[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 18 (Thursday, January 28, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4466-4468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2045]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection is a 3-year extension, 
pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-13), of the 
current ``generic clearance'' (approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget under control No. 3117-0016) under which the Commission can 
issue information collections (specifically, producer, importer, 
purchaser, and foreign producer questionnaires and certain institution 
notices) for the following types of import injury investigations: 
countervailing duty, antidumping, escape clause, market disruption, 
NAFTA safeguard, and ``interference with programs of the USDA.'' 
Comments concerning the proposed information collections are requested 
in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d); such comments are described in 
greater detail in the section of this notice entitled supplementary 
information.

DATES: To be assured of consideration, written comments must be 
received not later than March 26, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Signed comments should be submitted to Donna Koehnke, 
Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., 
Washington, D.C. 20436.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the proposed information 
collections (and related instructions) and draft Paperwork Reduction 
Act Submission and Supporting Statement to be submitted to the Office 
of Management and Budget may be obtained from either of the following 
persons: Debra Baker, Office of Investigations, U.S. International 
Trade Commission, telephone 202-205-3180, or Lynn Featherstone, 
Director, Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade 
Commission, telephone 202-205-3160. The draft Supporting Statement is 
also on the Commission's website (http://www.usitc.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    Comments are solicited as to (1) whether the proposed information 
collection 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 information collection, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (4) minimization of the burden 
of the proposed information collection on those who are to respond 
(including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological forms of information technology, 
e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses).

Summary of the Proposed Information Collections

(1) Need for the Proposed Information Collections

    The Commission conducts countervailing duty and antidumping 
investigations under provisions of Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 
to determine whether domestic industries are being materially injured 
or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of products 
which are subsidized (countervailing duty cases) or sold at less than 
fair value (antidumping cases). Five-year reviews of antidumping and 
countervailing duty orders and suspended investigations are conducted 
to determine whether revocation of the existing orders would be likely 
to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to the 
domestic industry. The Commission conducts escape-clause investigations 
to determine whether increased imports are a substantial cause of 
serious injury or threat of serious injury to a domestic industry. 
NAFTA safeguard investigations are conducted under the authority of the 
North American Free Trade Agreement and examine whether increased 
imports from Canada or Mexico are a substantial cause of serious injury 
or threat of serious injury to a domestic industry. Market disruption 
investigations are conducted to determine whether imports of an article 
produced in a Communist country are causing material injury to a 
domestic industry. The Commission also conducts investigations to 
determine whether imports are interfering with programs of the 
Department of Agriculture for agricultural commodities or products. 
Specific investigations are almost always instituted in response to 
petitions received from U.S. manufacturers of the product(s) in 
question. Data received in response to the questionnaires 
(specifically, producer, importer, purchaser, and foreign producer 
questionnaires) issued under the terms of the proposed generic 
clearance are consolidated and form much of the statistical base for 
the Commission's determinations in these statutorily-mandated 
investigations.
    Included in the proposed generic clearance are the institution 
notices for the five-year reviews of antidumping and countervailing 
duty orders and suspended investigations. Responses to the institution 
notices will be evaluated by the Commission and form much of the record 
for its determination to conduct either an expedited or full review.

(2) Information Collection Plan

    Using the sample ``generic clearance'' questionnaires as a guide, 
questionnaires for specific investigations are prepared and are sent to 
U.S. producers manufacturing the product(s) in question and to all 
significant importers of the products, except in cases involving an 
unusually large number of firms. In these instances, questionnaires are 
sent to a representative sample of firms. Purchaser questionnaires are 
also sent to all significant purchasers of the product(s). Finally, all 
foreign manufacturers of the product(s) in question that are 
represented by counsel are sent questionnaires, and, in addition, the 
Commission attempts to contact any other foreign manufacturers, 
especially if they export the product(s) in question to the United 
States. Firms receiving questionnaires include businesses, farms, and/
or other for-profit institutions; responses are mandatory.
    The institution notices for the five-year reviews are published in 
the Federal Register and solicit comment from interested parties (i.e., 
U.S. producers within the industry in question as well as labor unions 
or representative groups of workers, U.S. importers and foreign 
exporters, and involved foreign country governments).

