[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4709-4710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01762]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 142-3022]


Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.; Analysis of 
Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid 
Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint 
and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--
that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 20, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/charlesriverconsent online or on paper, 
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Charles River 
Laboratories International, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 142-
3022'' on your comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/charlesriverconsent https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fidelitynationalconsent 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 
D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Race Brin, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, (202-326-2106), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis To Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for January 21, 2014), on the World Wide Web, 
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm. A paper copy can be obtained 
from the FTC Public Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-
2222.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before February 20, 
2014. Write ``Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 142-3022'' 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

[[Page 4710]]

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 privileged or 
confidential,'' as discussed 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 your 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), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ 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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    \1\ 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), 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/charlesriverconsent 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 ``Charles River 
Laboratories International, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 142-
3022'' 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 D), 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 February 20, 2014. 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.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement applicable to 
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (``Charles River 
Labs'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final 
the agreement's proposed order.
    This matter concerns alleged false or misleading representations 
that Charles River Labs made to consumers concerning its participation 
in the Safe Harbor privacy framework (``Safe Harbor'') agreed upon by 
the U.S. and the European Union (``EU'') (``U.S.-EU Safe Harbor 
Framework''). It is among several actions the Commission is bringing to 
enforce the promises that companies make when they certify that they 
participate in the Safe Harbor Framework. The Safe Harbor framework 
allows U.S. companies to transfer data outside the EU consistent with 
European law. To join the Safe Harbor framework, a company must self-
certify to the U.S. Department of Commerce (``Commerce'') that it 
complies with a set of principles and related requirements that have 
been deemed by the European Commission as providing ``adequate'' 
privacy protection. Commerce maintains a public Web site, 
www.export.gov/safeharbor, where it posts the names of companies that 
have self-certified to the Safe Harbor framework. The listing of 
companies indicates whether their self-certification is ``current'' or 
``not current.'' Companies are required to re-certify every year in 
order to retain their status as ``current'' members of the Safe Harbor 
framework.
    Charles River Labs provides support for research and development of 
new drugs, devices and therapies. According to the Commission's 
complaint, since at least May 2006, Charles River Labs set forth on its 
Web site, www.criver.com, privacy policies and statements about its 
practices, including statements related to its participation in the 
U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
    The Commission's complaint alleges that Charles River Labs falsely 
represented that it was a ``current'' participant in the Safe Harbor 
when, in fact, from May 2011 until December 2013, Charles River Labs 
was not a ``current'' participant in the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. 
The Commission's complaint alleges that in May 2006, Charles River Labs 
submitted a Safe Harbor self-certification. Charles River Labs did not 
renew its self-certification in May 2011 and Commerce subsequently 
updated Charles River Labs status to ``not current'' on its public Web 
site. In December 2013, Charles River Labs renewed its self-
certification to the Safe Harbor framework, and its status was changed 
to ``current'' on Commerce's Web site.
    Part I of the proposed order prohibits Charles River Labs from 
making misrepresentations about its membership in any privacy or 
security program sponsored by the government or any other self-
regulatory or standard-setting organization, including, but not limited 
to, the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
    Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part II requires Charles River Labs to retain 
documents relating to its compliance with the order for a five-year 
period. Part III requires dissemination of the order now and in the 
future to persons with responsibilities relating to the subject matter 
of the order. Part IV ensures notification to the FTC of changes in 
corporate status. Part V mandates that Charles River Labs submit an 
initial compliance report to the FTC, and make available to the FTC 
subsequent reports. Part VI is a provision ``sunsetting'' the order 
after twenty (20) years, with certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the proposed complaint or order or to modify the 
order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-01762 Filed 1-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P