[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11659-11661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3244]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC is soliciting public comments on proposed information 
requests to beverage alcohol manufacturers. These comments will be 
considered before the FTC submits a request for Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) review under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 
U.S.C. 3501-3520, of compulsory process orders to alcohol advertisers 
for information concerning, inter alia, compliance with voluntary 
advertising placement provisions, sales and marketing expenditures, and 
the status of third-party review of complaints regarding compliance 
with voluntary advertising codes.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 8, 2006.

[[Page 11660]]


ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. 
Comments should refer to the ``Alcohol Reports: Paperwork Comment, FTC 
File No. P064505'' to facilitate the organization of the 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 H-135 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20580. Because paper mail in the Washington area 
and at the Commission is subject to delay, please consider submitting 
your comments in electronic form, as prescribed below. However, if the 
comment contains any material for which confidential treatment is 
requested, it must be filed in paper form, and the first page of the 
document must be clearly labeled ``Confidential.'' \1\ The FTC is 
requesting that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier or 
overnight service, if possible. Alternatively, comments may be filed in 
electronic form (in ASCII format, WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word) as 
part of or as an attachment to e-mail messages directed to the 
following e-mail box: [email protected].
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    \1\ Commission 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 Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    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 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: Requests for additional information 
should be addressed to Janet Evans or Mamie Kresses, Attorneys, 
Division of Advertising Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 
Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20580; telephone: (202) 326-2125 or (202) 326-2070.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FTC previously published reports on 
voluntary advertising self-regulation by the alcohol industry in 
September 1999 and September 2003. The data contained in the reports 
was based on information submitted to the Commission, pursuant to 
compulsory process, by U.S. beverage alcohol advertisers. The FTC has 
authority to compel production of this information from advertisers 
under Section 6 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46. The Commission believes 
that it is in the public interest to collect updated data from alcohol 
advertisers on sales and marketing expenditures, compliance with the 
industry's self-imposed regulatory code concerning advertising 
placement, and the status of third-party review of complaints regarding 
compliance with the industry's self-regulatory advertising standards, 
and to publish a report on the data obtained.
    The Commission intends to address its information requests to the 
ultimate parent of alcohol advertisers in order to assure that no 
relevant data from affiliated or subsidiary companies goes unreported. 
Because the number of separately incorporated companies affected by the 
Commission's requests will presumably exceed ten entities, the 
Commission intends to seek OMB clearance under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (``PRA'') before requesting any information from beverage alcohol 
advertisers.
    Under the PRA, federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for 
each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of 
information'' means agency requests or requirements that members of the 
public 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 the PRA, 44 
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the FTC is providing this opportunity for public 
comment before requesting that OMB grant the clearance for the proposed 
information collection requirements.
    The FTC invites comment on: (1) Whether the proposed collections of 
information are necessary for the proper performance of the functions 
of the FTC, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the FTC's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collections of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of collecting the information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of collection techniques or other 
form of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions 
of responses. All comments should be filed as prescribed in the 
ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before May 8, 2006.

A. Information Requests to the Beverage Alcohol Industry

1. Description of the Collection of Information and Proposed Use

    The FTC proposes to send information requests to the ultimate 
parent company of up to twelve advertisers of beer, wine, or distilled 
spirits in the United States (``industry members''). The information 
requests will seek, among other information, data regarding: (1) Sales 
of beverage alcohol; (2) expenditures to advertise and promote beverage 
alcohol in measured and non-measured media; (3) compliance with the 30% 
product placement standard contained in the industry's self-regulatory 
codes; and (4) third-party or other external compliance review 
mechanisms; to the extent industry members possess such data.
    It should be noted that subsequent to this notice any destruction, 
removal, mutilation, alteration, or falsification of documentary 
evidence that may be responsive to this information collection within 
the possession or control of a person, partnership or corporation 
subject to the FTC Act may be subject to criminal prosecution. 15 
U.S.C. 50; see also 18 U.S.C. 1505.
    Confidentiality: Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), bars 
the Commission from publicly disclosing trade secrets or confidential 
commercial or financial information it receives from persons pursuant 
to, among other methods, special orders authorized by Section 6(b) of 
the FTC Act. Such information also would be exempt from disclosure 
under the Freedom of Information Act. 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Moreover, 
under Section 21(c) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 57b-2(c), a submitter who 
designates a submission as confidential is entitled to 10 days' advance 
notice of any anticipated public disclosure by the Commission, assuming 
that the Commission has determined that the information does not, in 
fact, constitute 6(f) material. Although materials covered under one or 
more of these various sections are protected by stringent 
confidentiality constraints, the FTC Act and the Commission's rules 
authorize disclosure in limited circumstances (e.g., official requests 
by Congress, requests from other agencies for law enforcement

