[Federal Register: November 5, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 214)]
[Notices]               
[Page 62609-62610]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05no03-89]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 Day-81-03]

 
Public Comment and Recommendations Agency Forms Undergoing 
Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 498-1210. Send written 
comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503; or by fax 
to (202) 395-6974. Written comments should be received within 30 days 
of this notice.
    Proposed Project: Willingness to Pay Project--NEW--Epidemiology 
Program Office (EPO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 
The mission of the Prevention Effectiveness Branch is to provide 
information and training to build internal and external capacity in 
economic and decision sciences. We are requesting clearance for a 
package that was submitted previously and withdrawn from the program. 
This pilot project will use quantitative research to develop use 
informational approaches (educational materials or product labeling) to 
educate consumers about food safety issues, develop and test survey 
instruments and test experimental protocols to be used in the main 
quantitative data collection; the main data collection will be used to 
provide nationally-representative estimates of consumers' willingness 
to pay for (a) Publicly-provided reductions in the probability of 
contracting foodborne illnesses; (b) reductions in severity of symptoms 
associated with foodborne illnesses, and (c) materials that facilitate 
private, defensive precautions against foodborne illness during home 
food preparation (e.g., meat thermometers, antibacterial soaps and 
cutting boards). The main data collection will also be used to estimate 
the effect of education programs and product labeling on willingness to 
pay for the reductions; compare the empirical estimates of the above 
mentioned consumer willingness to pay derived from a conjoint analysis 
instrument and a simulated marketplace experiment. Public awareness and 
stated concern regarding foodborne illnesses have increased rapidly 
over the past decade. The general public while seemingly well informed 
and concerned about some relevant food safety issues appears 
unknowledgeable or ill-informed about emerging issues. The Food Safety 
Survey data suggest that information provided to consumers at the point 
of purchase may be a fruitful means of educating the public about food 
safety, and analyses of consumer purchase data indicate that health-
related information provided at the point of purchase can make 
significant long-term changes in purchasing behavior. While providing 
health-related information about food has been the focus of major 
policy initiatives in the last few years, little empirical economic 
research has attempted to understand the market and welfare effects of 
different health information policies. In addition, previous research 
does not address the distribution of effects across different 
consumers. Policy makers and food manufacturers cannot provide labels 
that satisfy everyone's information desires while simultaneously 
catering to consumers' cognitive and time constraints. As a result, 
policy makers need to understand how different sectors of the consumer 
population will be affected, particularly those members of the 
population who face relatively high food safety risks. The lack of 
information hinders policy makers from making informed decisions on the 
proper allocation of resources in this area since the benefits or 
reducing the risk of illness are not well known. Not having the 
information readily available makes cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit 
analyses difficult to do as well as resource-intensive. This data 
collection effort then will reduce this burden by making data available 
to researchers for use in program and policy evaluation. If this data 
collection effort were not to take place, agencies will either have to 
continue to piece together data when conducting economic analyses of 
food safety policies and regulations, or they will fund a large-scale 
effort like the one being proposed. Another large-scale effort would be 
a waste of public funds. Providing consumers information about

[[Page 62610]]

the risks and about protective measures allows consumers to more 
accurately assess how much they would pay for reductions in this risk, 
but more importantly, it also informs the consumer as to what the risks 
are and how they can protect themselves. This information is important 
since the consumer is the last line of defense in the campaign against 
foodborne illnesses. The total burden hours are 1,000.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Number of
          Instrument              Number of    responses/     Hours per
                                 respondents   respondent     response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail survey...................        3,000             1         20/60
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    Dated: October 28, 2003.
Gaylon D. Morris,
Acting Director, Executive Secretariat, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-27796 Filed 11-4-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163-18-P