[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15757-15759]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6400]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget 
(``OMB'') to extend through March 31, 2015, the current Paperwork 
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for the information collection 
requirements in

[[Page 15758]]

the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (``FPLA'') rules. That clearance 
expires on March 31, 2012.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by April 16, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Fair Packaging & 
Labeling Regs, PRA Comments, P074200'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fplaPRA2 by 
following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following 
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 
(Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ronald D. Lewis, Supervisory 
Investigator, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 
(202) 326-2985, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: FPLA Rules, 16 CFR Parts 500-503.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0110.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 857,490.
    Frequency of Response: Once per commodity unit.
    Abstract: The FPLA, 15 U.S.C. 1451-1461, was enacted to eliminate 
consumer deception concerning product size and package content. Section 
4 of the FPLA specifically requires packages or labels to be marked 
with: (1) A statement of identity; (2) a net quantity of contents 
disclosure; and (3) the name and place of business of a company that is 
responsible for the product. The FPLA rules, 16 CFR Parts 500-503, 
specify how manufacturers, packagers, and distributors of ``consumer 
commodities'' \1\ must do this.
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    \1\ ``The term consumer commodity or commodity means any 
article, product, or commodity of any kind or class which is 
customarily produced or distributed for sale through retail sales 
agencies or instrumentalities for consumption by individuals, or use 
by individuals for purposes of personal care or in the performance 
of services ordinarily rendered within the household, and which 
usually is consumed or expended in the course of such consumption or 
use.'' 16 CFR 500.2(c). For the precise scope of the term's coverage 
see 16 CFR 500.2(c); 503.2; 503.5. See also http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fpla/outline.html.
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    On November 14, 2011, the Commission sought comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the FPLA rules. 76 
FR 70451. No comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB rules, 5 CFR 
part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., the FTC is 
providing a second opportunity for the public to comment while seeking 
OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule.
    Estimated Annual Burden: \2\
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    \2\ The calculations and explanations underlying the estimates 
for annual burden were detailed in the November 14, 2011, Federal 
Register Notice. See 76 FR at 70451-70452.
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    (a) Total Burden Hours: 8,574,900 (solely relating to disclosure 
\3\);
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    \3\ To the extent that the FPLA-implementing rules require 
sellers of consumer commodities to keep records that substantiate 
``cents off,'' ``introductory offer,'' and/or ``economy size'' 
claims, Commission staff believes that most, if not all, of the 
records that sellers maintain would be kept in the ordinary course 
of business, regardless of the legal mandates.
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    (b) Labor Costs: $186,932,820;
    (c) Capital/Non-Labor Costs: $0.
    Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For 
the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or 
before April 16, 2012. Write ``Fair Packaging & Labeling Regs, PRA 
Comments, P074200'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name 
and your state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, 
including to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, 
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of 
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact 
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web 
site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone'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. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which is obtained from any person and which is privileged or 
confidential'' as provided in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act 15 U.S.C. 
46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do 
not include competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales 
statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns devices, manufacturing 
processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give you comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c)).\4\ Your comment will be kept confidential only if 
the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, grants your 
request in accordance with the law and the public interest.
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    \4\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), CFR 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fplaPRA2, by following the instructions on the web-based form. If 
this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may 
file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Fair Packaging & 
Labeling Regs, PRA comments, P074200'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your 
paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that 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 on or before April 16, 2012. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent 
by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office 
Building, Docket Library, Room 10102,

[[Page 15759]]

725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. 
postal mail, however, are subject to delays due to heightened security 
precautions. Thus, comments instead should be sent by facsimile to 
(202) 395-5167.

Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-6400 Filed 3-15-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P