(3) Description of the Information to be Collected

    Producer questionnaires generally consist of the following four 
parts: (part I) general questions relating to the organization and 
activities of the firm; (part II) data on capacity, production,

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inventories, employment, and the quantity and value of the firm's 
shipments and purchases from various sources; (part III) financial 
data, including income-and-loss data on the production in question, 
data on asset valuation, research and development expenses, and capital 
expenditures; and (part IV) pricing and market factors. (Questionnaires 
may, on occasion, also contain part V, an abbreviated version of the 
above-listed parts, used for gathering data on additional product 
categories.)
    Importer questionnaires generally consist of three parts: (part I) 
general questions relating to the organization and activities of the 
firm; (part II) data on the firm's imports and the shipment and 
inventories of its imports; and (part III) pricing and market factors 
similar to that requested in the producer questionnaire.
    Purchaser questionnaires generally consist of five parts: (part I) 
general questions relating to the organization and activities of the 
firm; (part II) data concerning the purchases of the product by the 
firm; (part III) market characteristics and purchasing practices; (part 
IV) comparisons between imported and U.S.-produced product; and (part 
V) actual purchase prices for specific types of domestic and subject 
imported products and the names of the firm's vendors.
    Foreign producer questionnaires generally consist of (part I) 
general questions relating to the organization and activities of the 
firm; (part II) data concerning the firm's manufacturing operations; 
and set reviews include 11 specific requests for information that firms 
are to provide if their response is to be considered by the Commission.
    The notices of institution for the five-year reviews include 11 
specific requests for information that firms are to provide if their 
response is to be considered by the Commission.
    The Commission solicits input from petitioners and other potential 
recipients when preparing questionnaires for individual investigations. 
Further, the Commission has formalized the process where interested 
parties comment on data collection and draft questionnaires in final 
phase countervailing duty and antidumping investigations (including the 
5-year reviews). Interested parties are provided approximately 2 weeks 
to provide comments to the Commission on the draft questionnaires. All 
efforts are made to minimize burden to the firms that will be receiving 
the questionnaires.

(4) Estimated Burden of the Proposed Information Collection

    The Commission estimates that information collections issued under 
the requested generic clearance will impose an average annual burden of 
105,000 response hours on 2,600 respondents (i.e., recipients that 
provide a response to the Commission's questionnaires or the notices of 
institution of five-year reviews). Table 1 lists the projected annual 
burden for each type of information collection for the period July 1999 
through June 2002:

                             Table 1.--Projected Annual Burden Data, by Type of Information Collection, July 1999-June 2002
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                                                                                                           Foreign
                                                     Producer           Importer         Purchaser         producer       Institution
                     Item                         questionnaires     questionnaires   question-naires  question-naires   notices for 5-       Total
                                                       \1\                \2\               \3\              \4\          year reviews
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\5\-----------------------
                                                                     Estimated burden hours imposed annually for July 1999-June 2002
Number of respondents.........................             890                871               575              208               86            2,630
Frequency of response.........................               1                  1                 1                1                1                1
Total annual responses........................             890                871               575              208               86            2,630
Hours per response............................              52.6               44.1              23.2             28.0              7.4             39.9
                                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Total hours.............................          46,825             38,426            13,335            5,832              636          105,054
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\1\ Producer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload ( x ) number of producer
  respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden (+) outside review burden (+) third-party disclosure burden). See definitions
  below. Responding firm burden accounts for 91 percent of the total producer questionnaire burden (48.1 hours per response), outside review burden
  accounts for 6 percent of the total burden, and third-party disclosure burden accounts for the remaining 3 percent. (The averages per questionnaire of
  the outside review and third-party disclosure burdens are not listed here since they are incurred only for the questionnaires of interested parties;
  such averages for all questionnaires are not meaningful.)
\2\ Importer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload ( x ) number of importer
  respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden (+) outside review burden (+) third-party disclosure burden). See definitions
  below. Responding firm burden accounts for 98 percent of the total importer questionnaire burden (43.3 hours per response), outside review burden and
  third-party disclosure burden each account for about 1 percent of the total burden. (The averages per questionnaire of the outside review and third-
  party disclosure burdens are not listed here since they are incurred only for the questionnaires of interested parties; such averages for all
  questionnaires are not meaningful.)
\3\ Purchaser questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload ( x ) number of purchaser
  respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden). See definitions below. Purchasers are not interested parties to investigations
  by statute and rarely engage outside counsel. Therefore, there is no measurable outside review burden nor third-party disclosure burden for
  purchasers.
\4\ Foreign producer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload ( x ) number of foreign
  producer respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden (+) outside review burden (+) third-party disclosure burden). See
  definitions below. Responding firm burden accounts for 34 percent of the total foreign producer questionnaire burden (9.6 hours per response), outside
  review burden accounts for another 34 percent, and third-party disclosure burden accounts for 32 percent of the total burden.
\5\ Institution notices for 5-year reviews.--Estimates based upon the following variables: anticipated 5-year review caseload, number of respondents to
  each notice, and responding firm burden. The Commission based its estimate of the number of respondents upon the number of responses per review
  received to date. Responding firm burden is estimated based on a comparison of the amount of information contained in notices received to date to
  completed producer questionnaires.
 
