[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 75410-75411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-32124]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

[Docket No. 030910228-3319-02]
RIN 0691-AA54


International Services Surveys: BE-25, Quarterly Survey of 
Transactions With Unaffiliated Foreign Persons in Selected Services and 
in Intangible Assets

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule amends regulations that set forth the 
reporting requirements for the BE-25, Quarterly Survey of Transactions 
with Unaffiliated Foreign Persons in Selected Services and in 
Intangible Assets.
    The survey is mandatory and will be conducted under the 
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act. Data from 
the BE-25 survey are needed to monitor trade in services and intangible 
assets, analyze its impact on the U.S. and foreign economies, compile 
and improve the U.S. economic accounts, support U.S. commercial policy 
on financial services, conduct trade promotion, improve the ability of 
U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market opportunities, and for 
other government and public uses.
    The survey will cover some of the selected services presently 
covered by the BE-22, Annual Survey of Selected Services Transactions 
with Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. The selected services covered by the 
BE-25 survey will be removed from the BE-22 survey after the survey for 
2003 is conducted. The BE-22 survey will continue to be conducted for 
those services that were not moved to the BE-25 survey. The BE-25 
survey will also cover construction, engineering, architectural, and 
surveying services presently covered by the BE-47, Annual Survey of 
Construction, Engineering, Architectural, and Mining Services Provided 
by U.S. Firms to Unaffiliated Foreign Persons, and will cover the same 
transactions in intangible assets presently covered by the BE-93, 
Annual Survey of Royalties, License Fees, and Other Receipts and 
Payments for Intangible Rights Between U.S. and Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons; both of these annual surveys will be discontinued, following a 
final data collection for 2003.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule will be effective January 30, 2004.

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 the Internet at 
[email protected] (telephone (202) 606-9890).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the September 23, 2003, Federal Register, 
(68 FR 55204-55206), BEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking 
setting forth reporting requirements for the BE-25, Quarterly Survey of 
Transactions with Unaffiliated Foreign Persons in Selected Services and 
in Intangible Assets. No comments on the proposed rule were received. 
Thus, the proposed rule is adopted without change.
    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 (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 authority granted 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 services 
and in intangible assets, analyze the impact of this trade on the U.S. 
and foreign economies, compile and improve the U.S. economic accounts, 
support U.S. commercial policy on services and intangible assets, 
conduct trade promotion, and improve the ability of U.S. businesses to 
identify and evaluate market opportunities.
    The BE-25 survey is mandatory and will be conducted under the 
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act. The first 
survey conducted under this rule will cover transactions in the first 
quarter of 2004. BEA will send the survey to potential respondents in 
March of 2004; responses will be due by May 15, 2004. The survey will 
update the data provided on the universe of transactions between U.S. 
and unaffiliated foreign persons in selected services and in intangible 
assets. Reporting is required from U.S. persons whose sales of covered 
services to unaffiliated foreign persons exceeded $6 million for the 
previous fiscal year or are expected to exceed that amount during the 
current fiscal year, or whose purchases of covered services from 
unaffiliated foreign persons exceeded $4 million for the previous 
fiscal year or are expected to exceed that amount during the current 
fiscal year. U.S. persons meeting any of these criteria must supply 
data on the amount of their sales or purchases for each type of covered 
service, disaggregated by country. U.S. persons that do not meet the 
mandatory reporting requirements are requested to provide voluntary 
estimates of their total sales and purchases of each type of covered 
service or intangible asset.
    The BE-25 survey will cover some of the selected services presently 
covered by the BE-22, Annual Survey of Selected Services Transactions 
with Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. It will also cover construction, 
engineering, architectural, and surveying services presently covered by 
the BE-47, Annual Survey of Construction, Engineering, Architectural, 
and Mining Services Provided by U.S. Firms to Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons, and will cover the same transactions in intangible rights 
presently covered by the BE-93, Annual Survey of Royalties, License 
Fees, and Other Receipts and Payments for Intangible Rights Between 
U.S. and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons; both of these annual surveys 
will be discontinued, following a final data collection for 2003.

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 (0608-0067) will be displayed.
    The BE-25 survey is expected to result in the filing of reports 
containing mandatory data from about 700 respondents on a quarterly 
basis, or

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2,800 responses annually. The average burden for completing the BE-25 
is estimated to be 16 hours. Thus, the total respondent burden of the 
survey is estimated at 44,800 hours (2,800 responses times 16 hours 
average burden). The actual burden will vary from reporter to reporter, 
depending upon the number and variety of their covered services 
transactions and the ease of assembling the data. This estimate 
includes time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data 
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and 
reviewing the collection of information.
    Comments regarding the burden estimate or any 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 either 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 provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
U.S.C. 605(b)), that this rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities as that term is 
defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The factual basis for the 
certification was published with the proposed rule. No comments were 
received regarding the economic impact of the rule. As a result, no 
final regulatory flexibility analysis was prepared.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801

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

    Dated: December 10, 2003.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

0
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

0
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.

0
2. Section 801.9 is amended by adding new paragraph (c)(6) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  801.9  Reports required.

* * * * *
    (c) Quarterly surveys. * * *
    (6) BE-25, Quarterly Survey of Transactions with Unaffiliated 
Foreign Persons in Selected Services and in Intangible Assets:
    (i) A BE-25, Quarterly Survey of Transactions with Unaffiliated 
Foreign Persons in Selected Services and in Intangible Assets, 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. person that: (a) Had sales of covered services to 
unaffiliated foreign persons that exceeded $6 million for the previous 
fiscal year or are expected to exceed that amount during the current 
fiscal year; or (b) had purchases of covered services from unaffiliated 
foreign persons that exceeded $4 million for the previous fiscal year 
or are expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. 
Because the thresholds are applied separately to sales and purchases, 
the mandatory reporting requirement may apply only to sales, only to 
purchases, or to both sales and purchases. 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. 
person that had sales of covered services to unaffiliated foreign 
persons that were $6 million or less for the previous fiscal year and 
are expected to be less than or equal to that amount during the current 
fiscal year, or had purchases of covered services from unaffiliated 
foreign persons that were $4 million or less for the previous fiscal 
year and are expected to be less than or equal to that 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. Because these thresholds apply separately to sales and 
purchases, voluntary reporting may apply only to sales, only to 
purchases, or to both.
    (B) Any person receiving a BE-25 survey form from BEA must complete 
all relevant parts of the form and return the form to BEA. A person 
that is not subject to the mandatory reporting requirement in paragraph 
(c)(6)(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 services and intangible assets. The services covered by 
this survey are: Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services; 
computer and data processing services; construction services; foreign 
expenses related to construction projects; data base and other 
information services; engineering, architectural, and surveying 
services; industrial engineering services; industrial-type maintenance, 
installation, alteration, and training services; legal services; 
management, consulting, and public relations services; operational 
leasing services; research, development, and testing services; and 
telecommunication services. The intangible assets covered by this 
survey are rights related to: industrial processes and products; books, 
compact discs, audio tapes and other copyrighted material and 
intellectual property; trademarks, brand names, and signatures; 
performances and events pre-recorded on motion picture film and 
television tape, including digital recording; broadcast and recording 
of live performances and events; general use computer software; 
business format franchising fees; and other intangible assets, 
including indefeasible rights of users.
    (ii) [Reserved]
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 03-32124 Filed 12-30-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P