Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request: Generic Survey Clearance for Import Injury Investigations, 68896-68898 [E7-23598]

Agencies

• INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 234 (Thursday, December 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68896-68898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-23598]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request: Generic Survey Clearance for Import Injury 
Investigations

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection is a 3-year extension, 
pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) (the 
``Act''), of the current generic survey clearance previously approved 
by the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB''). The clearance is used 
by the U.S. International Trade Commission (``Commission'') to issue 
information collections (specifically, producer, importer, purchaser, 
and foreign producer questionnaires and certain institution notices) 
for a series of import injury investigations that are required by the 
Tariff Act of 1930 and the Trade Act of 1974. The current generic 
survey clearance is assigned OMB control No. 3117-0016; it will expire 
on June 30, 2008. Comments concerning the proposed information 
collections are requested in accordance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
the Act; such comments are described in greater detail in the section 
of this notice entitled supplementary information.

DATES: Written comments should be received not later than 60 days after 
publication of this notice on the Federal Register to be assured of 
consideration.

ADDRESSES: Signed comments should be submitted to Marilyn Abbott, 
Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20436.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the proposed information 
collections may be obtained from: Debra Baker, Office of 
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission (telephone No. 202-
205-3180; e-mail address: Debra.Baker@usitc.gov). Hearing-impaired 
persons can obtain information on this matter by contacting the 
Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-1810. Persons with mobility 
impairments who will need special assistance in gaining access to the 
Commission should contact the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. 
General information concerning the Commission may also be obtained by 
accessing its Internet server (https://www.usitc.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Request for Comments

    Comments are solicited as to (1) whether the proposed information 
collection 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 information collection, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (4) minimization of the burden 
of the proposed information collection on those who are to respond 
(including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological forms of information technology, 
e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses).

Summary of the Proposed Information Collections

(1) Need for the Proposed Information Collections

    The information requested in questionnaires and five-year sunset 
review institution notices issued under the generic survey clearance is 
utilized by the Commission in the following statutory investigations: 
Antidumping duty, countervailing duty, escape clause, North American 
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) safeguard, market disruption, and 
interference-with-programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA). The Commission's generic survey clearance to issue 
questionnaires will not apply to repetitive questionnaires such as 
those issued on a quarterly or annual basis or to other investigations 
and research studies conducted under section 332 of the Trade Act of 
1974.
    The information provided by firms in response to the questionnaires 
provides the basis for the Commission's determinations in the above-
cited statutory investigations. The submitted data are consolidated by 
Commission staff and provided to the Commission in the form of a staff 
report. In addition, in the majority of its investigations, the 
Commission releases completed questionnaires returned by industry 
participants to representatives of parties to its investigations under 
the terms of an administrative protective order, the terms of which 
safeguard the confidentiality of any business proprietary or business 
confidential information. Representatives of interested parties also 
receive a confidential version of the staff report under the 
administrative protective order. Subsequent party submissions to the 
Commission during the investigative process are based, in large part, 
upon their review of the information collected.
    Included in the proposed generic clearance are the institution 
notices for the five-year sunset reviews of antidumping and 
countervailing duty orders and suspended investigations.

[[Page 68897]]

Responses to the institution notices will be evaluated by the 
Commission and form much of the record for its determinations to 
conduct either expedited or full five-year sunset reviews of existing 
antidumping and countervailing duty orders.

(2) Information Collection Plan

    Questionnaires for specific investigations are sent to all 
identified domestic producers manufacturing the product(s) in question. 
Importer and purchaser questionnaires are also sent to all substantial 
importers/purchasers of the product(s). Finally, all foreign 
manufacturers of the product(s) in question that are represented by 
counsel are sent questionnaires, and, in addition, the Commission 
attempts to contact any other foreign manufacturers, especially if they 
export the product(s) in question to the United States. Firms receiving 
questionnaires include businesses, farms, and/or other for-profit 
institutions; responses are mandatory.
    The institution notices for the five-year sunset reviews are 
published in the Federal Register and solicit comment from interested 
parties (i.e., U.S. producers within the industry in question as well 
as labor unions or representative groups of workers, U.S. importers and 
foreign exporters, and involved foreign country governments).

(3) Description of the Information To Be Collected

    Although the content of each questionnaire will differ based on the 
needs of a particular investigation, questionnaires are based on long-
established, generic formats. Producer questionnaires generally consist 
of the following four parts: (part I) General questions relating to the 
organization and activities of the firm; (part II) data on capacity, 
production, inventories, employment, and the quantity and value of the 
firm's shipments and purchases from various sources; (part III) 
financial data, including income-and-loss data on the product in 
question, data on asset valuation, research and development expenses, 
and capital expenditures; and (part IV) pricing and market factors. 
(Questionnaires may, on occasion, also contain part V, an abbreviated 
version of the above-listed parts, used for gathering data on 
additional product categories.)
    Importer questionnaires generally consist of three parts: (part I) 
General questions relating to the organization and activities of the 
firm; (part II) data on the firm's imports and the shipment and 
inventories of its imports; and (part III) pricing and market factors 
similar to that requested in the producer questionnaire.
    Purchaser questionnaires generally consist of five parts: (part I) 
General questions relating to the organization and activities of the 
firm; (part II) data concerning the purchases of the product by the 
firm; (part III) market characteristics and purchasing practices; (part 
IV) comparisons between imported and U.S.-produced product; and (part 
V) actual purchase prices for specific types of domestic and subject 
imported products and the names of the firm's vendors.
    Foreign producer questionnaires generally consist of (part I) 
general questions relating to the organization and activities of the 
firm; (part II) data concerning the firm's manufacturing operations; 
and may include (part III) market factors.
    The notices of institution for the five-year sunset reviews include 
11 specific requests for information that firms are to provide if their 
response is to be considered by the Commission.

