult to do as well as resource-intensive. This 
data collection effort, then will reduce this burden by making data 
available to researchers for use in program and policy evaluation. If 
this data collection effort were not to take place, agencies will 
either have to continue to piece together data when conducting economic 
analyses of food safety policies and regulations, or they will fund a 
large-scale effort like the one being proposed. Another large-scale 
effort would be a waste of public funds. Providing consumers 
information about the risks and about protective measures allows 
consumers to more accurately assess how much they would pay for 
reductions in this risk, but more importantly, it also informs the 
consumer as to what the risks are and how they can protect themselves. 
This information is important since the consumer is the last line of 
defense in the campaign against foodborne illnesses. There are no costs 
to respondents.

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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per     Total burden
                   Respondents                      respondents    responses per   response  (in    (in hours)
                                                                    respondent        hours)
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Survey respondents..............................           5,000               1           30/60           2,500
Virtual shopping respondents....................           1,200               1               1           1,200
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           3,700
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    Dated: May 23, 2001.
Nancy Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 01-13578 Filed 5-30-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P