[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 151 (Monday, August 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45721-45722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15683]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Public Workshop: Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity

AGENCIES: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission); Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of Extension of Public Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: Due to requests for additional time to prepare more 
comprehensive comments in response to the issues that were addressed by 
the public workshop, an amendment is being issued to the Notice 
Announcing Public Workshop: Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood 
Obesity to extend the time period during which persons may submit 
written comments on the workshop until August 12, 2005.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before Friday, August 12, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to ``Food Marketing to Kids Workshop--
Comment, Project No. P034519'' to facilitate the organization of 
comments. A comment filed in paper form should include this reference 
both in the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or 
delivered, with two complete copies, to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room 159-H (Annex H), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Because paper mail 
in the Washington area and at the Agency is subject to delay, please 
consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as prescribed 
below. Comments containing confidential material, however, must be 
filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled ``Confidential,'' and must 
comply with Commission Rule 4.9(c).\1\
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    \1\ 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 Commission Rule 4.9(c), 
16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by clicking 
on the following Web link: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-foodmarketingtokids 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 https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-foodmarketingtokids Web link.
    The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the 
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as 
appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments, whether filed 
in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and 
will be available to the public on the FTC Web site, to the extent 
practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov. As a matter of discretion, the FTC 
makes every effort to remove home contact information for individuals 
from the public comments it receives before placing those comments on 
the FTC Web site. 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.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Kelly, (202) 326-3304, or 
Michelle Rusk, (202) 326-3148, FTC, Bureau of Consumer Protection. The 
FTC staff contacts can be reached by mail at: Federal Trade Commission, 
601 New Jersey Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Jennifer Bishop, 
(202) 690-8384, HHS, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
Evaluation. The HHS staff contact can be reached by mail at: The U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Room 447-D, Washington, DC 20201.
    A detailed agenda and additional information on the workshop is 
posted on the FTC's Web site at www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/foodmarketingtokids/index.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Workshop Goals

    Obesity in children has recently become one of the top public 
health issues in the United States. As a result, increased attention 
has been given to the importance of a balanced and nutritious diet and 
physical activity in childhood to ensure healthy growth and development 
and prevent chronic conditions and disease, such as obesity. Within 
both the government and the private sector, multiple efforts are being 
taken or proposed to find and implement effective measures to reverse 
the rise of childhood obesity. These include a wide variety of 
approaches, including identifying and funding additional research on 
childhood obesity, considering changes to food and beverage labeling, 
encouraging physical activity, and educating parents and children about 
the importance of physical activity and eating a balanced, nutritious 
diet.
    One frequent area of attention is the role of food and beverage 
advertising and marketing directed to children. Industry members in the 
United States have adopted their own set of guidelines to encourage 
responsible advertising, including food advertising, to children. These 
guidelines are administered by the Council of Better Business Bureau's 
Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU). In recent years, many 
individual companies in the food, beverage, and restaurant industries, 
and in the media and entertainment industries, have also taken actions 
to advance responsible food and beverage marketing to children and 
promote healthy lifestyles.
    In light of the widespread public interest in marketing of food and 
beverages to children, the FTC and HHS hosted a public workshop, 
``Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity,'' in Washington, DC 
on July 14 and 15, 2005. The workshop provided a forum for discussion 
of ongoing industry self-regulatory efforts that seek to address the 
marketing of food and beverages to children.\2\ At the workshop, 
participants discussed industry members' efforts to address concerns 
about marketing to children, and CARU's efforts to encourage 
responsible industry advertising. It also provided a forum to hear from 
consumer advocacy and public health groups concerning current industry 
practices. Specific topics and issues addressed at the workshop are set 
forth in the FTC and HHS Notice Announcing Public Workshop: Marketing, 
Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity, published in the Federal Register 
on May 12, 2005.
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    \2\ The workshop focused on food and beverage marketing to 
children. It did not cover other possible contributors to childhood 
obesity, including sedentary behaviors like watching television, 
playing electronic games on a computer, or decreases in exercise, or 
the marketing of related sedentary entertainment products.
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Extension of Time for Filing Comments

    The time period during which public comments may be submitted is 
extended. Interested parties may submit written comments on the 
published questions and other related issues addressed by the workshop 
until August 12, 2005. Especially useful are any studies, surveys, 
research, and empirical data. All comments should be filed as 
prescribed in the ADDRESSES section

[[Page 45722]]

above, and must be received on or before Friday, August 12, 2005.

Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-15683 Filed 8-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P