[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1411-1414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00166]


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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 information collection requirements described below will 
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, 
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public 
comments on its proposal to extend for three years the current PRA 
clearances for information collection requirements contained in three 
product labeling rules enforced by the Commission. Those clearances 
expire on March 31, 2015.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 10, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Apparel Rules: FTC 
File No. P074201'' on your comment, and file your comment online at 
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/apparelrulespra 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, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office 
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, 
Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for copies of the collection 
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to 
Robert M. Frisby, 202-326-2098, or Lemuel Dowdy, 202-326-2981, 
Attorneys, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Room CC-9528, Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Information Collection Activities

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, 
federal agencies must get OMB approval for each collection of 
information they conduct, sponsor, or require. ``Collection of 
information'' means agency requests or requirements to 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 section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment before 
requesting that OMB extend the existing PRA clearance for the 
information collection requirements associated with the Commission's 
rules and regulations under the rules and regulations under the Wool 
Products Labeling Act of 1939 (``Wool Rules''), 16 CFR part 300 (OMB 
Control Number 3084-0100); rules and regulations under the Textile 
Fiber

[[Page 1412]]

Products Identification Act (``Textile Rules''), 16 CFR part 303 (OMB 
Control Number 3084-0101); and the Care Labeling of Textile Wearing 
Apparel and Certain Piece Goods As Amended (``Care Labeling Rule''), 16 
CFR 423 (OMB Control Number 3084-0103).
    The FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of 
information 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 collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who 
are to respond.\1\ All comments must be received on or before March 10, 
2015.
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    \1\ As part of its regulatory review program, the Commission is 
currently reviewing the Care Labeling Rule. See Federal Trade 
Commission: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain 
Piece Goods as Amended: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; Request for 
Public Comment, 77 FR 58338 (Sept. 20, 2012). The Commission held a 
public roundtable on the proposed amendments on March 28, 2014. See 
79 FR 9442 (Feb. 19, 2014).
    The Commission recently completed its review of the Textile and 
Wool Rules. Federal Trade Commission: Rules and Regulations Under 
the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act: Final Rule, 79 FR 
18766 (Apr. 4, 2014); Federal Trade Commission: Rules and 
Regulations under the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939; Final 
Rule, 79 FR 32157 (June 4, 2014).
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Burden Estimates

    Staff's burden estimates for the three rules in question are based 
on data from the Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census, the 
International Trade Commission, the Department of Labor's Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (``BLS''), and data or other input from the main 
industry association, the American Apparel and Footwear Association 
(AAFA). The AAFA, a national trade association which represents U.S. 
apparel, footwear and other sewn products companies and their 
suppliers, has stated that ``[t]he use of labels on textiles and 
apparels is beneficial to consumers, manufacturers, and business in 
general as it allows for the necessary flow of information along the 
supply chain.'' \2\ The relevant information collection requirements in 
these rules and staff's corresponding burden estimates follow. The 
estimates address the number of hours needed and the labor costs 
incurred to comply with the requirements. Staff believes that a 
significant portion of hours and labor costs currently attributable to 
burden below are time and financial resources usually and customarily 
incurred by persons in the course of their regular activity (e.g., 
industry participants already have and/or would have care labels 
regardless of the rule(s)) and could be excluded from PRA-related 
burden.\3\
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    \2\ Page one from comment by Kevin M. Burke, President and CEO, 
American Apparel & Footwear Association, March 26, 2012, Advance 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; Request for Public Comment; Rules and 
Regulations under the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939; 77 FR 4498 
(Jan. 30, 2012).
    \3\ 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2).
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1. Wool Rules (OMB Control Number: 3084-0100)

