03-19075. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Submission of Petitions: Food Additive, Color Additive (Including Labeling), and Generally Recognized as Safe Affirmation; and Electronic Submission ...

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:

Submit written comments on the collection of information by August 27, 2003.

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]. All comments should be identified with the docket number found in brackets in the heading of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peggy Robbins, Office of Management Programs (HFA-250), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-1223.

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.

Submission of Petitions: Food Additive, Color Additive (Including Labeling), and GRAS Affirmation; Electronic Submission Using FDA Forms 3503 and 3504 (OMB Control Number 0910-0016)—Extension

This notice solicits comments on a proposed collection of the following four existing submissions of petitions: (1) Food additive and food additive petitions (FAPs) (OMB control number 0910-0016), (2) affirmation of generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status (OMB control number 0910-0132), (3) labeling requirements for color additives (other than hair dyes) and petitions (CAPs) (OMB control number 0910-0185), and (4) electronic submission of food and color additive petitions (OMB control number 0910-0480).

Section 409(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) (21 U.S.C. 348(a)) provides that a food additive shall be deemed to be unsafe, unless: (1) The additive and its use, or intended use, are in conformity with a regulation issued under section 409 of the act that describes the condition(s) under which the additive may be safely used; (2) the additive and its use, or intended use, conform to the terms of an exemption for investigational use; or (3) a food contact notification submitted under section 409(h) of the act is effective. FAPs are submitted by individuals or companies to obtain approval of a new food additive or to amend the conditions of use permitted under an existing food additive regulation. Section 171.1 (21 CFR 171.1) specifies the information that a petitioner must submit in order to establish that the proposed use of a food additive is safe and to secure the publication of a food additive regulation describing the conditions under which the additive may be safely used. Parts 172, 173, 175 through 178, and 180 (21 CFR parts 172, 173, 175 through 178, and 180) contain labeling requirements for certain food additives to ensure their safe use.

Section 721(a) of the act (21 U.S.C. 379e(a)) provides that a color additive shall be deemed to be unsafe unless the additive and its use are in conformity with a regulation that describes the condition(s) under which the additive may safely be used, or the additive and its use conform to the terms of an exemption for investigational use issued under section 721(f) of the act. CAPs are submitted by individuals or companies to obtain approval of a new color additive or a change in the conditions of use permitted for a color additive that is already approved. Section 71.1 (21 CFR part 71.1) specifies the information that a petitioner must submit in order to establish the safety of a color additive and to secure the issuance of a regulation permitting its use. FDA's color additive labeling requirements in § 70.25 (21 CFR part 70.25) require that color additives that are to be used in food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics be labeled with sufficient information to ensure their safe use.

Under authority of sections 201, 402, 409, and 701 of the act (21 U.S.C. 321, 342, 348, and 371), FDA reviews petitions for affirmation as GRAS that are submitted on a voluntary basis by the food industry and other interested parties. Specifically under section 201(s) of the act, a substance is GRAS if it is generally recognized among experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety, to be safe through either scientific procedures or common use in food. The act has historically been interpreted to permit food manufacturers to make their own determination that use of a substance in food is GRAS. To implement the GRAS provisions of the act, FDA has issued procedural regulations under 21 CFR 170.35(c)(1).

In the Federal Register of July 31, 2001 (66 FR 39517), FDA announced the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Providing Regulatory Submissions to Office of Food Additive Safety in Electronic Format for Food Additive and Color Additive Petitions.'' This guidance describes the procedures for electronic submission of FAPs and CAPs using FDA Form No. 3503, entitled “Food Additive Petition Submission Application,'' and FDA Form No. 3504, entitled “Color Additive Petition Submission Application.”

FDA scientific personnel review food and color additive and GRAS affirmation petitions to ensure the safety of the intended use of the substance in or on food, or of a food additive that may be present in food as a result of its use in articles that contact food (or for color additives, its use in food, drugs, cosmetics, or medical devices). Respondents are businesses engaged in the manufacture or sale of food, food ingredients, color additives, or substances used in materials that come into contact with food.

In the Federal Register of April 4, 2003 (68 FR 16517) FDA published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the information collection provisions. No comments were received.

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

Table 1.—Estimated Annual Reporting Burden¹

21 CFR Section/ FDA Form	No. of Respondents	Annual Frequency per Response	Total Annual Responses	Hours per Response	Total Operating and Maintenance Costs	Total Hours
CAPS
70.25	0	1	0	0	0	0
71.1	2	1	2	1,652	$5,600	3,304
FDA Form 3504	1	1	1	1	0	1
GRAS Affirmation Petitions
170.35	1	1	1	2,598		2,598
FAPs
171.1	7	1	7	3,640		25,480
FDA Form 3503	2	1	2	1		2
Total					$5,600	31,385
1 There are no capital costs associated with this collection of information.

The estimate of burden for FAPs and CAPs is based on the average number of new FAPs and CAPs received in calendar years 2000 through 2002 and the total hours expended in preparing the petitions. Although the burden varies with the type of petition submitted, an average FAP or CAP, or GRAS affirmation petition, involves analytical work and appropriate toxicological studies, as well as the work of drafting the petition itself. The burden varies depending on the complexity of the petition, including the amount and types of data needed for scientific analysis.

Electronic submissions of petitions contain the same petition information required for paper submission. The agency estimates that up to 30 percent of the petitioners for both food and color additives will take advantage of the electronic submission process. By using the guidelines and forms that FDA is providing, the petitioner will be able to organize the petition to focus on the information needed for FDA's safety review. Therefore, we estimate that petitioners will only need to spend approximately 1 hour completing the electronic submission application form (Form 3503 or 3504, as appropriate) because they will have already used the guidelines to organize the petition information needed for the submission.

The labeling requirements for food and color additives were designed to specify the minimum information needed for labeling in order that food and color manufacturers may comply with all applicable provisions of the act and other specific labeling acts administered by FDA. Label information does not require any additional information gathering beyond what is already required to assure conformance with all specifications and limitations in any given food or color additive regulation. Label information does not have any specific recordkeeping requirements unique to preparing the label. Therefore, because labeling requirements under § 70.25 for a particular color additive involve information required as part of the CAP safety review process, the estimate for number of respondents is the same for §§ 70.25 and 71.1, and the burden hours for labeling are included in the estimate for § 71.1. Also, because labeling requirements under parts 172, 173, 175 through 178, and 180 for particular food additives involve information required as part of the FAP safety review process under § 171.1, the burden hours for labeling are included in the estimate for § 171.1.

Dated: July 21, 2003.

Jeffrey Shuren,

Assistant Commissioner for Policy.