Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 37450-37451 [2017-16898]

Agencies

• FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37450-37451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16898]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC seeks public comments on proposed information requests 
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 January 31, 2018. The Commission 
intends to ask OMB for renewed three-year clearance to collect this 
information.

DATES: Comments on the proposed information requests must be received 
on or before October 10, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write: ``Tobacco Reports: 
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P054507'' on your comment, and file the 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/tobaccoreportspra by following the instructions on the web-based form. 
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or deliver 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: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the proposed collection of information should be addressed to 
Michael Ostheimer, Division of Advertising Practices, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Mailstop CC-10507, Washington, DC 20580. Telephone: (202) 326-
2699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For fifty 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 thirty years. Originally, both reports 
were issued pursuant to statutory mandates. After those statutory 
mandates were terminated, the Commission continued to collect and 
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 January 31, 2018 (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; (6) how much industry members 
spend on public entertainment events promoting their companies but not 
specific tobacco products or tobacco products generally; and (7) for 
the cigarette industry, the ``tar'', nicotine, and carbon monoxide 
yields of their cigarettes. 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, federal agencies must obtain 
approval from OMB for each collection of information they conduct or 
sponsor. ``Collection of information'' means agency requests or 
requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, 
or provide information to a third party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3), 5 CFR 
1320.3(c). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC is 
providing this opportunity for public comment before requesting that 
OMB extend the existing clearance for the proposed collection of 
information.
    The Commission 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 the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Estimated hours burden: The FTC staff's estimate of the hours 
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 taken issue with 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

[[Page 37451]]

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., 79 FR 47463 (Aug. 13, 2014); 79 FR 72176 (Dec. 5, 
2014).
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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 cost burden: 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. 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.
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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: $25.57 for 
paralegals; $44.36 for computer and information analysts; and $67.25 
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 2016 (Mar. 31, 2011) 
(Table 1), available at https://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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    Request for comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For 
the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or 
before October 10, 2017. Write ``Tobacco Reports: Paperwork Comment, 
FTC File No. P054507'' on your comment. Your comment--including your 
name and your state--will be placed on the public record of this 
proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the public 
Commission Web site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm.
    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online, or to send them to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/tobaccoreportspra, by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. When this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov/#!home, 
you also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Tobacco Reports: 
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P054507'' 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, 
Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC 
Web site at https://www.ftc.gov/, you are solely 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 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 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 on the public FTC Web site--as legally required by FTC Rule 
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC Web site, 
unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements 
for such treatment under FTC Rule 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 October 10, 
2017. 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.

David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-16898 Filed 8-9-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P