[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 129 (Monday, July 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40241-40242]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17097]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis


Proposed Data Sharing Activity

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) proposes to provide to 
the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) data collected from the 
Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States--
1997 and the Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad--1999 
for statistical purposes exclusively. In accordance with the 
requirement of Section 524(d) of the Confidential Information 
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA), we are 
providing the opportunity for public comment on this data-sharing 
action. Through the use of these shared data, the Census Bureau will 
augment its existing research and development (R&D)-related data 
collected in the Survey of Industrial Research and Development, which 
is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Census Bureau 
will also identify data quality issues arising from reporting 
differences in the BEA and Census Bureau surveys and improve its survey 
sample frames. The NSF will be provided non-confidential aggregate data 
(public use) and reports that have cleared BEA and Census Bureau 
disclosure review. Disclosure review is a process conducted to verify 
that the data to be released do not reveal any confidential 
information.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before September 5, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Please direct all written comments on this proposed program 
to the Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BE-1), Washington, DC 
20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information on 
this proposed program should be directed to Ned Howenstine, Chief, 
Research Branch, International Investment Division, Bureau of Economic 
Analysis (BE-50), Washington, DC 20230, by phone on (202) 606-9845 or 
by fax (202) 606-5318.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    CIPSEA (Pub. L. 107-347, Title V) and the International Investment 
and Trade in Services Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 22 United States Code 
(U.S.C.) 3101-3108) allow BEA and the Census Bureau to share certain 
business data for exclusively statistical purposes. Section 524(d) of 
the CIPSEA requires a Federal Register notice announcing the intent to 
share data (allowing 60 days for public comment).
    Section 524(d) also requires us to provide information about the 
terms of the agreement for data sharing. For purposes of this notice, 
BEA has decided to group these terms by three categories. The 
categories are:

    [sbull] Shared data.
    [sbull] Statistical purposes for the shared data.
    [sbull] Data access and confidentiality.

Shared Data

    BEA proposes to provide the Census Bureau with data collected from 
the Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United 
States--1997 and the Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment 
Abroad--1999. The agreement also calls for the Census Bureau to share 
data collected from the 1997 and 1999 Surveys of Industrial Research 
and Development with BEA. A separate notice (68 FR 33094, June 3, 2003) 
addresses this issue.
    BEA will provide the Census Bureau with only those data items 
necessary to link records from the two benchmark surveys with records 
from the Census Bureau's Surveys of Industrial Research and 
Development. The Census Bureau will use these data for statistical 
purposes exclusively. Through record linkage, the Census Bureau will 
augment its existing R&D-related data, identify data quality issues 
arising from reporting differences in the Census Bureau and BEA 
surveys, and improve its survey sample frames.

Statistical Purposes for the Shared Data

    The data collected from the Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct 
Investment in the United States--1997 and the Benchmark Survey of U.S. 
Direct Investment Abroad--1999 are used to estimate expenditures on 
research and development performed by U.S. affiliates of foreign 
companies, foreign affiliates of U.S. companies, and the foreign 
affiliates' U.S. parent companies, R&D employment, and other statistics 
on the financial structure and operations of these companies. 
Statistics from the Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in 
the United States--1997 were published in Foreign Direct Investment in 
the United States: Final Results From the 1997 Benchmark Survey; 
statistics from the Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad--
1999 will be published in U.S.

[[Page 40242]]

Direct Investment Abroad: Final Results From the 1999 Benchmark Survey 
(forthcoming). All data are collected under sections 3101-3108, of 
Title 22 U.S.C.

Data Access and Confidentiality

    Title 22, U.S.C. 3104 protects the confidentiality of these data. 
The data may be seen only by persons sworn to uphold the 
confidentiality of the information. Access to the shared data will be 
restricted to specifically authorized personnel and will be provided 
for statistical purposes only. Any results of this research are subject 
to BEA disclosure protection. All Census Bureau employees with access 
to these data will become BEA Special Sworn Employees--meaning that 
they, under penalty of law, must uphold the data's confidentiality. 
Selected NSF employees will provide BEA with expertise on the aspects 
of R&D performance in the United States and by U.S. companies abroad; 
these NSF consultants assisting with the work at the BEA also will 
become BEA Special Sworn Employees. No confidential data will be 
provided to the NSF. To further safeguard the confidentiality of the 
data, BEA will conduct an Information Technology security review of the 
Census Bureau prior to the commencement of the project. Any results of 
this research are subject to BEA disclosure protection.

    Dated: June 26, 2003.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
[FR Doc. 03-17097 Filed 7-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P