[[Page 11661]]

purposes, administrative or judicial proceedings). Even in those 
limited contexts, however, the Commission's rules may afford 
protections to the submitter, such as advance notice to seek a 
protective order in litigation. See 15 U.S.C. 57b-2; 16 CFR 4.9-4.11.
    Finally, the information presented in the study will not reveal 
company-specific data. See 15 U.S.C. 57b-2(d)(1)(B). Rather, the 
Commission anticipates providing information on an anonymous or 
aggregated basis, in a manner sufficient to protect individual 
companies' confidential information, to provide a factual summary of 
how the alcohol industry self-regulation has operated for the specified 
period.

2. Estimated Hours Burden

    The FTC staff's estimate of the hours burden is based on the time 
required to respond to each information request. Because beverage 
alcohol companies vary in size, the number of products that they sell, 
and the extent and variety of their advertising and promotion efforts, 
the FTC staff has provided a range of the estimated hours burden. As 
noted above, each company will receive information requests pertaining 
to four categories. Based upon its knowledge of the industry, the staff 
estimates, on average, that the time required to gather, organize, 
format, and produce responses to each of the four information 
categories will range between 15 and 120 hours for most companies, but 
that the largest companies could require as many as 280 hours for the 
most time-consuming category, that is, placement information. The total 
estimated burden per company is based on the following:

Identify, obtain and organize sales information, prepare response: 
15-35 hours.
Identify, obtain, and organize information on advertising and 
marketing expenditures, prepare response: 25-65 hours.
Identify, obtain, and organize placement information, prepare 
response: 120-280 hours.
Identify, obtain, and organize information regarding compliance 
review, prepare response: 10-20 hours.

    FTC staff anticipates that the cumulative hours burden to respond 
to the information requests will be between 170 hours and 400 hours per 
company. Nonetheless, in order to be conservative, the FTC estimates 
that the burden per company for each of up to twelve intended 
recipients will be 400 hours. Accordingly, staff's estimate of the 
total burden is 4,800 hours. These estimates include any time spent by 
separately incorporated subsidiaries and other entities affiliated with 
the ultimate parent company that has received the information requests.

3. Estimated Cost Burden

    It is difficult to calculate with precision the labor costs 
associated with this data production, as they entail varying 
compensation levels of management and/or support staff among companies 
of different sizes. Although financial, marketing, legal, and clerical 
personnel may be involved in the information collection process, FTC 
staff has assumed that mid-management personnel and outside legal 
counsel will handle most of the tasks involved in gathering and 
producing responsive information and has applied an average hourly wage 
of $250/hour for their labor. FTC staff anticipates that the labor 
costs per company will range between $42,500 (170 hours x $250/hour) 
and $100,000 (400 hours x $250/hour). Nonetheless, in order to be 
conservative, the FTC estimates that the total labor costs per company 
will be $100,000.
    FTC staff estimates that the capital or other non-labor costs 
associated with the information requests are minimal. Although the 
information requests may necessitate that industry members maintain the 
requested information provided to the Commission, they should already 
have in place the means to compile and maintain business records.

William Blumenthal,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. E6-3244 Filed 3-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P