[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 160 (Thursday, August 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51348-51349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21091]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit 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 Wholesale Trade Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0195.
    Form Number(s): Forms SA-42, SA-42A, SA-42(MSBO), SA-42A(MSBO), SA-
42(AGBR), SA-42A(AGBR).
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 10,442.
    Number of Respondents: 8,176.
    Average Hours per Response: 1 hour and 16 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The Annual Wholesale Trade Survey (AWTS) covers 
employer firms with establishments located in the United States and 
classified in wholesale trade as defined by the North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS). This sector comprises two main types of 
wholesalers: (1) Merchant wholesalers that sell goods on their own 
account (including sales offices and sales branches, except retail 
stores, maintained by manufacturing, refining, or mining enterprises 
apart from their plants or mines for the purpose of marketing their 
products) and (2) business to business electronic markets, agents, and 
brokers that arrange sales for purchases for others generally for a 
commission or fee.
    Respondents are separated into three classifications: (1) Merchant 
wholesale establishments, excluding manufacturers' sales branches and 
offices; (2) manufacturers' sales branches and offices; and (3) agents, 
brokers, and business to business electronic markets. The first 
classification is asked to provide sales, e-commerce, inventories, 
method of inventory valuation, inventories held outside the United 
States, purchases, and operating expenses. The second classification is 
asked to provide sales, e-commerce, inventories, method of inventory 
valuation, inventories held outside the United States, and operating 
expenses. The third classification is asked to provide commissions, 
sales on their own account, and operating expenses. These data are 
collected to provide a sound statistical basis for the formation of 
policy by various government agencies, as well as to serve as a 
benchmark for the estimates compiled from the Monthly Wholesale Trade 
Survey (OMB No. 0607-0190). Results will be made available, at the 
United States summary level, for selected wholesale industries 
approximately fourteen months after the end of the reference year.
    For the 2011 AWTS the Census Bureau will request two years of data 
to link our old and new samples, ensuring that our published estimates 
continue to be reliable and accurate. For the 2012 AWTS the Census 
Bureau will request data on detailed operating expenses. These data 
items were previously requested under a separate supplemental mailing 
that was conducted every 5 years. The last supplemental mailing was 
conducted in conjunction with the 2007 AWTS under OMB No. 0607-0942. 
While the wholesale portion of that program will be collapsed into the 
AWTS, we will continue to ask only the additional detailed expense 
questions every 5 years. These detailed expense questions are only 
applicable to the merchant wholesale establishments, excluding 
manufacturers' sales branches and offices. Additionally, the 2012 AWTS 
will collect data on sales taxes, which is done once every 5 years.
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses the data to estimate the 
change in private inventories component of gross domestic product (GDP) 
and output in both the benchmark and annual input-output (I-O) accounts 
and GDP by industry. 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. Data on 
detailed operating expenses, which will now be collected on this survey 
quinquennially, are used to produce national estimates of value added, 
gross output, and intermediate inputs and serve as a benchmark for the 
annual industry accounts, which provide the control totals for the GDP-
by-state accounts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses the data as 
input to its Producer Price Indexes and in developing productivity 
measurements. Private businesses use the estimates in computing 
business activity indexes. Other government agencies and businesses use 
the data to satisfy a variety of public and business needs such as 
economic market analysis, company performance, and forecasting future 
demands.
    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: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    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 6616, 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 Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB Desk Officer either by fax (202-395-7245) 
or e-mail ([email protected]).


[[Page 51349]]


    Dated: August 15, 2011.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-21091 Filed 8-17-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P