[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 192 (Friday, October 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 62303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21786]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') 
requests that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') extend for 
an additional three years the current Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') 
clearance for the information collection requirements contained in its 
Trade Regulation Rule on Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions 
Concerning Franchising (``Franchise Rule'' or ``Rule''). That clearance 
expires on October 31, 2020.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by November 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine M. Todaro, Attorney, 
Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal 
Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 8607, Washington, DC 
20580, (202) 326-3711, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Franchise Rule, 16 CFR part 436.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0107.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Private Sector: Businesses and other for-profit 
entities.
    Abstract: The Franchise Rule ensures that consumers who are 
considering a franchise investment have access to the material 
information they need to make an informed investment decision and 
compare different franchise offerings. The Rule requires franchisors to 
furnish prospective purchasers with a Franchise Disclosure Document 
(``FDD'') that provides information relating to the franchisor, its 
business, the nature of the proposed franchise, and any representations 
by the franchisor about financial performance regarding actual or 
potential sales, income, or profits made to a prospective franchise 
purchaser. The Rule also requires that franchisors maintain records to 
facilitate enforcement of the Rule.\1\ The franchisor must preserve 
materially different copies of its FDD for 3 years, as well as 
information that provides a reasonable basis for any financial 
performance representation it elects to make.
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    \1\ The Rule was amended in 2007 to conform its disclosure 
requirements with the disclosure format accepted by 15 states that 
have franchise registration or disclosure laws. See 72 FR 15444 
(Mar. 30, 2007). The amended Rule has significantly minimized any 
compliance burden beyond what is required by state law.
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    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 16,750.
    Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $1,037,125.
    Estimated non-labor costs: $7,250,000.
    Request for Comment:
    On April 7, 2020, the Commission sought comment on the information 
collection requirements associated with the Franchise Rule. 85 FR 19479 
(Apr. 7, 2020). No relevant comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB 
regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, the FTC is providing this second 
opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB approval to renew 
clearance for the Rule's information collection requirements.
    Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on 
the public record of this proceeding. Because your comment will be made 
public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment 
does not include any sensitive personal information, like anyone'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, like 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 provided 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.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-21786 Filed 10-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P