[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 96 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28119-28120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-11170]


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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 in its surveys 
of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States 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. The Census Bureau will link 
the FDI data, primarily those collected in the Benchmark Survey of 
Foreign Direct Investment in the United States--2002, to establishments 
in the Census Bureau's 2002 Economic Census and Business Register. 
Through the use of these shared data, the Census Bureau

[[Page 28120]]

will augment and improve its establishment data on all U.S. businesses 
from the Economic Census by separately identifying data for the 
establishments of foreign-owned U.S. companies for specific detailed 
industries, and by identifying data quality issues arising from 
reporting differences in the Census Bureau and BEA surveys. The Census 
Bureau and BEA will publish non-confidential aggregate reports (public 
use) 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 July 19, 2004.

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 Christopher Emond, Chief, 
Special Surveys Branch, International Investment Division, Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BE-50), Washington, DC 20230, by phone on (202) 606-
9826 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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 the purposes of this 
notice, BEA has decided to group these terms by three categories. The 
categories are:
     Shared data.
     Statistical purposes for the shared data.
     Data access and confidentiality

Shared Data

    BEA proposes to provide the Census Bureau with data collected from 
the FDI surveys. The agreement also calls for the Census Bureau to 
share data collected from the 2002 Economic Census and Business 
Register. A separate notice will address this issue.
    BEA will provide the Census Bureau with only those data items 
necessary to link records from the FDI surveys with the establishments 
from the Business Register. The Census Bureau will use these data for 
statistical purposes exclusively. Through record linkage, the Census 
Bureau will augment and improve its establishment data on all U.S. 
businesses from the Economic Census by separately identifying data for 
the establishments of foreign-owned U.S. companies for specific 
detailed industries, and by identifying data quality issues arising 
from reporting differences in the Census Bureau and BEA surveys.

Statistical Purposes for the Shared Data

    The data collected from the FDI surveys are used to estimate the 
financial and operating data, direct investment positions, and the 
international transactions data of U.S. affiliates of foreign 
companies. Statistics from these surveys are published in articles in 
the Survey of Current Business and in separate data publications. 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. The results of this project are subject 
to 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. To 
further safeguard the confidentiality of the data, BEA has conducted an 
Information Technology security review of the Census Bureau.

    Dated: May 11, 2004.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
[FR Doc. 04-11170 Filed 5-17-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P