[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20185-20186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10128]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection, Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed revision of the ``International Price Program--U.S. Import 
Product Information.'' A copy of the proposed information collection

[[Page 20186]]

request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual listed below 
in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice on or before June 23, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, telephone number 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
telephone number 202-691-7628. (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The U.S. Import Price Indexes, produced continuously by the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics' International Price Program (IPP) since 1971, 
measure price change over time for all categories of imported products, 
as well as many services. The Office of Management and Budget has 
listed the Import Price Indexes as a Principal Federal Economic 
Indicator since 1982. The indexes are widely used in both the public 
and private sectors. The primary public sector use is the deflation of 
the U.S. Trade Statistics and the Gross Domestic Product; the indexes 
also are used in formulating U.S. trade policy and in trade 
negotiations with other countries. In the private sector, uses of the 
Import Price Indexes include market analysis, inflation forecasting, 
contract escalation, and replacement cost accounting.
    The IPP indexes are closely followed statistics, and are viewed as 
a sensitive indicator of the economic environment. The U.S. Department 
of Commerce uses the monthly statistics to produce monthly and 
quarterly estimates of inflation-adjusted trade flows. Without 
continuation of data collection, it would be extremely difficult to 
construct accurate estimates of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. In 
addition, Federal policymakers in the Department of Treasury, the 
Council of Economic Advisers, and the Federal Reserve Board utilize 
these statistics on a regular basis to improve these agencies' 
formulation and evaluation of monetary and fiscal policy and evaluation 
of the general business environment.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
    [sbull] Evaluate 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;
    [sbull] Evaluate 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;
    [sbull] Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    [sbull] Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

III. Current Action

    The IPP continues to modernize data collection and processing to 
permit more timely release of its indexes, and to reduce reporter 
burden. Recently, for example, the IPP has attempted to cut back the 
number of months during any given year an individual respondent would 
need to supply data. Respondents are only asked for data in those 
months that they indicated that they might normally have changes in 
their prices. The IPP is also looking into less frequent sampling of 
more stable item areas, use of broader item areas in certain cases, and 
retention of items initiated in previous samples that reporters still 
trade. In order to reduce the time required for processing new items, 
direct entry of initiation data from the field was recently 
implemented. The IPP is continuing to test the feasibility of using fax 
transmissions to directly collect and enter data into the BLS 
reporters' repricing database. In Fiscal Year 2003 the IPP is also 
developing a web-based data collection system designed to permit 
respondents to enter data directly into the IPP's monthly database.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: International Price Program/U.S. Import Product Information.
    OMB Number: 1220-0026.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.

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                                                                                      Average time    Estimated
             Form                  Total             Frequency             Total      per response  total burden
                                respondents                              responses      (hours)        (hours)
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Initiation Visit (includes            2,000  Annually................         2,000          1.0           2,000
 form 3008).
Form 3007D...................         3,400  Monthly.................        21,420           .63         13,495
                              --------------                          ---------------
      Total..................         5,400  ........................        23,420  .............        15,495
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    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a 
matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 15th day of April, 2003.
Jes[uacute]s Salinas,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 03-10128 Filed 4-23-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-U