(4) Estimated Burden of the Proposed Information Collection

    The Commission estimates that information collections issued under 
the requested generic clearance will impose an average annual burden of 
183,000 burden hours on 4,900 respondents (i.e., recipients that 
provide a response to the Commission's questionnaires or the notices of 
institution of five-year sunset reviews). Table 1 lists the projected 
annual burden for each type of information collection for the July 
2008-June 2011 period.

                         Table 1.--Projected Average Annual Burden Data, by Type of Information Collection, July 2008-June 2011
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                                                                                                              Foreign       Institution
                                                             Producer        Importer        Purchaser       producer     notices for 5-
                          Item                            questionnaires  questionnaires  questionnaires  questionnaires   year reviews        Total
                                                                \1\             \2\             \3\             \4\             \5\
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                                                                      Estimated average burden hours imposed annually for July 2008-June 2011
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of respondents...................................           1,021           1,469           1,140           1,180              86           4,896
Frequency of response...................................               1               1               1               1               1               1
Total annual responses..................................           1,021           1,469           1,140           1,180              86           4,896
Hours per response......................................            49.2            42.5            24.5            34.5            14.8            37.3
    Total hours.........................................          50,233          62,432          27,930          40,710           1,273         182,578
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\1\ Producer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of producer
  respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden (+) outside review burden (+) third-party disclosure burden). See definitions
  below. Responding firm burden accounts for 91 percent of the total producer questionnaire burden, outside review burden accounts for 6 percent of the
  total burden, and third-party disclosure burden accounts for the remaining 3 percent. (The averages per questionnaire of the outside review and third-
  party disclosure burdens are not listed here since they are incurred only for the questionnaires of parties; such averages for all questionnaires are
  not meaningful.)
\2\ Importer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of importer
  respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden (+) outside review burden (+) third-party disclosure burden). See definitions
  below. Responding firm burden accounts for 98 percent of the total importer questionnaire burden, outside review burden and third-party disclosure
  burden each account for about 1 percent of the total burden. (The averages per questionnaire of the outside review and third-party disclosure burdens
  are not listed here since they are incurred only for the questionnaires of parties; such averages for all questionnaires are not meaningful.)
\3\ Purchaser questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of purchaser
  respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden). See definitions below. Purchasers are not interested parties to investigations
  by statute and typically do not engage outside counsel. Therefore, there is minimal outside review burden nor third-party disclosure burden for
  purchasers.
\4\ Foreign producer questionnaires.--Estimates based upon the following variables: number of respondents (anticipated caseload (x) number of foreign
  producer respondents per case) and hours per response (responding firm burden (+) outside review burden (+) third-party disclosure burden). See
  definitions below. Responding firm burden accounts for 62 percent of the total foreign producer questionnaire burden, outside review burden accounts
  for another 20 percent, and third-party disclosure burden accounts for 18 percent of the total burden.
\5\ Institution notices for 5-year sunset reviews.--Estimates based upon the following variables: anticipated five-year review caseload, number of
  respondents to each notice, and responding firm burden.

[[Page 68898]]

 
Note.--Above estimates include questionnaires for specific investigations where the mailing list consists of fewer than 10 firms. In such instances the
  majority or all firms within the industry under investigation may be said to receive questionnaires.
Anticipated caseload.--Derived from current Commission budget estimates.
Number of respondents per case.--Defined as the number of firms which return completed questionnaires to the Commission. Current estimates of ``number
  of respondents per case'' for the questionnaires were derived from the number of respondents to Commission questionnaires issued under the generic
  clearances previously provided to the Commission.
Responding firm burden.--Defined as the time required by the firm which received the questionnaire to review instructions, search data sources, and
  complete and review its response. Commission questionnaires do not impose the burden of developing, acquiring, installing and utilizing technology and
  systems, nor require adjusting existing methodology or training personnel. Current estimates of ``responding firm burden'' for the questionnaires were
  derived from the actual burden reported by firms that responded to Commission questionnaires issued under the generic clearances previously provided
  to the Commission.
Outside review burden.--Time devoted by outside legal and financial advisors to reviewing questionnaires completed by the responding firms who are their
  clients prior to submitting them to the Commission.
Third-party disclosure burden.--Time required for outside legal advisors to serve their clients' questionnaires on other parties to the investigation or
  review under an administrative protective order.

(5) Minimization of Burden

    The Commission periodically reviews its investigative processes, 
including data collection, to reduce the information burden. 
Questionnaires clearly state that estimates are acceptable for certain 
items. They are designed in part with check-in type formats to simplify 
the response. The reporting burden for smaller firms is reduced in that 
the sections of the questionnaire that are applicable to their 
operations are typically more limited. Requests by parties to expand 
the data collection or add items to the questionnaire for specific 
investigations may not be accepted if the Commission believes such 
requests will increase the response burden while not substantially 
adding to the investigative record.
    The Commission's collection of data through its questionnaires does 
not currently involve the interactive use of automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology. At this time, completed questionnaires are 
usually returned to the Commission in paper form, although there are 
several options available for filing electronically. Further, the 
information provided in response to its notices of institution for the 
five-year sunset reviews is typically submitted in document form 
directly to the Office of the Secretary although it may be submitted to 
the Commission's Electronic Data Information System (EDIS) and 
Electronic Docket.

    Issued: November 30, 2007.

    By order of the Commission.
Marilyn R. Abbott,
Secretary to the Commission.
 [FR Doc. E7-23598 Filed 12-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P