E6-20704. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Establishing and Maintaining a List of United States Dairy Product Manufacturers/Processors With Interest in Exporting to ...

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES:

Fax written comments on the collection of information by January 8, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

To ensure that comments on the information collection are received, OMB recommends that written comments be faxed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attn: FDA Desk Officer, FAX: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jonna Capezzuto, Office of the Chief Information Officer (HFA-250), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-4659.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, FDA has submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB for review and clearance.

Establishing and Maintaining a List of United States Dairy Product Manufacturers/Processors With Interest in Exporting to Chile—(OMB Control Number 0910-0509)—Extension

As a direct result of discussions that have been adjunct to the U.S./Chile Free Trade Agreement, Chile has recognized FDA as the competent U.S. food safety authority and has accepted the U.S. regulatory system for dairy inspections. Chile has concluded that it will not require individual inspections of U.S. firms by Chile as a prerequisite for trade, but will accept firms identified by FDA as eligible to export to Chile. Therefore, in the Federal Register of June 22, 2005 (70 FR 36190), FDA announced the availability of a revised guidance document entitled “Establishing and Maintaining a List of U.S. Dairy Product Manufacturers/Processors With Interest in Exporting to Chile.” The guidance can be found at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/​guidance.html. The guidance document explains that FDA has established a list that is provided to the government of Chile and posted on FDA's Internet site, which identifies U.S. dairy product manufacturers/processors that have expressed interest to FDA in exporting dairy products to Chile, are subject to FDA jurisdiction, and are not the subject of a pending judicial enforcement action (i.e., an injunction or seizure) or a pending warning letter. The term “dairy products,” for purposes of this list, is not intended to cover the raw agricultural commodity raw milk. Application for inclusion on the list is voluntary. However, Chile has advised that dairy products from firms not on this list could be delayed or prevented by Chilean authorities from entering commerce in Chile. The revised guidance explains what information firms should submit to FDA in order to be considered for inclusion on the list and what criteria FDA intends to use to determine eligibility for placement on the list. The document also explains how FDA intends to update the list and how FDA intends to communicate any new information to Chile. Finally, the revised guidance notes that FDA considers the information on this list, which is provided voluntarily with the understanding that it will be posted on FDA's Internet site and communicated to, and possibly further disseminated by, Chile, to be information that is not protected from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Under this guidance, FDA recommends that U.S. firms that want to be placed on the list send the following information to FDA: Name and address of the firm and the manufacturing plant; name, telephone number, and e-mail address (if available) of the contact person; a list of products presently shipped and expected to be shipped in the next 3 years; identities of agencies that inspect the plant and the date of last inspection; plant number and copy of last inspection notice; and, if other than an FDA inspection, copy of last inspection report. FDA requests that this information be updated every 2 years.

In the Federal Register of July 31, 2006 (71 FR 43202), FDA published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the information collection provisions. No comments were received.

Table 1.—Estimated Annual Reporting Burden¹

Activity	No. of Respondents	Annual Frequency per Response	Total Annual Responses	Hours per Response	Total Hours
New Written Requests To Be Placed On The List	15	1	15	1.5	22.5
Biannual Update	55	1	55	1.0	55.0
Occasional Updates	25	1	25	0.5	12.5
Total					90
1 There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information.

The estimate of the number of firms that will submit new written requests to be placed on the list, biannual updates and occasional updates is based on the FDA's experience maintaining the list over the past 3 years. The estimate of the number of hours that it will take a firm to gather the information needed to be placed on the list or update its information is based on FDA's experience with firms submitting similar requests. FDA believes that the information to be submitted will be readily available to the firms.

To date, over 110 producers have sought to be included on the list. FDA estimates that, each year, approximately 15 new firms will apply to be added to the list. FDA estimates that a firm will require 1.5 hours to read the guidance, gather the information needed, and to prepare a communication to FDA that contains the information and requests that the firm be placed on the list. Under the revised guidance, every 2 years each producer on the list must provide updated information in order to remain on the list. FDA estimates that each year approximately half of the firms on the list, 55 firms, will resubmit the information to remain on the list. FDA estimates that a firm already on the list will require 1.0 hours to biannually update and resubmit the information to FDA, including time reviewing the information and corresponding with FDA. In addition, FDA expects that, each year, approximately 25 firms will need to submit an occasional update and each firm will require 0.5 hours to prepare a communication to FDA reporting the change.

Dated: November 30, 2006.

Jeffrey Shuren,

Assistant Commissioner for Policy.