[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 241 (Friday, December 15, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 75417-75420]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21429]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

RIN 0691-AA60
[Docket No. 060824224-6310-02]


International Services Surveys: BE-120, Benchmark Survey of 
Transactions in Selected Services and Intangible Assets With Foreign 
Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule amends regulations of the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, Department of Commerce (BEA) to set forth the reporting 
requirements for the BE-120, Benchmark Survey of Transactions in 
Selected Services and Intangible Assets with Foreign Persons. This 
survey replaces a similar but more limited survey, the BE-20, Benchmark 
Survey of Selected Services Transactions with Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons. The agency form number and survey title are being changed 
because the survey is being reconfigured to reflect changes in BEA's 
survey program for international services that have occurred since the 
previous BE-20 survey was conducted, as well as to begin collection of 
data on transactions with affiliated foreigners and unaffiliated 
foreigners using the same survey instruments. The BE-120 survey will be 
conducted once every five years beginning with fiscal year 2006.
    The BE-120 survey is intended to cover the universe of selected 
services transactions and transactions in intangible assets with 
foreign persons. In nonbenchmark years, universe estimates covering 
these transactions will be derived from the sample data reported on 
BEA's follow-on quarterly survey, by extrapolating forward the universe 
data collected on the BE-120 benchmark survey.

DATES: The final rule will be effective January 16, 2007.

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; e-mail 
[email protected]; or phone (202) 606-9890.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the September 15, 2006 Federal Register, 
71 FR 54448, BEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking setting 
forth reporting requirements for the BE-120, Benchmark Survey of 
Transactions in Selected Services and Intangible Assets with Foreign 
Persons. No comments were received on the proposed rule. However, one 
change to the proposed

[[Page 75418]]

rule is nonetheless necessary. The proposed rule referred to a survey 
section, ``Basis for not reporting data.'' To improve the clarity of 
the survey, this section has been dropped (The information contained in 
this section has been redistributed to other parts of the survey.), and 
so the reference to this section has been replaced with updated 
information. This final rule amends 15 CFR Part 801.10 to replace the 
reporting requirements for the BE-20, Benchmark Survey of Selected 
Services Transactions with Unaffiliated Foreign Persons with 
requirements for the BE-120, Benchmark Survey of Transactions in 
Selected Services and Intangible Assets with Foreign Persons.

Description of Changes

    The BE-120 survey is a mandatory survey and will be conducted, 
beginning with transactions for fiscal year 2006, once every 5 years by 
BEA under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act 
(22 U.S.C. 3101-3108), hereinafter, ``the Act.'' BEA will send the 
survey to potential respondents in January of 2007; responses are due 
by March 31, 2007.
    BEA is introducing the following five changes to the Code of 
Federal Regulations: (1) Include services transactions that were 
previously collected on two annual surveys that have been 
discontinued--the BE-47, Annual Survey of Construction, Engineering, 
Architectural, and Mining Services Provided by U.S. Firms to 
Unaffiliated Foreign Persons and the BE-93, Annual Survey of Royalties, 
License Fees, and Other Receipts and Payments for Intangible Rights 
Between U.S. and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. BEA is currently 
collecting these transactions on the surveys--the BE-22, Annual Survey 
of Selected Services Transactions Between U.S. and Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons and the BE-25, Quarterly Survey of Transactions between U.S. 
and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons in Selected Services and in Intangible 
AssetsCfor which the BE-120 survey is designed to provide benchmark 
coverage. (2) Include services transactions with affiliated parties 
(i.e., with foreign affiliates, foreign parents, and foreign affiliates 
of foreign parents). BEA is currently collecting these transactions on 
its quarterly direct investment surveys (the BE-577, Direct 
Transactions of U.S. Reporter with Foreign Affiliate, the BE-605, 
Transactions of U.S. Affiliate, except a U.S. Banking Affiliate, with 
Foreign Parent, and the BE-605 Bank, Transactions of U.S. Banking 
Affiliate with Foreign Parent). BEA intends to remove quarterly 
collection of data on these affiliated services transactions from these 
surveys beginning with reports for the first quarter of calendar year 
2007, and move them to a redesigned quarterly survey of transactions in 
selected services and in intangible assets (which will replace the 
current BE-22 and BE-25 surveys). (3) Raise the exemption level for 
reporting sales from $1 million to $2 million. (The exemption level for 
purchases, for which transactions for a given firm may often be smaller 
than sales, will remain at $1 million). (4) Combine several services 
into one ``other selected services'' category, which includes any 
services not individually covered by the survey or available from other 
sources. (5) Eliminate several schedules from the prior benchmark 
survey that collected additional detail on computer and data processing 
services; data base and other information services (receipts only); 
telecommunications services; financial services (payments only); and 
operational leasing services (receipts only).