    The Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 (``Wool Act'') \4\ prohibits 
the misbranding of wool products. The Wool Rules establish disclosure 
requirements that assist consumers in making informed purchasing 
decisions and recordkeeping requirements that assist the Commission in 
enforcing the Rules.
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    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 68 et seq.
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    Estimated annual hours burden: 1,880,000 hours (160,000 
recordkeeping hours + 1,720,000 disclosure hours).
    Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that approximately 4,000 wool firms 
are subject to the Wool Rules' recordkeeping requirements. Based on an 
average annual burden of 40 hours per firm, the total recordkeeping 
burden is 160,000 hours.
    Disclosure: Approximately 8,000 wool firms, producing or importing 
about 600,000,000 wool products annually, are subject to the Wool 
Rules' disclosure requirements. Staff estimates the burden of 
determining label content to be 30 hours per year per firm, or a total 
of 240,000 hours, and the burden of drafting and ordering labels to be 
60 hours per firm per year, or a total of 480,000 hours. Staff believes 
that the process of attaching labels is now fully automated and 
integrated into other production steps for about 40 percent of all 
affected products. For the remaining 360,000,000 items (60 percent of 
600,000,000), the process is semi-automated and requires an average of 
approximately ten seconds per item, for a total of 1,000,000 hours per 
year. Thus, the total estimated annual burden for all firms is 
1,720,000 hours (240,000 hours for determining label content + 480,000 
hours to draft and order labels + 1,000,000 hours to attach labels). 
Staff believes that any additional burden associated with advertising 
disclosure requirements would be minimal (less than 10,000 hours) and 
can be subsumed within the burden estimates set forth above.
    Estimated annual cost burden: $16,380,000, rounded to the nearest 
thousand (solely relating to labor costs). The chart below summarizes 
the total estimated costs.

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                           Task                                Hourly rate      Burden hours       Labor cost
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Determine label content...................................           $ 26.00           240,000        $6,240,000
Draft and order labels....................................             17.00           480,000         8,160,000
Attach labels.............................................          \5\ 5.50         1,000,000         5,500,000
Recordkeeping.............................................             17.00           160,000         2,720,000
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Total.................................................  ................  ................       $16,380,000
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    Staff  believes that there are no current start-up costs or other 
capital costs associated with the Wool Rules. Because the labeling of 
wool products has been an integral part of the manufacturing process 
for decades, manufacturers have in place the capital equipment 
necessary to comply with the Rules. Based on knowledge of the industry,

[[Page 1413]]

staff believes that much of the information required by the Wool Act 
and Rules would be included on the product label even absent their 
requirements. Similarly, recordkeeping and advertising disclosures are 
tasks performed in the ordinary course of business so that covered 
firms would incur no additional capital or other non-labor costs as a 
result of the Rules.
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    \5\ For imported products, the labels generally are attached in 
the country where the products are manufactured. According to 
information compiled by an industry trade association using data 
from the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade 
Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 97.5% of 
apparel used in the United States is imported. With the remaining 
2.5% attributable to U.S. production at an approximate domestic 
hourly wage of $10 to attach labels, staff has calculated a weighted 
average hourly wage of $5.50 per hour attributable to U.S. and 
foreign labor combined. The estimated percentage of imports supplied 
by particular countries is based on trade data for the year ending 
in September 2014 compiled by the Office of Textiles and Apparel, 
International Trade Administration. Wages in major textile exporting 
countries, factored into the above hourly wage estimate, were based 
on 2012 data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics. See Table 1.1 Indexes of hourly compensation costs in 
manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 1996-2012 (Index, U.S. = 100) 
available at: http://www.bls.gov/fls/#compensation.
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2. Textile Rules (OMB Control Number: 3084-0101)

