[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 127 (Thursday, July 2, 1998)] [Notices] [Pages 36241-36242] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-17602] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. 98N-0453] Agency Emergency Processing Under OMB Review 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 emergency processing under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA). The proposed collection of information concerns the submission of applications to recognized accreditation bodies that will assess potential U.S. Conformity Assessment Bodies (CAB's) seeking to be designated under the U.S./ European Community (EC) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) to assess medical devices produced for the EC market. This collection of information also concerns the submission of third-party evaluation reports by EC CAB's under the program. FDA is requesting OMB approval within 15 days of receipt of this submission. DATES: Submit written comments on the collection of information by July 13, 1998. ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on the collection of information to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, New Executive Office Bldg., 725 17th St. NW., rm. 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Attn: Desk Officer for FDA. All comments should be identified with the docket number found in brackets in the heading of this document. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margaret R. Schlosburg, Office of Information Resources Management (HFA-250), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-1223. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background FDA has requested emergency processing of this proposed collection of information under section 3507(j) of the PRA and 5 CFR 1320.13. The information is needed immediately in order for potential CAB's to be designated in time to participate in training for premarket and quality systems evaluations scheduled for October 14 through 23, 1998. The use of normal clearance procedures would be likely to result in the prevention or disruption of this collection of information and would delay the implementation of the confidence building activities authorized by the U.S./EC MRA. With respect to the following collection of information, FDA invites comments on: (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. The third-party program under the U.S./EC MRA is intended to implement that part of the U.S./EC MRA that covers the exchange of quality system evaluation reports for all medical devices and premarket evaluation reports for selected low-to-moderate risk devices. Under the MRA, firms may apply to become designated as a U.S. CAB. Firms who are designated will be qualified to conduct quality system evaluations for all classes of devices and product-type examinations and verifications for selected devices based on EC requirements under the voluntary third-party program authorized by the MRA. Firms designated as EC CAB's could, in turn, conduct quality system evaluations for all classes of devices and premarket 510(k) evaluations for selected devices based on FDA requirements. Under the voluntary third-party program, reports of these evaluations would be submitted by the EC CAB's to FDA. The EC CAB's would also be required to maintain copies of their evaluation reports. FDA estimates the burden of this collection as follows: [[Page 36242]] Table 1.--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual Item No. of Frequency per Total Annual Hours per Total Hours Respondents Response Responses Response ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Requests for designation as U.S. CAB 12 1 12 24 288 Premarket reports by EC CAB's 20 5 100 40 4,000 Quality system reports by EC CAB's 20 5 100 32 3,200 Total 7,488 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information. Table 2.--Estimated Annual Recordkeeping Burden1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual Item No. of Frequency per Total Annual Hours per Total Hours Recordkeepers Recordkeeping Records Recordkeeper ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Records of evaluation of premarket submissions by EC CAB's 20 5 100 10 1,000 Records of evaluation of quality systems 20 5 100 10 1,000 Total 2,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information. The burdens are explained as follows: II. Reporting A. Requests for Designation as U.S. CAB Under this program, U.S. firms may apply for designation as a U.S. CAB. Such designation will enable that firm to perform third-party evaluations of U.S. products for export to the EC. Likewise, European firms may apply to be designated as EC CAB's, which will enable them to perform third-party evaluations of products to be exported to the United States. The application for nomination as an EC CAB does not represent a paperwork burden subject to the PRA because the designation procedure is an internal process which is required by, and administered by, European authorities. Only the application for designation as a U.S. CAB represents a paperwork burden under the PRA. The agency anticipates, based on discussions with the National Institute of Science and Technology of the U.S. Department of Commerce and officials of other standards organizations, that approximately 12 applications for designation as U.S. CAB's will be received. B. Premarket Reports Under this program, EC CAB's will be able to perform third-party evaluations for certain products produced in Europe for export to the United States. EC CAB's would be required to submit to FDA reports of their evaluations. Based upon information gathered during the negotiation of the U.S./EC MRA, the agency anticipates that European manufacturers will request third-party evaluation for approximately 100 medical device products annually. The agency further estimates, based on dialogue with EC officials, that 20 firms will be designated to act as EC CAB's. C. Quality System Reports Under this program, EC CAB's will be able to perform third-party evaluations of the quality systems established by manufacturers of European products produced for export to the United States. EC CAB's would be required to submit to FDA reports of their evaluations. Based upon information gathered during the negotiation of the U.S./EC MRA, the agency anticipates that European manufacturers will request third- party evaluations for approximately 100 medical device products annually. The agency estimates that 20 EC CAB's will perform these evaluations. III. Recordkeeping As stated previously, firms designated as EC CAB's will be able to perform third-party evaluations of quality systems and premarket submissions for certain products produced for export to the United States. Such evaluation will be conducted consistent with FDA's regulatory requirements, and FDA will require the reviewers to keep, in their records, a copy of the report that they submit to FDA for each evaluation. The agency anticipates that 100 premarket reports and 100 quality system reports will be generated and required to be maintained by EC CAB's annually. Thus, the agency estimates that 100 records of evaluations of quality systems and premarket submissions will be retained by the designated EC CAB's. Based on experience with the Third Party Review Pilot Program, which was announced in the Federal Register of April 3, 1996 (61 FR 14789), the agency anticipates that each recordkeeper will require no more than 2 hours of recordkeeping per review. The agency is estimating 5 reviews per respondent; therefore, the total number of hours per recordkeeper is 10. Dated: June 24, 1998. William B. Schultz, Deputy Commissioner for Policy. [FR Doc. 98-17602 Filed 7-1-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4160-01-F