 Note.--Above estimates include questionnaires for specific investigations where the mailing list consists of fewer than 10 firms. In such instances the
  majority or all firms within the industry under investigation may be said to receive questionnaires. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
  ``(a)ny collection of information addressed to all or a substantial majority of an industry is presumed to involve ten or more persons.''

Definitions and Methodology
    Anticipated caseload.--Derived from current Commission budget 
estimates.
    Number of respondents per case.--Defined as the number of firms 
which return completed (see note 2 to table 3) questionnaires to the 
Commission. Current estimates of ``number of respondents per case'' for 
the producer,

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importer, and purchaser questionnaires were derived, in part, from the 
number of respondents to Commission questionnaires that were issued in 
FY1996-98. Averaged to that is the estimated number of respondents for 
questionnaires to be issued to 9 or fewer firms. Data for these 
mailings were not collected during FY1996-98 and Commission staff 
estimates that 4 respondents per mailing return such questionnaires. 
Similarly, foreign producer questionnaires are typically sent to 9 or 
fewer firms and Commission staff again used an estimate of 4 
respondents per mailing for foreign producer questionnaires.
    Responding firm burden.--Defined as the time required by the firm 
which received the questionnaire to review instructions, search data 
sources, and complete and review its response. Commission 
questionnaires do not impose the burden of developing, acquiring, 
installing and utilizing technology and systems, nor require adjusting 
existing methodology or training personnel. Current estimates of 
``responding firm burden'' for the producer, importer, and purchaser 
questionnaires were derived from the actual burden reported by firms 
that responded to Commission questionnaires issued in FY1996-98. 
Current estimates of ``respondent firm burden'' for the foreign 
producer questionnaires was estimated by Commission staff based upon 
its review of previously returned questionnaires.
    Outside review burden.--Time devoted by outside legal and financial 
advisors to reviewing questionnaires completed by the responding firms 
who are their clients prior to submitting them to the Commission. 
Commission staff conducted a survey of fewer than 10 law firms which 
have appeared before the Commission to derive a ``petitioner'' review 
burden estimate per party questionnaire and a ``respondent'' review 
burden estimate. Staff also reviewed a number of past investigations 
(33) to determine the average number of ``parties'' (i.e., respondent 
interested parties who were represented by outside counsel) per 
investigation and calculated the total number of review burden hours 
that would be incurred annually. The ``petitioner/producer'' review 
burden was applied to the producer questionnaire burden figures and the 
``respondent'' review burden was divided among the importer and foreign 
producer questionnaires.
    Third party disclosure burden.--Time required for outside legal 
advisors to serve their clients' questionnaires on other interested 
parties to the investigation or review under an administrative 
protective order. Commission staff included in its survey of law firms 
a request for the average third party disclosure burden and using the 
same methodology described above for outside review burden applied the 
third party disclosure burden to the hours per response figures for the 
producer, importer, and foreign producer questionnaires.
    The Commission further estimates that it costs responding firms 
$65.30 per burden hour to complete a specific questionnaire issued 
under the generic clearance. (This estimate is based upon actual costs 
reported by respondents to questionnaires issued under the current 
generic clearance.) More complete information concerning costs to 
respondents, including costs incurred for the purchase of services, and 
estimates of the annualized cost to the Commission are presented in the 
draft Supporting Statement available from the Commission. There is no 
known capital and start-up cost component imposed by the proposed 
information collections.

(5) Information Technology

    The Commission's collection of data through its questionnaires does 
not currently involve the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology. Completed questionnaires are almost always returned to the 
Commission in paper-form. While the Commission has explored the use of 
alternative methods of submission, it has proved most expedient to 
receive paper copies for a number of reasons. (The draft Supporting 
Statement available from the Commission addresses this issue in greater 
detail.) However, while there are certain impediments to the easy 
receipt of data in electronic form, the Commission will, and has in the 
past, accept electronic submissions when large amounts of 
``repetitive'' data are being requested. Further, the Commission will 
make the questionnaires available to firms in electronic format to aid 
respondents. Likewise, it is the Commission's experience that it is 
most expedient that the information provided in response to its notices 
of institution for the five-year reviews be submitted in document form 
directly to its Office of the Secretary.

    Issued: January 25, 1999.

    By order of the Commission.
Donna R. Koehnke,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-2045 Filed 1-27-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P