05-4160. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Customer/Partner Service Surveys

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 April 4, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

OMB is still experiencing significant delays in the regular mail, including first class and express mail, and messenger deliveries are not being accepted. 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: Fumie Yokota, Desk Officer for FDA, FAX: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jonna Capezzuto, Office of Management Programs (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.

Customer/Partner Service Surveys—(OMB Control Number 0910-0360)—Extension

Under section 903 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 393), FDA is authorized to conduct research and public information programs about regulated products and responsibilities of the agency. Executive Order 12862, entitled “Setting Customer Service Standard,” directs Federal agencies that “provide significant services directly to the public” to “survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services.” FDA is seeking OMB clearance to conduct a series of surveys to implement Executive Order 12862. Participation in the surveys is voluntary. This request covers customer/partner service surveys of regulated entities, such as the following: Food processors; cosmetic drug, biologic and medical device manufacturers; consumers; and health professionals. The request also covers “partner” (State and local governments) customer service surveys.

FDA will use the information from these surveys to identify strengths and weaknesses in service to customers/partners and to make improvements. The surveys will measure timeliness, appropriateness and accuracy of information, courtesy, and problem resolution in the context of individual programs.

FDA projects that approximately 15 customer/partner service surveys will be conducted per year, with a sample of between 50 and 6,000 customers, requiring an average of 18 minutes for review and completion for each survey. Some of these surveys will be repeats of earlier surveys, for purposes of monitoring customer/partner service and developing long-term data.

In the Federal Register of September 16, 2004 (69 FR 55823), FDA published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the information collection provisions. No comments were received.

FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as follows:

Table 1.—Estimated Annual Reporting Burden¹

Type of Survey	No. of Respondents	Annual Frequency per Response	Total Annual Responses	Hours per Respondent	Total Hours
Mail/telephone/fax/web-based	15,000	1	15,000	.30	4,500
1 There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information.

Dated: February 25, 2005.

Jeffrey Shuren,

Assistant Commissioner for Policy.