Survey Background

    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), hereinafter, ``the Act.'' 
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 
Orders 12318 and 12518, the President delegated his responsibilities 
under the Act for performing functions concerning international trade 
in services to the Secretary of Commerce, who has redelegated them to 
BEA. The survey will update and broaden data provided on the universe 
of transactions between U.S. and foreign persons in selected services 
and intangible assets. The data are needed to monitor trade in services 
and intangible assets; analyze their impact on the U.S. and foreign 
economies; compile and improve the U.S. international transactions, 
national income and product, and input-output accounts; support U.S. 
commercial policy on services and intangible assets; assess and promote 
U.S. competitiveness in international trade in services; and improve 
the ability of U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market 
opportunities.

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.

Executive Order 13132

    This final rule does not contain policies with Federalism 
implications sufficient to warrant preparation of a Federal assessment 
under E.O. 13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The collection-of-information in this final rule has been approved 
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 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 Office of Management and Budget Control 
Number. The OMB control number for the BE-120 is 0608-0058; the 
collection will display this number.
    The BE-120 benchmark survey is expected to result in the filing of 
reports containing mandatory data from approximately 5,000 respondents. 
The respondent burden for this collection of information will vary from 
one respondent to another, but is estimated to average 12 hours per 
response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing 
data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing 
and reviewing the collection of information. Thus, the total respondent 
burden for the 2006 BE-120 survey is estimated at 60,000 hours, 
compared to 13,200 hours estimated for the previous, 2001, BE-20 
survey. The increase in burden is a result of several factors: More 
U.S. persons with transactions in international services, the inclusion 
of transactions with affiliated foreign persons, and the coverage of 
transactions in intangible assets and in construction and related 
services.
    Comments regarding this burden estimate or any other 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, fax: 202-606-5311; and the Office of Management and Budget, 
O.I.R.A., Paperwork Reduction Project 0608-0058, Attention PRA Desk 
Officer

[[Page 75419]]

for BEA, via e-mail at [email protected] or by fax at 202-395-7245.

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. The factual basis for 
this certification was published with the proposed rule. No comments 
were received regarding the economic impact of this 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 8, 2006.
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; 
and E.O. 11961, 3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p.86, as amended by E.O. 12318, 3 
CFR, 1981 Comp., p. 173, and E.O. 12518, 3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p. 348.


0
2. Section 801.10 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  801.10  Rules and regulations for the BE-120, Benchmark Survey of 
Transactions in Selected Services and Intangible Assets with Foreign 
Persons.

