[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 178 (Friday, September 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51868-51869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20063]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Domestic and International Client Export Services and
Customized Forms Renewal
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on July 6, 2021, during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: International Trade Administration, U.S. Commercial
Service, Commerce.
Title: Domestic and International Client Export Services and
Customized Forms.
OMB Control Number: 0625-0143.
Form Number(s): ITA-4096P.
Type of Request: Renewal submission (extension of a current
information collection).
Number of Respondents: 200,000.
Average Hours per Response: 10 minutes.
Burden Hours: 33,333 (annual).
Needs and Uses: The International Trade Administration's (ITA) U.S.
Commercial Service (CS) is mandated by Congress to broaden and deepen
the U.S. exporter base. The CS accomplishes this by providing
counseling, programs, and services to help U.S. organizations export
and conduct business in overseas markets. This information collection
package enables the CS to provide appropriate export services to U.S.
exporters and international buyers.
The Commercial Service (CS) offers a variety of services to enable
clients to begin exporting/importing or to expand existing exporting/
importing efforts. Clients may learn about our services from business
related entities such as the National Association of Manufacturers,
Federal Express, State Economic Development offices, the internet or
word of mouth. The CS provides a standard set of services to assist
clients with identifying potential overseas partners, establishing
meeting programs with appropriate overseas business contacts, and
providing due diligence reports on potential overseas business
partners. The CS also provides other export-related services considered
to be of a ``customized nature'' because they do not fit into the
standard set of CS export services but are driven by unique business
needs of individual clients.
The dissemination of international market information and potential
business opportunities for U.S. exporters are critical components of
the Commercial Service's export assistance programs and services. U.S.
companies conveniently access and indicate their interest in these
services by completing the appropriate forms via ITA and CS U.S. Export
Assistance Center websites.
The CS works closely with clients to educate them about the
exporting/importing process and to help prepare them for exporting/
importing. When a client is ready to begin the exporting/importing
process our field staff provide counseling to assist in the development
of an exporting strategy. We provide fee-based, export-related services
designed to help client export/import. The type of export-related
service that is proposed to a client depends upon a client's business
goals and where they are in the export/import process. Some clients are
at the beginning of the export process and require assistance with
identifying potential distributors, whereas other clients may be ready
to sign a contract with a potential distributor and require due
diligence assistance.
Before the CS can provide export-related services to clients, such
as assistance with identifying potential partners or providing due
diligence, specific information is required to determine the client's
business objectives and needs. For example, before we can provide a
service to identify potential business partners, we need to know
whether the client would like a potential partner to have specific
technical qualifications, coverage in a specific market, English or
foreign language ability or warehousing requirements. This information
collection is designed to elicit such data so that appropriate services
can be proposed and conducted to most effectively meet the client's
exporting goals. Without these forms the CS is unable to provide
services when requested by clients.
The forms ask U.S. exporters standard questions about their company
details, export experience, information about the products or services
they wish to export and exporting goals. A few questions are tailored
to a specific program type and will vary slightly with each program. CS
staff use this information to gain an understanding of client's needs
and objectives so that they can provide appropriate and effective
export assistance tailored to an exporter's particular requirements.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; Not-
for-profit institutions; State, Local, or Tribal government; and
Federal government.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Public Law 15 U.S.C. et seq. and 15 U.S.C. 171 et
seq.
This information collection request may be viewed at
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and
[[Page 51869]]
entering either the title of the collection or the OMB Control Number
0625-0143.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-20063 Filed 9-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-FP-P