Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Requirements Under the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986, as Amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on submission of rotational plans for health warning label statements for smokeless tobacco products.

DATES:

Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection of information by April 19, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments as follows:

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to http://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
• If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submissions” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

• Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
• For written/paper comments submitted to the Division of Dockets Management, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0190 for “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Requirements Under the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986, as Amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.” Received comments will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at http://www.regulations.gov or at the Division of Dockets Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

• Confidential Submissions—To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION”. The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on http://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Division of Dockets Management. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.” Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/dockets/default.htm.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into the “Search” box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Division of Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

FDA PRA Staff, Office of Operations, Food and Drug Administration, 8455 Colesville Rd., COLE-14526, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, PRAStaff@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. “Collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information set forth in this document.

With respect to the following collection of information, FDA invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA'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 respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

Requirements Under the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986, as Amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (OMB Control Number 0910-0671)-Extension

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the Tobacco Control Act) was enacted on June 22, 2009, amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and providing FDA with the authority to regulate tobacco products (Pub. L. 111-31; 123 Stat. 1776). Section 3 of the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 (the Smokeless Tobacco Act) (15 U.S.C. 4402), as amended by section 204 of the Tobacco Control Act, requires, among other things, that all smokeless tobacco product packages and advertisements bear one of four required warning statements. Section 3(b)(3)(A) of the Smokeless Tobacco Act requires that the warnings be displayed on packaging and advertising for each brand of smokeless tobacco “in accordance with a plan submitted by the tobacco product manufacturer, importer, distributor, or retailer” to, and approved by, FDA.

This information collection—the submission to FDA of warning plans for smokeless tobacco products—is statutorily mandated. The warning plans will be reviewed by FDA, as required by the Smokeless Tobacco Act, to determine whether the companies' plans for the equal distribution and display of warning statements on packaging and the quarterly rotation of warning statements in advertising for each brand of smokeless tobacco products comply with section 3 of the Smokeless Tobacco Act, as amended.

Based on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) previous experience with the submission of warning plans and FDA's experience, FDA estimates that there are 52 companies affected by this information collection. To account for the entry of new smokeless tobacco companies that may be affected by this information collection, FDA is conservatively estimating the total number of annual respondents to this collection of information to be 100.

When the FTC requested an extension of their approved warning plan information collection in 2007, based on over 20 years implementing the warning plan requirements and taking into account increased computerization and improvements in electronic communication, the FTC estimated submitting an initial plan would take 60 hours. Based on FDA's experience over the past several years, FDA believes the estimate of 60 hours to complete an initial rotational plan continues to be reasonable.

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

FDA estimates a total of 100 respondents will respond to this collection of information and take 60 hours to complete a rotational warning plan for a total of 6,000 burden hours. In addition, capital costs are based on 100 respondents mailing in their submission at a postage rate of $12 for a 5-pound parcel (business parcel post mail delivered from the furthest delivery zone). Therefore, FDA estimates that the total postage cost for mailing the rotational warning plans to FDA to be $1,200.