    The BE-120, Benchmark Survey of Transactions in Selected Services 
and Intangible Assets with Foreign Persons, will be conducted covering 
fiscal year 2006 and every fifth year thereafter. All legal 
authorities, provisions, definitions, and requirements contained in 
Sec.  801.1 through 801.9(a) are applicable to this survey. Additional 
rules and regulations for the BE-120 survey are given in paragraphs (a) 
through (c) of this section. More detailed instructions and 
descriptions of the individual types of transactions covered are given 
on the report form itself.
    (a) The BE-120 survey consists of two parts and three schedules. 
Part I requests information needed to determine whether a report is 
required and which schedules apply. Part II requests information about 
the reporting entity. Each of the three schedules covers one or more 
types of transactions and is to be completed only if the U.S. reporter 
has transactions of the type(s) covered by the particular schedule.
    (b) Who must report: (1) Mandatory reporting. A BE-120 report is 
required from each U.S. person that had sales to foreign persons that 
exceeded $2 million during the fiscal year covered of any of the types 
of services or intangible assets listed in paragraph (c) of this 
section, or had purchases from foreign persons that exceeded $1 million 
during the fiscal year covered of any of the types of services or 
intangible assets listed in paragraph (c) of this section.
    (i) The determination of whether a U.S. person is subject to this 
mandatory reporting requirement may be judgmental, that is, based on 
the judgment of knowledgeable persons in a company who can identify 
reportable transactions on a recall basis, with a reasonable degree of 
certainty, without conducting a detailed records search. Because the 
reporting threshold ($2 million for sales and $1 million for purchases) 
applies separately to sales and purchases, the mandatory reporting 
requirement may apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both 
sales and purchases.
    (ii) U.S. persons that file pursuant to this mandatory reporting 
requirement must complete Parts I and II of Form BE-120 and all 
applicable schedules. The total amounts of transactions applicable to a 
particular schedule are to be entered in the appropriate column(s) and, 
except for sales of merchanting services, these amounts must be 
distributed among the countries involved in the transactions. For sales 
of merchanting services, the data are not required to be reported by 
individual foreign country, although this information may be provided 
voluntarily.
    (iii) Application of the exemption levels to each covered 
transaction is indicated on the schedule for that particular type of 
transaction. It should be noted that an item other than sales or 
purchases may be used as the measure of a given type of transaction for 
purposes of determining whether the threshold for mandatory reporting 
of the transaction is exceeded.
    (2) Voluntary reporting. If, during the fiscal year covered, the 
U.S. person's total transactions (either sales or purchases) in any of 
the types of transactions listed in paragraph (c) of this section are 
$2 million or less for sales or $1 million or less for purchases, the 
U.S. person is requested to provide an estimate of the total for each 
type of transaction. Provision of this information is voluntary. The 
estimates may be judgmental, that is, based on recall, without 
conducting a detailed records search. Because the exemption threshold 
applies separately to sales and purchases, the voluntary reporting 
option may apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both sales and 
purchases.
    (3) Any U.S. person that receives the BE-120 survey form from BEA, 
but is not reporting data in either the mandatory or voluntary section 
of the form, must nevertheless provide information on the reason for 
not reporting. This requirement is necessary to ensure compliance with 
reporting requirements and efficient administration of the Act by 
eliminating unnecessary follow-up contact.
    (c) Covered types of services and intangible assets. The BE-120 
survey is intended to collect information on U.S. international trade 
in all types of services and intangible assets for which information is 
not collected in other BEA surveys and is not available to BEA from 
other sources. The major types of services transactions not covered by 
the BE-120 survey are travel, transportation, insurance (except for 
purchases of primary insurance), financial services (except for 
purchases by non-financial firms), and expenditures by students and 
medical patients who are studying or seeking treatment in a country 
different from their country of residence. Covered services are: 
Advertising services; accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services; 
auxiliary insurance services; computer and data processing services; 
construction services; data base and other information services; 
educational and training services; engineering, architectural, and 
surveying services; financial services (purchases only, by companies or 
parts of companies that are not financial services providers); 
industrial engineering services; industrial-type maintenance, 
installation, alteration, and training services; legal services; 
management, consulting, and public relations services (including 
allocated expenses); merchanting services (sales only); mining 
services; operational leasing services; other trade-related services; 
performing arts, sports, and other live performances, presentations, 
and events; premiums paid on purchases of primary insurance; losses 
recovered on purchases of primary insurance; research, development, and 
testing services; telecommunications services;

[[Page 75420]]

and other selected services. ``Other selected services'' includes, but 
is not limited to: Account collection services; disbursements to fund 
news-gathering costs of broadcasters; disbursements to fund news-
gathering costs of print media; disbursements to fund production costs 
of motion pictures; disbursements to fund production costs of broadcast 
program material other than news; disbursements to maintain government 
tourism and business promotion offices; disbursements for sales 
promotion and representation; disbursements to participate in foreign 
trade shows (purchases only); employment agencies and temporary help 
supply services; language translation services; mailing, reproduction, 
and commercial art; medical services (non-patient--e.g., laboratory or 
diagnostic services); salvage services; satellite photography and 
remote sensing/satellite imagery services; security services; space 
transport (includes satellite launches, transport of goods and people 
for scientific experiments, and space passenger transport); 
transcription services; and waste treatment and depollution services. 
The intangible assets covered by the BE-120 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.

 [FR Doc. E6-21429 Filed 12-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P