[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2156-2158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00538]


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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 the 
Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain Piece Goods As 
Amended (Care Labeling Rule). The clearance expires on April 30, 2018.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 19, 2018.

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 ``Care Labeling Rule: 
FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment, and file your comment online at 
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/carelabelingrulepra1 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 
Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Mail Code CC-9528, 600 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2889.

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

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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 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. All comments must be received on or before March 19, 
2018.

Burden Estimates

    Staff's burden estimates 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), and from SICCode.com, which 
specializes in the business classification of SIC (Standard Industrial 
Classification) and NAICS (North American Industry Classification 
System) codes for business identification, verification, and targeting. 
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.'' 
\1\ The relevant information collection requirements 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) and could be 
excluded from PRA-related burden.\2\
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    \1\ 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).
    \2\ 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2).
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    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: 32,600,587 hours (solely relating to 
disclosure \3\).
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    \3\ 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 10,744 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 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 1,074,400 hours. Staff further estimates that the burden of drafting 
and ordering labels is 80 hours each year per firm, for a total of 
859,520 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.\4\ 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 32,600,587 hours (1,074,400 
hours to determine care instructions + 859,520 hours to draft and order 
labels + 30,666,666 hours to attach labels).
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    \4\ 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: $214,221,229 (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.....................................          $28.00       1,074,400     $30,083,200
Draft and order labels..........................................           18.00         859,520      15,471,360
Attach labels...................................................        \5\ 5.50      30,666,667     168,666,669
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    Total.......................................................  ..............  ..............     214,221,229
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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,

[[Page 2158]]

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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    \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 $11 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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Request for Comments

    You can file a comment online or on paper. March 19, 2018. Write 
``Care Labeling Rule: FTC File No. P072108'' 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 website, at https://www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments. 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/carelabelingrulepra1 by following the 
instructions on the web based form. If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov, you also may file a comment through that website.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Care Labeling Rule: FTC 
File No. P072108'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your 
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of 
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex C), 
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, Washington, DC 20024. If 
possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC 
website at www.ftc.gov, you are solely responsible for making sure that 
your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential 
information. In particular, your comment should not include any 
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else'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, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment 
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial 
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by 
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)--including in particular competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is 
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). 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). Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has 
been posted on the public FTC website--as legally required by FTC Rule 
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website, 
unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements 
for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel 
grants that request.
    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 19, 
2018. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted 
by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-00538 Filed 1-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P