[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 240 (Tuesday, December 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77637-77638]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31402]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2012-0873]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Bar Code Label Requirement for Human Drug and 
Biological Products

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an 
opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain 
information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(the PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, 
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of 
information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the 
notice. This notice solicits comments on the bar code label 
requirements for human drug and biological products.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection 
of information by February 16, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to http://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
     Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Division of 
Dockets Management, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2012-N-0873 for ``Agency Information Collection Activities: 
Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Bar Code Label Requirement for 
Human Drug and Biological Products''. Received comments will be placed 
in the docket and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential 
Submissions,'' publicly viewable at http://www.regulations.gov or at 
the Division of Dockets Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday.
     Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION''. The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on http://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Division of Dockets Management. If you do not 
wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, 
you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body 
of your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or 
access the information at: http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/dockets/default.htm.

[[Page 77638]]

    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Division of Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers 
Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FDA PRA Staff, Office of Operations, 
Food and Drug Administration, 8455 Colesville Rd., COLE-14526, Silver 
Spring, MD 20993-0002, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) Federal 
Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 
1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of 
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a 
third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) 
requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including 
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, 
before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with 
this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection 
of information set forth in this document.
    With respect to the following collection of information, FDA 
invites comments on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's functions, including 
whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy 
of FDA' 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 respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of 
information technology.

Bar Code Label Requirement for Human Drug and Biological Products OMB 
Control Number 0910-0537--Extension

    In the Federal Register of February 26, 2004 (69 FR 9120), we 
issued a final rule that required human drug product and biological 
product labels to have bar codes. The rule required bar codes on most 
human prescription drug products and on over-the-counter (OTC) drug 
products that are dispensed pursuant to an order and commonly used in 
health care facilities. The rule also required machine-readable 
information on blood and blood components. For human prescription drug 
products and OTC drug products that are dispensed pursuant to an order 
and commonly used in health care facilities, the bar code must contain 
the NDC number for the product. For blood and blood components, the 
rule specifies the minimum contents of the machine-readable information 
in a format approved by the Center for Biologics Evaluation and 
Research Director as blood centers have generally agreed upon the 
information to be encoded on the label. The rule is intended to help 
reduce the number of medication errors in hospitals and other health 
care settings by allowing health care professionals to use bar code 
scanning equipment to verify that the right drug (in the right dose and 
right route of administration) is being given to the right patient at 
the right time.
    Most of the information collection burden resulting from the final 
rule, as calculated in table 1 of the final rule (69 FR at 9149), was a 
one-time burden that does not occur after the rule's compliance date of 
April 26, 2006. In addition, some of the information collection burden 
estimated in the final rule is now covered in other OMB approved 
information collection packages for FDA. However, parties may continue 
to seek an exemption from the bar code requirement under certain, 
limited circumstances. Section 201.25(d) (21 CFR 201.25(d)) requires 
submission of a written request for an exemption and describes the 
contents of such requests. Based on the number of exemption requests we 
have received, we estimate that approximately 2 exemption requests may 
be submitted annually, and that each exemption request will require 24 
hours to complete. This would result in an annual reporting burden of 
48 hours.

                                                     Table 1--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden \1\
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                                                                                         Number of
                           21 CFR Section                               Number of      responses per     Total annual    Average burden    Total hours
                                                                       respondents       respondent       responses       per response
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201.25(d)..........................................................               2                1                2               24               48
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information.


    Dated: December 7, 2015.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015-31402 Filed 12-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P