[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 184 (Tuesday, September 23, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55202-55204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24130]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 184 / Tuesday, September 23, 2003 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 55202]]



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

[Docket No. 030910227-3227-01]
RIN 0691-AA53


International Services Surveys: BE-45, Quarterly Survey of 
Insurance Transactions by U.S. Insurance Companies With Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document sets forth a proposed rule to institute a new 
survey, BE-45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance Transactions by U.S. 
Insurance Companies with Foreign Persons, to be conducted by the Bureau 
of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
    The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and 
other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995. The proposed survey is mandatory and will be conducted under the 
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act. Data from 
the proposed BE-45 survey are needed to monitor trade in insurance 
services, analyze its impact on the U.S. and foreign economies, compile 
and improve the U.S. economic accounts, support U.S. commercial policy 
on insurance services, conduct trade promotion, improve the ability of 
U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market opportunities, and for 
other Government uses.
    The proposed survey will cover the same insurance services 
presently covered by the BE-48, Annual Survey of Reinsurance and Other 
Insurance Transactions by U.S. Insurance Companies with Foreign 
Persons, and auxiliary insurance services presently covered by the 
Benchmark and Annual Surveys of Selected Services Transactions with 
Unaffiliated Foreign Persons (Forms BE-20 and BE-22).

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule will receive consideration if 
submitted in writing on or before November 24, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to the Office of the Chief, 
International Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 20230. To ensure that 
comments are received in a timely manner, please consider using one of 
the following delivery methods: (1) Fax to (202) 606-5318; (2) deliver 
by courier to U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 
BE-50, Shipping and Receiving Section M100, 1441 L Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20005; or (3) e-mail to [email protected]. Comments 
will be available for public inspection in room 7006, 1441 L Street, 
NW., between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Obie G. Whichard, Chief, International 
Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; or via e-mail at 
[email protected] (Telephone (202) 606-9800).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This proposed rule amends 15 CFR Part 801 by 
revising paragraph 801.9(c) to set forth the reporting requirements for 
the BE-45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance Transactions by U.S. Insurance 
Companies with Foreign Persons. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), 
U.S. Department of Commerce, will conduct the survey under the 
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-
472, 90 Stat. 2059, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108). Section 4(a) of the Act (22 
U.S.C. 3103(a)) provides that the President shall, to the extent he 
deems necessary and feasible, conduct a regular data collection program 
to secure current information related to international investment and 
trade in services and publish for the use of the general public and 
United States Government agencies periodic, regular, and comprehensive 
statistical information collected pursuant to this subsection. In 
Section 3 of Executive Order 11961, as amended by Executive Order 
12518, the President delegated his authority under the Act as concerns 
international trade in services to the Secretary of Commerce, who has 
redelegated it to BEA.
    The major purposes of the survey are to monitor trade in insurance 
services, analyze its impact on the U.S. and foreign economies, compile 
and improve the U.S. economic accounts, support U.S. commercial policy 
on insurance services, conduct trade promotion, and improve the ability 
of U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market opportunities.
    As proposed, BEA will conduct the BE-45 survey on a quarterly basis 
beginning with the first quarter of 2004. The survey will update the 
data provided on the universe of insurance services transactions 
between U.S. insurance companies and foreign persons. Reporting is 
required from U.S. insurance companies whose covered transactions with 
foreign persons exceeded $8 million for the previous fiscal year or are 
expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. In 
addition, the reporting threshold for this survey is applied separately 
to each of the eight individual types of transactions covered by the 
survey rather than to the sum of the data for all eight types combined. 
Insurance companies meeting these criteria must supply data on the 
amount of their insurance transactions for each type of insurance 
category, disaggregated by country. U.S. insurance companies that do 
not meet the mandatory reporting requirements are requested to provide 
voluntary estimates of their covered insurance transactions.
    The transactions covered by this survey are: Reinsurance premiums 
received, reinsurance premiums paid, reinsurance losses paid, 
reinsurance losses recovered, primary insurance premiums received, 
primary insurance losses paid, auxiliary insurance services receipts, 
and auxiliary insurance services payments. (Auxiliary insurance 
services include agent's commissions, insurance brokering and agency 
services, insurance consulting services, evaluation and adjustment 
services, actuarial services, salvage administration services, and 
regulatory and monitoring services on indemnities and recovery 
services.)
    The first survey conducted under this proposed rule will cover 
transactions in the first quarter 2004. BEA will send the

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survey to potential respondents in March of 2004; responses will be due 
by May 15, 2004.

