2018-11503. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the FTC is seeking public comments on its request to OMB to extend for three years the current PRA clearances for information collection requirements contained in the Commission's rules and regulations under the Fur Products Labeling Act (Fur Rules or Rules). The clearance expires on May 31, 2018.

DATES:

Comments must be received by June 29, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write “Fur Rules: FTC File No. P072108” on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/​ftc/​furrulespra2 by following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, 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 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or copies of the proposed information requirements should be addressed to Jock K. Chung, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Mail Code CC-9528, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Rules and regulations under the Fur Products Labeling Act, 16 CFR part 301.

OMB Control Number: 3084-0099.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Abstract: The Fur Products Labeling Act (Fur Act) ^[1] prohibits the misbranding and false advertising of fur products. The Fur Rules establish disclosure requirements that assist consumers in making informed purchasing decisions, and recordkeeping requirements that assist the Commission in enforcing the Rules. The Rules also provide a procedure for exemption from certain disclosure provisions under the Fur Act.

On March 9, 2018, the Commission sought comment on the information collection requirements in the Fur Rules. 83 FR 10482. One germane comment was received.^[2] Mr. Morgan Williamson appears to opine that enforcement of the Fur Rules helps ensure that accurate information is provided to the public by the fur industry about whether fur is faux or not. Mr. Williamson does not however reference any of the PRA estimates associated with the 60-day Federal Register notice. As required by OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment.

Likely Respondents: Retailers, manufacturers, processors, and importers of furs and fur products.

Frequency of Response: Third party disclosure; recordkeeping requirement.

Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 249,541 hours (64,440 hours for recordkeeping + 185,101 hours for disclosure).

Recordkeeping: 64,440 hours [1,230 retailers incur an average recordkeeping burden of about 18 hours per year (22,140 hours total); 90 manufacturers incur an average recordkeeping burden of about 60 hours per year (5,400 hours total); and 1,230 importers of furs and fur products incur an average recordkeeping burden of 30 hours per year (36,900 hours total)]

Disclosure: 185,101 hours [(107,585 hours for labeling + 28,316 hours for invoices + 49,200 hours for advertising).]

Estimated annual cost burden: $5,105,813 (solely relating to labor costs).^[3]

Request for Comment

You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before June 29, 2018. Write “Fur Rules: FTC File No. P072108” 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 website, at http://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/​furrulespra2 by following the instructions on the web-based form. When this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov,, you also may file a comment through that website.

If you file your comment on paper, write “Fur Rules: FTC File No. P072108” on your comment and on the envelope, and mail it 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.

Comments on the information collection requirements subject to review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail are subject to delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, comments can also be sent via email to [e-mail].

Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC website 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 website—as legally required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)—we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website, 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 June 29, 2018. 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.

Heather Hippsley,

Acting Principal Deputy General Counsel.

Footnotes

1.  15 U.S.C. 69 et seq.

2.  The Commission also received four non-germane comments.

3.  The estimated annual labor burden is slightly higher than the estimate of $4,996,243, which was cited in the 60-day Federal Register notice. The prior notice relied upon data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics Survey as of May 2016, while this current Federal Register notice relies upon data from the March 30, 2018 BLS survey updated through May 2017.