[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 123 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38139-38141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13706]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) seeks public 
comments on proposed information requests to be sent pursuant to 
compulsory process to a combined ten or more of the largest cigarette 
manufacturers and smokeless tobacco manufacturers. The information 
sought would include, among other things, data on manufacturer annual 
sales and marketing expenditures. The current FTC clearance from the 
Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') to conduct such information 
collection expires December 31, 2020. The Commission plans to ask OMB 
for renewed three-year clearance to collect this information.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 24, 2020.

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 ``Tobacco Reports; PRA 
Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on 
the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail 
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: Michael Ostheimer, Division of 
Advertising Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mailstop CC-10507, Washington, 
DC 20580, (202) 326-2699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FTC Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0134.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Likely Respondents: Parent companies of several of the largest 
cigarette companies and smokeless tobacco companies.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 1,980 disclosure hours.
    Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $198,000.

Abstract

    For over 50 years, the FTC has published periodic reports 
containing data on domestic cigarette sales and marketing expenditures 
by the major U.S. cigarette manufacturers. The Commission has published 
comparable reports on smokeless tobacco sales and marketing 
expenditures for more than thirty years. Originally, both reports were 
issued pursuant to statutory mandates. After those statutory mandates 
were terminated, the Commission continued to collect and

[[Page 38140]]

publish information obtained from the cigarette and smokeless tobacco 
industries pursuant to Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(b). As 
noted above, the current PRA clearance to collect this information is 
valid through December 31, 2020 (OMB Control No. 3084-0134).
    The Commission plans to continue sending information requests 
annually to the ultimate parent company of several of the largest 
cigarette companies and smokeless tobacco companies in the United 
States (``industry members''). The information requests will seek data 
regarding, inter alia: (1) The tobacco sales of industry members; (2) 
how much industry members spend advertising and promoting their tobacco 
products, and the specific amounts spent in each of a number of 
specified expenditure categories; (3) whether industry members are 
involved in the appearance of their products or brand imagery in 
television shows, motion pictures, on the internet, or on social media; 
(4) how much industry members spend on advertising intended to reduce 
youth tobacco usage; (5) the events, if any, during which industry 
members' tobacco brands are televised; and (6) how much industry 
members spend on public entertainment events promoting their companies 
but not specific tobacco products or tobacco products generally. The 
information will again be sought using compulsory process under Section 
6(b) of the FTC Act.
    Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the FTC is requesting that OMB 
renew the clearance for the PRA burden associated with the proposed 
collection.

Burden Statement

    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 1,980.
    The FTC staff's estimated hours of burden is based on the time 
required each year to respond to the Commission's information request. 
Although the FTC currently anticipates sending information requests 
each year to the four largest cigarette companies and the five largest 
smokeless tobacco companies, the burden estimate is based on up to 15 
information requests being issued per year to take into account any 
future changes in these industries.
    These companies vary greatly in size, in the number of products 
they sell, and in the extent and variety of their advertising and 
promotion.
    The companies have not disputed the staff's burden estimates in 
prior requests for PRA reauthorization,\1\ suggesting that the time 
most companies would require to gather, organize, format, and produce 
their responses would range from 30 to 80 hours per information request 
for the smaller companies, to as much as hundreds of hours for the very 
largest companies. As an approximation, staff continues to assume a per 
company average of 180 hours for the nine largest recipients of the 
Commission's information requests to comply--cumulatively, 1,620 hours 
per year.
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    \1\ E.g., 82 FR 37440 (Aug. 10, 2017); 82 FR 54342 (Nov. 17, 
2017).
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    Staff anticipates that if the Commission decides to issue 
information requests to any additional companies, those companies would 
be smaller than the primary nine recipients and that the response 
burden per additional recipient would be less than for the larger 
companies. Staff believes that the burden should not exceed 60 hours 
per entity for the smaller recipients of the information requests. 
Cumulatively, then, the total burden for six additional respondents 
should not exceed 360 hours per year. Thus, the overall estimated 
burden for a maximum of 15 recipients of the information requests is 
1,980 hours per year. These estimates include any time spent by 
separately incorporated subsidiaries and other entities affiliated with 
the ultimate parent company that has received the information request.
    Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $198,000.
    Commission staff cannot calculate with precision the labor costs 
associated with this data production, as those costs entail varying 
compensation levels of management and/or support staff among companies 
of different sizes. The staff assumes that paralegals and computer 
analysts will perform most of the work involved in responding to the 
Commission Orders, although in-house legal personnel will be involved 
in reviewing the actual submission to the Commission. The staff 
continues to use a combined hourly wage of $100/hour for the combined 
efforts of these individuals.\2\ Using this figure, staff's best 
estimate for the total labor costs for up to 15 information requests is 
$198,000 per year. Staff believes that the capital or other non-labor 
costs associated with the information requests are minimal.
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    \2\ Commission staff believes this estimate is conservative: 
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean 
hourly wages for these three occupations are as follows: $26.45 for 
paralegals; $46.91 for computer and information analysts; and $69.86 
for lawyers. Economic News Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
Table 1--National employment and wage data from the Occupational 
Employment Statistics survey by occupation, May 2019 (Table 1), 
available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Even if 
employees of the major cigarette and smokeless tobacco manufacturers 
earn more than these hourly wages, the staff believes its $100/hour 
estimate is appropriate.
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    Although the information requests may necessitate that industry 
members maintain the requested information provided to the Commission, 
they should already have in place the means to compile and maintain 
business records.

Request for Comments

    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 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 maintaining records and providing disclosures to 
consumers. All comments must be received on or before August 24, 2020.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider 
your comment, we must receive it on or before August 24, 2020. Write 
``Tobacco Reports; PRA Comment: 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 the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    Due to the public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 
outbreak and the agency's heightened security screening, postal mail 
addressed to the Commission will be subject to delay. We encourage you 
to submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov 
website.
    If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Tobacco 
Reports; PRA Comment: 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 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.
    Because your comment will become publicly available at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely

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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 Sec.  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 Sec.  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 publicly at www.regulations.gov, we cannot 
redact or remove your comment unless you submit a confidentiality 
request that meets the requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 
Sec.  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 August 24, 
2020. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including 
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-13706 Filed 6-24-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P