[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68122-68123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-23506]


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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 Labor Statistics (BLS) data collected from several 
surveys that it conducts on U.S. direct investment abroad, foreign 
direct investment in the United States, and U.S. international services 
transactions 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 data provided to BLS will be used for two purposes:
    (1) The BLS International Price Program is researching the 
feasibility of producing price indexes for imports and exports of 
services, such as financial services, film and tape rentals, and 
royalties and license fees. BLS will use data from BEA surveys to 
develop sample frames of companies that trade these services and to 
directly collect price information from the selected companies. BLS 
will also use BEA data as weighting sources for the price indexes. 
Should it prove feasible to produce price indexes for international 
services, BEA will share data collected in its direct investment and 
international services surveys with BLS each time BLS draws a new 
sample and reweights the indexes. BLS will share sample frame and 
revenue information that it collects with BEA, which will allow BEA to 
identify errors or omissions in the data collected on its surveys. This 
data sharing effort will improve the quality of price indexes for 
imported and exported services that BEA uses in compiling the National 
Income and Product Accounts.
    (2) The BLS Division of Foreign Labor Statistics will use BEA data 
collected on employment, compensation, and (as available) hours worked 
at the foreign affiliates of U.S. multinational companies to estimate 
their hourly compensation costs for research comparing the levels and 
trends of hourly compensation costs of foreign affiliates with the 
average costs for establishments in the same industries and same host 
countries as the affiliates.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 4, 
2008.

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 Maria Borga, Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BE-50), Washington, DC 20230, by phone on

[[Page 68123]]

(202) 606-9853, via the Internet at [email protected], or by fax on 
(202) 606-5318.

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 BLS 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), since BEA respondents were 
required by law to report the data. Section 524(d) also requires us to 
provide information about the terms of the agreement for data sharing. 
For 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 BLS with data from its surveys of U.S. 
direct investment abroad, foreign direct investment in the United 
States, and U.S. international services transactions. BLS will use 
these data for statistical purposes exclusively.

Statistical Purposes for the Shared Data

    Data collected in BEA's surveys of direct investment are used to 
develop estimates of the financing and operations of U.S. parent 
companies, their foreign affiliates, and U.S. affiliates of foreign 
companies, and estimates of transactions between parents and 
affiliates. Data collected in BEA's surveys of U.S. international 
services transactions are used to develop estimates of services 
transactions between U.S. persons (in a broad legal sense, including 
companies) and foreign persons. These estimates are published in the 
Survey of Current Business, BEA's monthly journal; in other BEA 
publications; and on BEA's Web site at http://www.bea.gov/. All data 
are collected under sections 3101-3108, of Title 22, U.S.C.
    The shared data will be used for several exclusively statistical 
purposes by both agencies, such as the production of price indexes for 
imported and exported services and the making of international 
comparisons between the hourly compensation costs at the foreign 
affiliates of U.S. multinational companies and the average costs for 
establishments in the same industries and same host countries as the 
foreign affiliates.

Data Access and Confidentiality

    Title 22, U.S.C. 3104 protects the confidentiality of the data to 
be provided by BEA to BLS. 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. Any results of this research 
are subject to BEA disclosure protection. All BLS 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.

J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
[FR Doc. E7-23506 Filed 12-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P