[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8876-8877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04449]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2012-N-0021]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Substances Generally Recognized as Safe: Notification 
Procedure

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing 
an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain 
information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(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 information collection, provisions of 
the notification procedure for substances generally recognized as safe 
(GRAS).

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection 
of information by May 13, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, 
untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments 
must be submitted on or before May 13, 2019. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of May 13, 2019. Comments received 
by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be 
considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service 
acceptance receipt is on or before that date.

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://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 https://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): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, 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-0021 for ``Agency Information Collection Activities; 
Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Substances Generally Recognized 
as Safe: Notification Procedure.'' Received comments, those filed in a 
timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the docket and, except 
for those submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' publicly viewable 
at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff 
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 https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. 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: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://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 Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Domini Bean, Office of Operations, 
Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-12M, 11601 
Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 301-796-5733, 
[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,

[[Page 8877]]

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 these topics: (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.

Substances Generally Recognized as Safe: Notification Procedure--21 CFR 
170, Subpart E and 21 CFR 570, Subpart E

OMB Control Number 0910-0342--Extension

    The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) requires that 
all food additives (as defined by section 201(s) (21 U.S.C. 321(s)) be 
approved by FDA before they are marketed. Section 409 of the FD&C Act 
(21 U.S.C. 349) establishes a premarket approval requirement for ``food 
additives.'' Section 201(s) of the FD&C Act provides an exclusion to 
the definition of food additive and thus from the premarket approval 
requirement, for uses of substances that are GRAS by qualified experts. 
The GRAS provision of section 201(s) of the FD&C Act is implemented in 
21 CFR part 170 (part 170) and 21 CFR part 570 (part 570) for human 
food and animal food, respectively. Part 170, subpart E and part 570, 
subpart E provide a standard format for the submission of a notice. 
This collection utilizes a voluntary administrative procedure for 
notifying FDA about a conclusion that a substance is GRAS under the 
conditions of its intended use in human food or animal food. The 
information submitted to us in a GRAS notice is necessary to allow us 
to administer efficiently the FD&C Act's various provisions that apply 
to the use of substances added to food, specifically with regard to 
whether a substance is GRAS under the conditions of its intended use or 
is a food additive subject to premarket review. We use the information 
collected through the GRAS notification procedures to complete our 
evaluation within specific timelines.
    Description of Respondents: The respondents to this collection of 
information are manufacturers of substances used in human food and 
animal food and feed.
    FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:

                                 Table 1--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden \1\
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                                                     Number of
    Activity; 21 CFR section         Number of     responses per   Total annual   Average burden    Total hours
                                    respondents     respondent       responses     per response
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GRAS notification procedure for              100               1             100             170          17,000
 human food; 170.210-170.280
 (part 170, subpart E)..........
GRAS notification procedure for               25               1              25             170           4,250
 animal food and animal feed;
 570.210-570.280 (part 570,
 subpart E).....................
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    Total.......................  ..............  ..............              75  ..............          21,250
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
  information.

    Our estimated burden for the information collection reflects an 
overall increase of 8,500 hours, which results from an increase in the 
estimated number of GRAS submissions for human food from 50 to 100 per 
year. We attribute this adjustment to an increase in the number of 
submissions we received over the last 2 years.

    Dated: March 6, 2019.
Lowell J. Schiller,
Acting Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-04449 Filed 3-11-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P