This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

5810 

Vol. 74, No. 20 

Monday, February 2, 2009 

1 FTC Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment 

must be accompanied by an explicit request for 

confidential treatment, including the factual and 

legal basis for the request, and must identify the 

specific portions of the comment to be withheld 

from the public record. The request will be granted 

or denied by the Commission’s General Counsel, 

consistent with applicable law and the public 

interest. See FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 255 

Guides Concerning the Use of 

Endorsements and Testimonials in 

Advertising 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Extension of deadline for 

submission of comments. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade 

Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) 

is extending until March 2, 2009 the 

deadline for filing comments on its 

proposed revisions to the Federal Trade 

Commission’s Guides Concerning the 

Use of Endorsements and Testimonials 

in Advertising (‘‘the Guides’’). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by March 2, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are 

invited to submit written comments 

electronically or in paper form. 

Comments should refer to 

‘‘Endorsement Guides Review, Project 

No. P034520’’ to facilitate the 

organization of comments. Please note 

that comments will be placed on the 

public record of this proceeding— 

including on the publicly accessible 

FTC website, at (http://www.ftc.gov/os/ 

publiccomments.shtm) — and therefore 

should not include any sensitive or 

confidential information. In particular, 

comments should not include any 

sensitive personal information, such as 

an individual’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. Comments 

also should not include any sensitive 

health information, such as medical 

records or other individually 

identifiable health information. In 

addition, comments should not include 

any ‘‘[t]rade secrets and commercial or 

financial information obtained from a 

person and privileged or 

confidential. . . .,’’ as provided in Section 

6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and 

Commission Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 

4.10(a)(2). 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).1

Because paper mail addressed to the 

FTC is subject to delay due to 

heightened security screening, please 

consider submitting your comments in 

electronic form. Comments filed in 

electronic form should be submitted by 

using the following weblink: (https:// 

secure.commentworks.com/ftcendorsements) (and following the 

instructions on the web-based form). To 

ensure that the Commission considers 

an electronic comment, you must file it 

on the web-based form at the weblink 

(https://secure.commentworks.com/ftcendorsements). If this Notice appears at 

(https://www.regulations.gov/search/ 

index.jsp), you may also file an 

electronic comment through that 

website. The Commission will consider 

all comments that regulations.gov 

forwards to it. You may also visit the 

FTC website at http://www.ftc.govto 

read the Notice and the news release 

describing it. 

A comment filed in paper form 

should include the ‘‘Endorsement 

Guides Review, Project No. P034520’’ 

reference both in the text and on the 

envelope, and should be mailed or 

delivered to the following address: 

Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 

Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex S), 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, 

DC 20580. The FTC is requesting that 

any comment filed in paper form be sent 

by courier or overnight service, if 

possible, because U.S. postal mail in the 

Washington area and at the Commission 

is subject to delay due to heightened 

security precautions. 

The Federal Trade Commission Act 

(‘‘FTC Act’’) and other laws 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, 

whether filed in paper or electronic 

form. Comments received will be 

available to the public on the FTC 

website, to the extent practicable, at 

(http://www.ftc.gov/os/ 

publiccomments.shtm). As a matter of 

discretion, the Commission makes every 

effort to remove home contact 

information for individuals from the 

public comments it receives before 

placing those comments on the FTC 

website. More information, including 

routine uses permitted by the Privacy 

Act, may be found in the FTC’s privacy 

policy, at (http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/ 

privacy.shtm). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shira Modell, Attorney, Division of 

Advertising Practices, Bureau of 

Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 

Commission, Washington, D.C., 20580; 

(202) 326-3116. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

November 21, 2008, the Commission 

announced that it had approved 

publication of a Federal Register notice 

seeking public comments on proposed 

revisions to the Guides Concerning the 

Use of Endorsements and Testimonials 

in Advertising (‘‘the Guides’’). See 73 

Fed. Reg. 72,373 (Nov. 28, 2008). The 

deadline established for the submission 

of comments was January 30, 2009. 

The Association of National 

Advertisers, the American Association 

of Advertising Agencies, the Direct 

Marketing Association, the Electronic 

Retailing Association, the Interactive 

Advertising Bureau, the American 

Advertising Federation, and the 

Promotion Marketing Association (‘‘the 

Associations’’) have now requested that 

the comment period be extended for 60 

days. The Associations state, among 

other things, that because of the 

significance of the changes proposed by 

the Commission, they anticipate 

requiring additional time to coordinate 

comments both within their members 

and with each other. 

The Commission has considered the 

Associations’ request and believes that a 

30-day extension is sufficient. 

Accordingly, it has decided to extend 

the deadline for submission of 

comments on the revised Guides to 

Monday, March 2, 2009. Such 

comments must be received by March 2, 

2009, and must be filed in accordance 

with the instructions in the ADDRESSES


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 20 / Monday, February 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules 5811 

section of this document. By direction 

of the Commission. 

Donald S. Clark, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–1644 Filed 1–30–09: 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–S 


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