[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28351-28352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11108]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; 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 a proposed amendment to its previously 
approved information requests sent pursuant to compulsory process to 
the largest domestic cigarette manufacturers. The additional 
information sought consists of the annual sales, give aways, and 
marketing expenditures for electronic devices used to heat non-
combusted cigarette products. The current FTC clearance from OMB to 
collect information from cigarette manufacturers expires December 31, 
2023.

DATES: Comments on the proposed information requests must be received 
on or before June 25, 2021.

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 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. The 
reginfo.gov web link is a United States Government website produced by 
OMB and the General Services Administration (GSA). Under PRA 
requirements, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) 
reviews Federal information collections.

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: Amendment of a currently approved collection.
    On June 25, 2020, the FTC sought public comment on the information 
collection requirements associated with the Cigarette and Smokeless 
Tobacco Data Collection. 85 FR 38139. On October 23, 2020, the FTC 
provided a second opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB 
approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Cigarette and 
Smokeless Tobacco Data Collection. 85 FR 67541. On December 14, 2020, 
OMB approved the proposed information collection through December 31, 
2023.
    In response to the June 25, 2020 Notice, the Commission received a 
comment from Truth Initiative that among other things recommended that 
the Commission collect information regarding heated tobacco products 
with its cigarette Orders. In the October 23, 2020 Notice, the 
Commission agreed ``that heated, non-combusted tobacco products [we]re 
an important emerging segment of the tobacco market'' and stated that 
it would ``monitor these products and . . . consider whether and how 
best to collect information about these products when the market has 
further developed to make such information collection warranted.''
    The Commission now believes that a narrow collection of information 
related to heated, non-combusted tobacco products is warranted. Heated, 
non-combusted cigarettes already fall within the definition of 
cigarettes, which are covered by the currently approved information 
collection. The electronic devices in which such cigarettes are heated 
do not fall within the definition of cigarettes, and thus are not 
covered by the approved information collection.
    The Commission proposes asking each cigarette manufacturing 
recipient to state whether it sold heated, non-combusted, cigarettes 
during a calendar year, and if so to report for the calendar year, the 
net number of heating devices designed to be used with heated 
cigarettes that it sold in the United States, the net dollar value of 
such devices sold, the net number of such devices it gave away in the 
United States, and the total amount it expended on the advertising, 
merchandising, or promotion in the United States of such devices. With 
its next annual information collection from cigarette manufacturing 
recipients in early 2022, the Commission proposes to collect this 
additional information for 2019, 2020, and 2021.
    The FTC's understanding of the overall market for nicotine-based 
products is incomplete without more information regarding heated, non-
combusted cigarettes and the corresponding devices. For example, the 
information could assist the Commission in conducting a study of the 
sales and marketing of these devices. Thus, the proposed addition will 
assist the Commission in closing this gap in our understanding.

Burden Statement

    Estimated Annual Burden: 106 hours.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Ten 6(b) recipients (maximum).\1\
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    \1\ Since three and possibly more of the cigarette manufacturing 
6(b) recipients are parent companies that have separately 
incorporated subsidiaries or affiliates that the FTC anticipates or 
expects that the parent companies will transmit the collection 
instrument to and seek information from, the proposal to send up to 
ten 6(b) Orders could equate to 15 ``persons'' under the PRA. See 5 
CFR 1320.3(c)(4) (``[ten or more persons] . . . refers to the 
persons to whom a collection of information is addressed by the 
agency within any 12-month period, and to any independent entities 
to which the initial addressee may reasonably be expected to 
transmit the collection of information during that period, including 
. . . separately incorporated subsidiaries or affiliates.'').

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[[Page 28352]]

    These estimates include any time spent by separately incorporated 
subsidiaries and other entities affiliated with the ultimate parent 
companies that receive the information requests.
    Estimated Average Burden per Year per Request: 11 hours.
    (a) Information requests to the four largest recipients of the 
Commission's information request, at a per request average each year of 
25 hours = 100 hours, cumulatively, per year; and
    (b) Information requests to six additional respondents, of smaller 
size, at a per request average each year of 1 hours = 6 hours, 
cumulatively, per year.
    Estimated Annual Labor Cost: $10,600.
    It is not possible to calculate precisely the labor costs 
associated with this data production, as they entail varying 
compensation levels of management and/or support staff among companies 
of different sizes. The estimate assumes that personnel with technical 
training will handle most of the tasks involved in the data collection 
process, although legal personnel will likely be involved in preparing 
the actual submission to the Commission. Staff has applied an average 
hourly wage of $100/hour for the combined labor classifications. Thus, 
estimated total labor costs for up to 10 information requests is 
$10,600 per year (derived from $100/hour x 106 annual hours).
    Estimated Capital or Other Non-Labor Cost: De minimis.

Request for Comment

    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, such as 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, 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.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2021-11108 Filed 5-25-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P