[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 43841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14988]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    DOC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
clearance the following proposal for collection of information under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Annual Trade Survey.
    Form Number(s): SA-42, SA-42A, SA-42(MSBO), SA-42A(MSBO), SA-
42(AGBR), SA-42A(AGBR).
    Agency Approval Number: 0607-0195.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 3,937 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 8,490.
    Avg Hours Per Response: 28 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau is requesting a revision to 
the current Office Of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for the 
Annual Trade Survey (ATS). It currently covers wholesale distributor 
establishments, manufacturers' sales branches and offices (MSBOs) and 
will be expanded to include agents, brokers and electronic markets 
(AGBR). The survey is an official source of annual sales, inventory, 
and value added measures for wholesale establishments located in the 
United States. The ATS provides annual data needed to improve the 
accuracy of the sales estimates and inventory adjustments in the Gross 
Domestic Product (GDP) and for benchmarking results of the Monthly 
Wholesale Trade Survey (MWTS) [OMB No. 0607-0190]. Data on agents, 
brokers, and electronic markets will address a longstanding Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA) priority to obtain annual measures of sales, 
commissions, and value of sales arranged for others, e-commerce sales, 
and operating expenses to improve BEA's estimates, a key component of 
the GDP estimate. The estimates compiled from this survey provide 
valuable information for economic policy decisions by the government 
and will be widely used by private businesses, trade organizations, 
professional associations, and other business research and analysis 
organizations.
    This request is for the clearance of four existing report forms, 
the SA-42 and SA-42A, the SA-42 (MSBO) and SA-42A (MSBO), and two new 
forms, SA-42 (AGBR) and SA-42A (AGBR), which will be used to collect 
data for AGBRs. The survey report forms are used to collect total 
sales, e-commerce sales, year-end inventory, and inventory valuation 
methods with the exception of AGBRs. In addition purchases are 
collected for wholesale distributors and operating expenses for MSBOs 
and AGBRs. The forms request similar but unique sets of data items to 
accommodate both wholesale distributors, manufacturers sales branches 
and offices and agents, brokers and electronic markets as well as both 
large and small firms. This survey will use the North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS).
    The Census Bureau tabulates the collected data to produce estimates 
of annual sales, year-end inventories and inventory valuation methods, 
and inventory/sales ratios. In addition, estimates of purchases and 
gross margins will be produced for wholesale distributors and estimates 
of operating expenses will be produced for MSBOs and AGBRs.
    BEA uses information from the ATS in the National Income and 
Product Accounts and the input-output (I-O) accounts. Data on 
inventories, purchases, and operating expenses are used to prepare 
estimates of the change in private inventories components of GDP. Data 
on sales are used to prepare inventory-sales ratios. Data on 
inventories, sales, purchases, and operating expenses are used to 
derive industry output for the I-O accounts and for the annual GDP by 
industry estimates. Data on sales taxes, which are collected on this 
survey quinquennially, are also used to prepare estimates of GDP by 
industry and to derive industry output for the I-O accounts. These 
estimates will have a high BEA priority because of their timeliness and 
because of the adjustments made to prior period data based on final 
book figures.
    The Census Bureau also uses wholesale distributor annual data as a 
benchmark for the sales and inventory estimates from the MWTS. Other 
government agencies and businesses will use the published estimates to 
gauge the current trends of the economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics 
uses the data as input to their Producer Price Indexes and in 
developing productivity measurements.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 182, 224, and 225.
    OMB Desk Officer: Susan Schechter, (202) 395-5103.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, room 6625, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Susan Schechter, OMB Desk Officer either by fax (202-395-7245) or e-
mail ([email protected]).

    Dated: July 25, 2005.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-14988 Filed 7-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P