Executive Order 12866

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

Executive Order 13132

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

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule contains a collection of information requirement 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and has been submitted to 
the Office of Management and Budget for review under the PRA.
    Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for 
failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the PRA unless that collection displays a currently 
valid Office of Management and Budget Control Number.
    The BE-45 survey, as proposed, is expected to result in the filing 
of approximately 210 reports on a quarterly basis, or 840 responses 
annually, and the average annual respondent burden for completing the 
survey is estimated at 8 hours. Thus, the total respondent burden of 
the survey is estimated at about 6,720 hours (840 responses times 8 
hours average burden). The actual burden will vary from reporter to 
reporter, depending upon the number and variety of their insurance 
transactions and the ease of assembling the data. This estimate 
includes time for respondents to review the instructions, search 
existing data sources, gather and maintain the data needed, and 
complete and review the collection of information.
    Comments are requested concerning: (a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the burden estimate; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Comments should be addressed to: Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis 
(BE-1), U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; or faxed 
(202-395-7245) or e-mailed ([email protected]) to the Office of 
Management and Budget, O.I.R.A., (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 the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that this proposed rulemaking, if adopted, 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 for the existing annual 
survey of international insurance transactions has been comprised 
mainly of major U.S. corporations. The proposed BE-45 quarterly survey 
will be required from U.S. insurance companies whose covered 
transactions with foreign persons exceeded $8 million for the previous 
fiscal year or are expected to exceed that amount during the current 
fiscal year. Thus, the exemption level will exclude most small 
businesses from mandatory coverage. Of those smaller businesses that 
must report, most will tend to have specialized operations and 
activities and thus will be likely to report only one type of insurance 
transaction, often limited to transactions with a single partner 
country; therefore, the burden on them can be expected to be small.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801

    Economic statistics, international transactions, foreign trade, 
penalties, reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA proposes to amend 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; 
E.O. 11961, 3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86 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 is amended by revising paragraph (c)(5) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  801.9  Reports required.

    (c) Quarterly surveys. * * *
    (5) BE-45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance Transactions by U.S. 
Insurance Companies with Foreign Persons:
    (i) A BE-45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance Transactions by U.S. 
Insurance Companies with Foreign Persons, will be conducted covering 
the first quarter of the 2004 calendar year and every quarter 
thereafter.
    (A) Who must report--(1) Mandatory reporting. Reports are required 
from each U.S. insurance company whose covered transactions with 
foreign persons exceeded $8 million for the previous fiscal year or are 
expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. This 
threshold is applied separately to each of the eight individual types 
of transactions covered by the survey rather than to the sum of the 
data for all eight types combined. Quarterly reports for a year may be 
required retroactively when it is determined that the exemption level 
has been exceeded.
    (2) Voluntary reporting. Reports are requested from each U.S. 
insurance company whose covered transactions with foreign persons were 
$8 million or less for the previous fiscal year and are not expected to 
exceed the $8 million amount during the current fiscal year. Provision 
of this information is voluntary. The estimates may be based on recall, 
without conducting a detailed records search.
    (B) Any person receiving a BE-45 survey form from BEA must complete 
all relevant parts of the form and return the form to BEA. A person not 
subject to the mandatory reporting requirement in paragraph 
(c)(5)(i)(A) of this section and is not filing information on a 
voluntary basis must only complete the ``Determination of reporting 
status'' and the ``Certification'' sections of the survey. This 
requirement is necessary to ensure compliance with the reporting 
requirements and efficient administration of the survey by eliminating 
unnecessary followup contact.
    (C) Covered insurance transactions. The transactions covered by 
this survey are: reinsurance premiums received, reinsurance premiums 
paid, reinsurance losses paid, reinsurance losses recovered, primary 
insurance premiums received, primary insurance losses paid, auxiliary 
insurance services receipts, and auxiliary insurance services payments. 
(Auxiliary insurance services include agent's commissions, insurance 
brokering and agency services, insurance consulting services, 
evaluation and adjustment services,

[[Page 55204]]

actuarial services, salvage administration services, and regulatory and 
monitoring services on indemnities and recovery services.)
    (ii) [Reserved]

[FR Doc. 03-24130 Filed 9-22-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P