[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 30, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30653-30654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8211]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce (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: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Commerce.
    Title: Initial Report on a Foreign Person's Direct or Indirect 
Acquisition, Establishment, or Purchase of the Operating Assets, of a 
U.S. Business Enterprise, Including Real Estate (Form BE-13) and Report 
by a U.S. Person Who Assists or Intervenes in the Acquisition of a U.S. 
Business Enterprise by, or Who Enters into a Joint Venture with, a 
Foreign Person (Form BE-14).
    Form Number(s): BE-13, BE-13 Supplement C, and BE-14.
    Agency Approval Number: 0608-0035.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 900 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 600 annually.
    Average Hours per Response: 1.5 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The Initial Report on a Foreign Person's Direct or 
Indirect Acquisition, Establishment, or Purchase of the Operating 
Assets, of a U.S. Business Enterprise, Including Real Estate (Form BE-
13) and the Report by a U.S. Person Who Assists or Intervenes in the 
Acquisition of a U.S. Business Enterprise by, or Who Enters into a 
Joint Venture with, a Foreign Person (Form BE-14) obtain initial data 
on new foreign direct investment in the United States. The BE-13 survey 
collects information on the cost of new foreign direct investment in 
the United States, the sources of funding (i.e., the foreign parent 
group and/or existing U.S. affiliates of the foreign parent), and 
limited financial and operating data for the U.S. entity being 
established or acquired; the survey also collects identification 
information about the U.S. entity being established or acquired and 
about the new foreign owner(s). The BE-14 survey collects information 
from U.S. persons who assist in an investment transaction, such as a 
real estate broker or attorney, or who enter into a U.S. joint venture 
with a foreign person. The primary purpose of this information 
collection is to identify new U.S. affiliates that should be included 
in BEA's estimates of foreign direct investment in the United States. 
The information is needed to update data on the universe of U.S. 
affiliates to ensure that it is complete, and to determine whether the 
new affiliates exceed the exemption criteria required for reporting in 
related benchmark, annual, and quarterly surveys of foreign direct 
investment conducted by BEA. The

[[Page 30654]]

information is also used to improve the accuracy of universe estimates 
derived from BEA's ongoing annual and quarterly sample surveys of 
foreign direct investment.
    Representatives of many State and local governments take active 
steps to attract new foreign direct investment to their localities. To 
make informed policy decisions concerning such investment, it is 
essential that government entities, including the U.S. Government, have 
the means to measure foreign direct investment in the United States, 
monitor changes in it, and assess its economic impact. Data from the 
survey are intended to be general purpose statistics on foreign direct 
investment that are readily available to answer any number of research 
and policy questions when they arise.
    Affected Public: U.S. businesses or other for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: One-time survey.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: International Investment and Trade in Services 
Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108).
    OMB Desk Officer: Paul Bugg, (202) 395-3093.
    You may obtain copies of the above information collection proposal 
by writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, 
Office of the Chief Information Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 
6625, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230, or via 
the Internet at [email protected].
    Send comments on the proposed information collection within 30 days 
of publication of this notice to the Office of Management and Budget, 
O.I.R.A., Attention PRA Desk Officer for BEA, via the Internet at 
[email protected], or by FAX at 202-395-7245.

    Dated: May 23, 2006.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E6-8211 Filed 5-26-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P