    The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (``Textile Act'') \6\ 
prohibits the misbranding and false advertising of textile fiber 
products. The Textile Rules establish disclosure requirements that 
assist consumers in making informed purchasing decisions, and 
recordkeeping requirements that assist the Commission in enforcing the 
Rules. The Rules also contain a petition procedure for requesting the 
establishment of generic names for textile fibers.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 70 et seq.
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    Estimated annual hours burden: 39,186,772 hours (1,237,015 
recordkeeping hours + 37,949,757 disclosure hours).
    Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that approximately 19,031 textile 
firms are subject to the Textile Rules' recordkeeping requirements. 
Based on an average burden of 65 hours per firm, the total 
recordkeeping burden is 1,237,015 hours.
    Disclosure: Approximately 22,642 textile firms, producing or 
importing about 20.8 billion textile fiber products annually, are 
subject to the Textile Rules' disclosure requirements.\7\ Staff 
estimates the burden of determining label content to be 65 hours per 
year per firm, or a total of 1,471,730 hours and the burden of drafting 
and ordering labels to be 80 hours per firm per year, or a total of 
1,811,360 hours.\8\ Staff believes that the process of attaching labels 
is now fully automated and integrated into other production steps for 
about 40 percent of all affected products. For the remaining 12.48 
billion items (60 percent of 20.8 billion), the process is semi-
automated and requires an average of approximately ten seconds per 
item, for a total of 34,666,667 hours per year. Thus, the total 
estimated annual burden for all firms is 37,949,757 hours (1,471,730 
hours to determine label content + 1,811,360 hours to draft and order 
labels + 34,666,667 hours to attach labels).\9\ Staff believes that any 
additional burden associated with advertising disclosure requirements 
or the filing of generic fiber name petitions would be minimal (less 
than 10,000 hours) and can be subsumed within the burden estimates set 
forth above.
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    \7\ The estimated consumption of garments in the U.S. in 2012 
was 19.4 billion. However, staff estimates that 1 billion garments 
are exempt from the Textile Act (i.e., any kind of headwear and 
garments made from something other than a textile fiber product, 
such as leather) or are subject to a special exemption for hosiery 
products sold in packages where the label information is contained 
on the package. Based on available data, staff estimates that an 
additional 3 billion household textile products (non-garments, such 
as sheets, towels, blankets) were consumed. However, approximately 
0.6 billion of all of these garments and household products are 
subject to the Wool Act, not the Textile Act, because they contain 
some amount of wool. Thus, the estimated net total products subject 
to the Textile Act is 20.8 billion (19.4 - 1 + 3 = 21.4 - 0.6 = 20.8 
billion).
    \8\ In 2007, Congress amended the Wool Act to explicitly define 
``cashmere'' and certain terms used to describe superfine wool 
(e.g., ``Super 80s,'' ``Super 90s,'' etc.). See Public Law 109-428. 
In 2014, the Commission revised the Wool Rules to incorporate these 
amendments as well as to clarify and streamline certain provisions 
and to allow more flexibility in marketing wool products (e.g., 
allowing the use of certain hang-tags that do not disclose a 
product's full fiber content). The Commission sought comment on the 
increased burden, if any, imposed by these changes but did not 
receive any comments asserting that the amendments would increase 
compliance costs. See 79 FR 32157 (June 4, 2014).
    \9\ The Commission revised the Textile Rules in 2006 in response 
to amendments to the Textile Act. See 70 FR 73369 (Dec. 12, 2005). 
These amendments concerned the placement of labels on packages of 
certain types of socks and, therefore, do not place any additional 
disclosure burden on covered entities. In 2014, the Commission 
revised the Textile Rules to clarify and streamline certain 
provisions and to allow more flexibility in marketing textile 
products (e.g., allowing the use of certain hang-tags that do not 
disclose the product's full fiber content). The Commission sought 
comment on the increased burden, if any, imposed by these changes 
but did not receive any comments asserting that the amendments would 
increase compliance costs. See 79 FR 18766 (Apr. 4, 2014).
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    Estimated annual cost burden: $280,754,000, rounded to the nearest 
thousand (solely relating to labor costs). The chart below summarizes 
the total estimated costs.

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                           Task                                Hourly rate      Burden hours       Labor cost
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Determine label content...................................           $ 26.00         1,471,730       $38,264,980
Draft and order labels....................................             17.00         1,811,360        30,793,120
Attach labels.............................................         \10\ 5.50        34,666,667       190,666,669
Recordkeeping.............................................             17.00         1,237,015        21,029,255
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Total.................................................  ................  ................      $280,754,024
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    \10\ See note 3.
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    Staff believes that there are no current start-up costs or other 
capital costs associated with the Textile Rules. Because the labeling 
of textile products has been an integral part of the manufacturing 
process for decades, manufacturers have in place the capital equipment 
necessary to comply with the Rules' labeling requirements. Industry 
sources indicate that much of the information required by the Textile 
Act and Rules would be included on the product label even absent their 
requirements. Similarly, recordkeeping, invoicing, and advertising 
disclosures are tasks performed in the ordinary course of business; 
therefore, covered firms would incur no additional capital or other 
non-labor costs as a result of the Rules.

