UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580

Division of
Marketing Practices
~
Carole I. Danielson
Investigator

Direct Dial:
(202) 326-3115

August 20, 1996

Dear Commenter:

Thank you for your letter of interest in the Public Forum on vehicle buyback disclosure issues that was announced in the Federal Trade Commission's April 30, 1996, request for comment. Based on the criteria set forth in the Request for Comment, we have selected your organization to participate in the conference to represent an affected interest during the roundtable discussion. Each request letter has been placed on the public record. A list of participating organizations is enclosed.

This will be a one-day conference, held on October 3, 1996. We will meet in Room 432 of the Federal Trade Commission, 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The forum will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 5:00 p.m. Members of the public may view the roundtable discussion in the same meeting room, space permitting. We have also reserved Room 332 in the Federal Trade Commission building as an "over-flow" room. We will arrange for video-conferencing of the discussions in Room 432 so any overflow audience will be able to view the proceedings as they occur.

We will formulate the final conference agenda after reviewing the written comments and will send you a formal agenda before the forum. We will include intervals for statements or questions from members of the audience as time permits.

There will be an opportunity for each affected interest to make a brief, three-minute, introductory statement of their views. However, the primary focus of the forum will be the opportunity for discussion among the participants. Commission staff expects that each party will be prepared not only to briefly state their position, but also to question and comment constructively on the views expressed in the other parties' written comments. We further expect that each party will be prepared to respond to questions posed to them by other parties, members of the Commission staff or by the conference moderator. To help you prepare for the forum, we are providing you with a 3 1/2 " diskette⁽¹⁾ containing the comments submitted by roundtable participants and other commenters. Because not all commenters submitted a diskette (or a diskette containing their attachments), we will also provide you within a few days with a hard-copy set of the comments, including attachments.

We ask that you designate one person to act as your organization's primary representative during the roundtable discussion. You may change your primary representative at the table during the course of the conference. However, please advise us if you plan to have more than one primary representative participating in the conference. Seating for other individuals as advisors may also be available, possibly at the conference table itself. Please let us know as soon as possible the name of the individual(s) who will be representing your organization at the table. Please contact me if there are any changes, or if for any reason your organization will not attend. We appreciate your interest in this proceeding and in the conference. We look forward to this unique opportunity for you and other interested parties to share your views and comments on the issues raised in this proceeding.

Please feel free to contact me at (202) 326-3115 if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Carole I. Danielson
Investigator

Enclosure

1. The diskette contains both a WordPerfect 5.1 and a WordPerfect 6.1 (.wpd) version of the comments.