[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71103-71105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30136]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

[Docket No. 020725180-2263-02]
RIN 0691-AA43


International Services Surveys: BE-22, Annual Survey of Selected 
Services Transactions with Unaffiliated Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule revises regulations for the BE-22, Annual 
Survey of Selected Services Transactions with Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons. The BE-22 survey is conducted by the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, under the International 
Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act, in years the BE-20, 
Benchmark Survey of Selected Services Transactions with Unaffiliated 
Foreign Persons is not conducted.
    This rule revises the regulations to create a new reporting 
requirement for medical services, receipts only. Additionally, BEA 
announces that it is revising the BE-22 to create new reporting 
categories for trade-related services, auxiliary insurance services, 
and waste treatment and depollution

[[Page 71104]]

services; add coverage of transcription services; and amend several 
other service categories.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule will be effective December 30, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. David Belli, Chief, International 
Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; phone (202) 606-9800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the August 26, 2002, Federal Register, 
volume 67, No. 165, 67 FR 54748-54749, BEA published a notice of 
proposed rulemaking setting forth revised reporting requirements for 
the BE-22, Annual Survey of Selected Services Transactions with 
Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. No comments on the proposed rule were 
received. Thus, this final rule is the same as the proposed rule.
    This final rule amends 15 CFR part 801 by revising Sec.  
801.9(b)(6)(ii) to set forth revised reporting requirements for the BE-
22, Annual Survey of Selected Services Transactions with Unaffiliated 
Foreign Persons. The survey is conducted by the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, under the International 
Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 90 Stat. 
2059, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108, as amended). Section 3103(a) of the Act 
provides that the President shall, to the extent he deems necessary and 
feasible-- * * * (1) conduct a regular data collection program to 
secure current information * * * related to international investment 
and trade in services * * *''. In Section 3 of Executive Order 11961, 
as amended by Executive Order 12518, the President delegated authority 
granted under the Act as concerns international trade in services to 
the Secretary of Commerce, who has redelegated it to BEA.
    The BE-22 is an annual survey of selected services transactions 
with unaffiliated foreign persons. The data are needed to compile the 
U.S. international transactions, national income and product, and 
input-output accounts; support U.S. trade policy initiatives; assess 
U.S. competitiveness in international trade in services; and improve 
the ability of U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market 
opportunities.
    This document describes changes to the BE-22 survey and sets forth 
changes to the regulation governing the BE-22. The survey incorporates 
new reporting categories for trade-related services, auxiliary 
insurance services, and waste treatment and depollution services; adds 
coverage of transcription services; and amends several other services 
categories. These changes mirror changes introduced in the 2001 BE-20 
benchmark survey. Additionally, a new reporting requirement for medical 
services, receipts only, is created. The final rule revises a list of 
items set forth in the ``covered services'' section of the existing 
rule, to reflect this new category in the survey. These changes to the 
survey and regulations will close statistical gaps in the coverage of 
cross-border services transactions and bring the survey into better 
alignment with international standards for compilation of statistics on 
trade in services.

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule is not significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.

Executive Order 13132

    This final rule does not contain policies with Federalism 
implications as that term is defined in E.O. 13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The collection of information required in this final rule has been 
approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act. Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no 
person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a 
penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject 
to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that 
collection displays a currently valid OMB Control Number; such a 
Control Number (0608-0060) has been displayed.
    The survey is expected to result in the filing of reports from 
approximately 1,600 respondents. The respondent reporting burden for 
this collection of information is estimated to vary from less than four 
hours to 500 hours, with an overall average burden of 11.5 hours. This 
includes time for reviewing the instructions, searching existing data 
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and 
reviewing the collection of information. Thus, the total respondent 
burden of the survey is estimated at about 18,400 hours (1,600 times 
11.5 hours average burden).
    Comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information should be addressed to: Director, Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BE-1), U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 
20230, and to the Office of Management and Budget, O.I.R.A., Paperwork 
Reduction Project 0608-0060, Washington, DC 20503 (Attention PRA Desk 
Officer for BEA).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Chief Counsel for Regulation, Department of Commerce, has 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business 
Administration, under provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
U.S.C. 605(b)), that this final rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. While the 
survey does not collect data on total sales or other measures of the 
overall size of businesses that respond to the survey, historically the 
respondent universe has been comprised mainly of major U.S. 
corporations. With the exemption level for the survey being $1 million 
in covered receipts or payments, few small businesses can be expected 
to be subject to reporting. Of those smaller businesses that must 
report, most will tend to have specialized operations and activities, 
so they will likely report only one type of transaction, often with a 
single partner country; therefore, the burden on them should be small.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 806

    Economic statistics, International transactions, Foreign trade, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: October 28, 2002.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA amends 15 CFR part 
801, as follows:

PART 801--SURVEY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES BETWEEN U.S. 
AND FOREIGN PERSONS

    1. The authority citation for 15 CFR part 801 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 15 U.S.C. 4908, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108, 
and E.O. 11961 (3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 860 as amended by E.O. 12013 
(3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 147), E.O. 12318 (3 CFR, 1981 Comp., p. 173), 
and E.O. 12518 (3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p. 348).


    2. Section 801.9(b)(6)(ii) is revised to read as follows:
* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (6) * * *
    (ii) Covered services. With the exceptions given in this paragraph, 
the services covered by this survey are the same as those covered by 
the BE-20, Benchmark Survey of Selected Services Transactions with 
Unaffiliated Foreign Persons--2001, as listed in Sec.  801.10(c) of 
this part. The exceptions are the addition of coverage of medical 
services, receipts only, and the elimination of coverage of four small 
types of services-

[[Page 71105]]

agricultural services; management of health care facilities; mailing, 
reproduction, and commercial art; and temporary help supply services.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 02-30136 Filed 11-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P