3. The Care Labeling Rule (OMB Control Number: 3084-0103)

    The Care Labeling Rule requires manufacturers and importers to 
attach a permanent care label to all covered textile clothing in order 
to assist consumers in making purchase decisions and in determining 
what method to use to clean their apparel. Also, manufacturers and 
importers of piece goods used to make textile clothing must provide the 
same care information on the end of each bolt or roll of fabric.
    Estimated annual hours burden: 34,742,226 hours (solely relating to 
disclosure \11\).
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    \11\ The Care Labeling Rule imposes no specific recordkeeping 
requirements. Although the Rule requires manufacturers and importers 
to have reliable evidence to support the recommended care 
instructions, companies rely on current technical literature or past 
experience.
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    Staff estimates that approximately 22,642 manufacturers or 
importers of textile apparel, producing about 18.4 billion textile 
garments annually, are subject to the Rule's disclosure requirements. 
The burden of developing

[[Page 1414]]

proper care instructions may vary greatly among firms, primarily based 
on the number of different lines of textile garments introduced per 
year that require new or revised care instructions. Staff estimates the 
burden of determining care instructions to be 100 hours each year per 
firm, for a cumulative total of 2,264,200 hours. Staff further 
estimates that the burden of drafting and ordering labels is 80 hours 
each year per firm, for a total of 1,811,360 hours. Staff believes that 
the process of attaching labels is fully automated and integrated into 
other production steps for about 40 percent of the approximately 18.4 
billion garments that are required to have care instructions on 
permanent labels.\12\ For the remaining 11.04 billion items (60 percent 
of 18.4 billion), the process is semi-automated and requires an average 
of approximately ten seconds per item, for a total of 30,666,667 hours 
per year. Thus, the total estimated annual burden for all firms is 
34,742,226 hours (2,264,200 hours to determine care instructions + 
1,811,360 hours to draft and order labels + 30,666,666 hours to attach 
labels).
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    \12\ About 1 billion of the 19.4 billion garments produced 
annually are either not covered by the Care Labeling Rule (gloves, 
hats, caps, and leather, fur, plastic, or leather garments) or are 
subject to an exemption that allows care instructions to appear on 
packaging (hosiery).
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    Estimated annual cost burden: $258,329,000, rounded to the nearest 
thousand (solely relating to labor costs). The chart below summarizes 
the total estimated costs.

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                           Task                                Hourly rate      Burden hours       Labor cost
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Determine care instructions...............................           $ 26.00         2,264,200       $58,869,200
Draft and order labels....................................             17.00         1,811,360        30,793,120
Attach labels.............................................         \13\ 5.50        30,666,667       168,666,669
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    Total.................................................  ................  ................       258,328,989
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    Staff  believes that there are no current start-up costs or other 
capital costs associated with the Care Labeling Rule. Because the 
labeling of textile products has been an integral part of the 
manufacturing process for decades, manufacturers have in place the 
capital equipment necessary to comply with the Rule's labeling 
requirements. Based on knowledge of the industry, staff believes that 
much of the information required by the Rule would be included on the 
product label even absent those requirements.
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    \13\ See note 3.
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Request for Comments

    You can file a comment online or on paper. Write ``Apparel Rules: 
FTC File No. P074201'' 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, such as a 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, such as 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 must follow the procedure explained in 
FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). 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. Postal 
mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened 
security screening. As a result, the Commission encourages 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/apparelrulespra by following the 
instructions on the Web-based form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Apparel Rules: FTC File 
No. P074201'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail it to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610, (Annex J), Washington, DC 
20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th 
Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610, (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024. If 
possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service.
    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 March 10, 
2015. 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.

David C. Shonka,
Principal Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-00166 Filed 1-8-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P