[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 220 (Thursday, November 14, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68446-68447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27307]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review,
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public
comments on its proposal to extend through February 28, 2017, the
current PRA clearance for information collection requirements contained
in its Rule Governing Pre-Sale Availability of Written Warranty Terms.
That clearance expires on February 28, 2014.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 13, 2014.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for copies of the collection
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to
Svetlana Gans, Attorney, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-286, 600
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3708.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Information Collection Activities
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520,
federal agencies must get OMB approval for each collection of
information they conduct, sponsor, or require. ``Collection of
information'' means agency requests or requirements to submit reports,
keep records, or provide information to a third party. 44 U.S.C.
3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment before
requesting that OMB extend the existing PRA clearance for the
information collection requirements associated with the Commission's
Rule Governing Pre-Sale Availability of Written Warranty Terms, (the
Pre-Sale Availability Rule), 16 CFR 702 (OMB Control Number 3084-0112).
The FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency'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 those who
are to respond. All comments must be received on or before January 13,
2014.
The Pre-Sale Availability Rule is one of three rules \1\ that the
FTC issued as required by the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C.
2301 et seq. (Warranty Act or Act).\2\ The Pre-Sale Availability Rule
requires sellers and warrantors to make the text of any written
warranty on a consumer product costing more than $15 available to the
consumer before sale. Among other things, the Rule requires sellers to
make the text of the warranty readily available either by (1)
displaying it in close proximity to the product or (2) furnishing it on
request and posting signs in prominent locations advising consumers
that the warranty is available. The Rule requires warrantors to provide
materials to enable sellers to comply with the Rule's requirements and
also sets out the methods by which warranty information can be made
available before the sale if the product is sold through catalogs, mail
order, or door to door sales.
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\1\ The other two rules relate to the information that must
appear in a written warranty on a consumer product costing more than
$15 if a warranty is offered and minimum standards for informal
dispute settlement mechanisms that are incorporated into a written
warranty.
\2\ 40 FR 60168 (Dec. 31, 1975).
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Pre-Sale Availability Rule Burden Statement:
Total annual hours burden: 2,446,610.
In its 2010 submission to OMB, FTC staff estimated that the
information collection burden of making the disclosures required by the
Pre-Sale Availability Rule was approximately 2,490,000 hours per year.
Although there has been no change in the Rule's information collection
requirements since 2010, staff has adjusted its previous estimate of
the number of manufacturers subject to the Rule based on recent Census
data. From that, staff now estimates that there are approximately 581
large manufacturers and 13,935 small manufacturers subject to the Rule.
In addition, recent Census data suggests that there are an estimated
6,892 large retailers and 452,553 small retailers impacted by the Rule.
In its 2010 submission to OMB, staff took note that some online
retailers had begun to make warranty information directly available on
their Web sites, thereby reducing their paperwork burden under the
Rule. As e-commerce continues to grow, it is likely that even more
retailers are posting warranty information online than they were in
2010. Nevertheless, because the staff assumes that only a small
percentage of retailers would be significantly less burdened by posting
warranty information online--namely, retailers with a large Internet
presence or whose inventory is mainly composed of warranted products
\3\--the staff has retained its previous estimates of the hour burden
for retailers. Therefore, staff continues to estimate that large
retailers spend an average of 20.8 hours per year and small retailers
spend an average 4.8 hours per year to comply with the Rule.
Accordingly, the total annual burden for retailers is approximately
2,315,608 hours ((6,892 large retailers x 20.8 burden hours) + (452,553
small retailers x 4.8 burden hours)). Staff also estimates that more
manufacturers are beginning to provide retailers with warranty
information in electronic form in fulfilling their obligations under
the Rule. Therefore, staff has adjusted the hour burden for
manufacturers as it did in its previous
[[Page 68447]]
submission to OMB. Applying a 20% reduction to its previous estimates,
the staff now assumes that large manufacturers spend an average of 33.6
hours per year and that small manufacturers spend an average of 8 hours
per year to comply with the Rule. Accordingly, the total annual burden
incurred by manufacturers is approximately 130,968 hours ((581 large
manufacturers x 33.6 hours) + (13,935 small manufacturers x 8 hours)).
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\3\ In addition, many online retailers also operate ``brick-and-
mortar'' operations and still provide paper copies of warranties for
review by customers who do not do business online.
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Thus, the total annual burden for all covered entities is
approximately 2,446,610 hours (2,315,608 hours for retailers + 131,002
hours for manufacturers).
Total annual labor cost: $53,825,000 (rounded to nearest thousand).
The work required to comply with the Pre-Sale Availability Rule
entails a mix of clerical work and work performed by sales associates.
Staff estimates that half of the total burden hours would likely be
performed by sales associates. At the manufacturing level, this work
would entail ensuring that the written warranty accompanies every
consumer product or that the required warranty information otherwise
gets to the retailer. At the retail level, this work would entail
ensuring that the written warranty is made available to the consumer
prior to sale. The remaining half of the work required to comply with
the Pre-Sale Availability Rule is clerical in nature, e.g., shipping or
otherwise providing copies of manufacturer warranties to retailers and
retailer maintenance of them. Applying a sales associate wage rate of
$25/hour to half of the burden hours and a clerical wage rate of $19/
hour to half of the burden hours, the total annual labor cost burden is
approximately $53,825,420 (1,223,305 hours x $25 per hour) + (1,223,305
hours x $19 per hour).\4\
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\4\ The wage rates used in this Notice reflect recent data from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages
(May 2012).
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Total annual capital or other non-labor costs: De minimis.
The vast majority of retailers and warrantors already have
developed systems to provide the information the Rule requires.
Compliance by retailers typically entails keeping warranties on file,
in binders or otherwise, and posting an inexpensive sign indicating
warranty availability. Manufacturer compliance entails providing
retailers with a copy of the warranties included with their products.
Request for Comments
You can file a comment online or on paper. Write ``Pre-Sale
Availability Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' 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 Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
Because your comment will be made public, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive personal information, like anyone'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, like medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information
which is . . . privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in 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). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the
public interest. Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to
delay due to heightened security screening. As a result, the Commission
encourages you to submit your comments online. To make sure that the
Commission considers your online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/presaleavailabilitypra, by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Pre-Sale Availability
Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' on your comment and on
the envelope, and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your
paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.
Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this
Notice. 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 January 13,
2014. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted
by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
Christian S. White,
Deputy General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2013-27307 Filed 11-13-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P