SUPPORTING STATEMENT JUSTIFICATION FOR
CONSUMER COMPLAINT MONITORING SYSTEM AND FOOD SAFETY MOBILE QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Circumstances Making Collection Of Information Necessary:
This is a request for an extension of a currently approved information collection, which addresses the Consumer Complaint Monitoring System (CCMS) web portal and the electronic questionnaire associated with the FSIS Food Safety Mobile.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been delegated the authority to exercise the functions of the Secretary as provided in the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.), and the Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA) (21 U.S.C. 1031 et seq.). These statutes mandate that FSIS protect the public by ensuring that meat and poultry products are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled and packaged.
FSIS tracks consumer complaints about meat, poultry, and egg products. Consumer complaints are usually filed because the food made the consumer sick, caused an allergic reaction, was not properly labeled (misbranded), or contained a foreign object. The Agency uses a web portal to capture consumer complaint information.
FSIS has a Food Safety Mobile that travels around the continental United States promoting food safety with respect to meat, poultry, and egg products. FSIS allows those institutions requesting a visit to complete an electronic questionnaire on the Agency’s website to facilitate the visit.
2. How, By Whom and Purpose Information Is To Be Used:
The following is a discussion of the information collection activities.
CCMS Web Portal
The Consumer Complaint Monitoring System (CCMS) web portal is used primarily to track consumer complaints regarding meat, poultry, and egg products. Consumer complaints may lead at times to the recall of products. The web portal allows for this information to be collected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In addition, the CCMS web portal is used secondarily to feed into an FSIS surveillance system that provides data to the National Biosurveillance Integration System, a Homeland Security concern. Consumer complaints captured by the CCMS web portal may offer timely notification and possible early detection and characterization of potential food safety threats.
Food Safety Mobile Questionnaire
FSIS collects information from those institutions requesting a visit from the Food Safety Mobile. FSIS uses this information in planning and scheduling a visit of the Food Safety Mobile.
There are 263 total burden hours for the information collection request relating to the request for a CCMS web portal and a questionnaire on visit from the Food Safety Mobile.
3. Use Of Improved Information Technology:
Under the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, the CCMS web portal and the information accompanying a request for a visit from the Food Safety Mobile is communicated electronically through the Internet to FSIS.
4. Efforts To Identify Duplication:
No FSIS office, USDA agency, or any other Government agency requires information relating to consumer complaints for meat, poultry, and egg products or the request for a visit from the Food Safety Mobile. There is no available information that can be used or modified.
5. Methods To Minimize Burden On Small Business Entities:
The data is submitted by individual consumers.
6. Consequences If Information Were Collected Less Frequently:
To conduct the information collections less frequently will reduce the effectiveness of the meat, poultry, and egg products inspection program.
7. Circumstances That Would Cause The Information Collection To Be Conducted In A Manner:
requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;
requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;
requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;
requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;
in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;
requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;
that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or
requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.
All information collection and recordkeeping activities in this submission are consistent with the guidelines listed above.
8. Consultation With Persons Outside The Agency:
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, FSIS published a 60-day notice (77 FR 16805) in the Federal Register on March 22, 2012, requesting comments regarding this information collection request. There was one comment on the notice. The comment did not address the burden hours for the currently approved information collections. The commenter suggested that the USDA use social media sites (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, etc.), in addition to the CCMS web portal, to track consumer complaints regarding meat, poultry, and egg products.
FSIS contacted three consumers: Wendy Allan (720-396-6059); Osei Headley (443-537-7330); and Juan Reyes (301-443-4056). All three consumers did not understand that the number blank was meant for the Establishment number. (FSIS has corrected this). One consumer thought that some of the symptoms should have been explained better, e.g., “sputum.” FSIS added words to help elaborate some of the symptoms). It took 4 minutes for one consumer to complete the screens, 11 minutes for another, and 15 minutes for the third.
9. Payment or Gifts to Respondents:
Respondents will not receive any gifts or payments.
10. Confidentiality Provided To Respondents:
No assurances other than routine protection provided under the Freedom of Information Act have been provided to respondents.
11. Questions Of A Sensitive Nature:
The applicants are not asked to furnish any information of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimate of Burden
The total burden estimate for the paperwork requirements associated with this information collection is 263 hours.
CCMS Web Portal
The Agency estimates that 1,000 requesters will respond one time taking 15 minutes to submit a consumer complaint through its web portal for an annual total of 1,000 responses and 250 burden hours.
CCMS WEB PORTAL
Type of Establish- Ment |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Mins. |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
Consumers |
1,000 |
1 |
1,000 |
15 |
250 |
Food Safety Mobile Questionnaire
The Agency estimates that 150 requesters will respond one time taking 5 minutes to submit an electronic form requesting a visit from the Food Safety Mobile for an annual total of 150 responses and 13 burden hours.
SUBMITTING A REQUEST FOR THE FOOD SAFETY MOBILE
Type of Establish- Ment |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Mins. |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
Institutions |
150 |
1 |
150 |
5 |
13 |
The cost to the respondents is estimated at $9,731 annually. The Agency estimates that it will cost respondents $37 an hour in fulfilling these paperwork and recordkeeping requirements. Respondents will spend an annual total of 263 hours and $9,731.
13. Capital and Start-up Cost and Subsequent Maintenance
There are no capital and start-up costs and subsequent maintenance burdens.
14. Annual Cost To Federal Government:
The cost to the Federal Government for these information collection requirements is $7,400 annually. The costs arise primarily from the time spent by FSIS staff analyzing the information in the CCMS and in reviewing the requests for a visit. The Agency estimates a cost of $37 per hour.
15. Reasons For Changes In Burden:
There is an adjustment consisting of increases in the number of respondents and responses from 650 to 1,150 and the total burden hours from 138 to 263 due to more respondents completing the Consumer Complaint Monitoring System web portal questionnaire.
16. Tabulation, Analyses And Publication Plans:
There are no plans to publish the data for statistical use.
17. OMB Approval Number Display:
FSIS will display the OMB approval number on any instructions it publishes relating to recordkeeping activities.
18. Exceptions to the Certification:
There are no exceptions to the certification. This information collection accords with the certification in item 19 of the OMB 83-I.
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| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | OPPDE/FSIS |
| Last Modified By | joconnell |
| File Modified | 2012-08-30 |
| File Created | 2012-08-30 |