83 FR 31364 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Services Surveys: BE-125, Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and Intellectual Property With Foreign Persons

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 129 (July 5, 2018)

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 129 (Thursday, July 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31364-31365]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14423]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Services 
Surveys: BE-125, Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services 
and Intellectual Property With Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before September 4, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, or via email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Christopher Stein, Chief, Services Surveys Branch BE-50 
(SSB), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
Washington, DC 20233; phone: (301) 278-9189; fax: (301) 278-9507; or 
via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and 
Intellectual Property with Foreign Persons (BE-125) is a survey that 
collects data from U.S. persons who engage in covered transactions with 
foreign persons in selected services or intellectual property. A Person 
means any individual, branch, partnership, associated group, 
association, estate, trust, corporation, or other organization (whether 
or not organized under the laws of any State), and any government, 
(including a foreign government, the United States Government, a State 
or local government, and any agency, corporation, financial 
institution, or other entity or instrumentality thereof, including a 
government sponsored agency). A U.S. person must report if it had sales 
of covered services or intellectual property to foreign persons that 
exceeded $6 million for the previous fiscal year, or are expected to 
exceed that amount during the current fiscal year, or if it had 
purchases of covered services or intellectual property from foreign 
persons that exceeded $4 million for the previous fiscal year, or are 
expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year.
    The data are needed to monitor U.S. trade in services, to analyze 
the impact on the U.S. and foreign economies, to compile and improve 
the U.S. economic accounts, to support U.S. commercial policy on trade 
in services, to conduct trade promotion, and to improve the ability of 
U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market opportunities. The data 
are used in estimating the services component of the U.S. international 
transactions accounts (ITAs) and national income and product accounts 
(NIPAs).
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is proposing one change to 
the reporting requirements and several modifications to the data 
collected on the BE-125 survey, beginning with reporting for first 
quarter 2019. These modifications would allow BEA to align its 
statistics more closely with international economic accounting 
guidelines, increasing the quality and usefulness of BEA's published 
statistics on trade in services:
    BEA proposes to adjust the reporting requirements of the survey so 
they are applied based on ``combined'' thresholds. Currently, the 
reporting requirements for the BE-125 survey are applied based on the 
dollar amount of each covered transaction type collected on the survey. 
For example, a reporter with transactions in several of the services 
and intellectual property categories covered by the survey may only 
exceed the threshold for mandatorily reporting additional detail by 
country, and by relationship to the foreign transactor (foreign 
affiliate, foreign parent group, or unaffiliated), for a single 
transaction type. Under this approach, the reporter is only required to 
report this additional detail on the mandatory schedule(s) for the 
single transaction type in excess of the $6 million (sales) or $4 
million (purchases) threshold.
    The proposed change would modify the reporting thresholds such that 
they are applied based on a ``combined'' threshold for sales or 
purchases of the covered types of services and intellectual property 
transactions. U.S. persons with combined sales in excess of $6 million 
or combined purchases in excess of $4 million would be required to 
disaggregate all transaction types by

[[Page 31365]]

country and by relationship to the foreign transactor on the mandatory 
schedule(s). Because the combined thresholds are applied separately to 
sales and to purchases, the mandatory reporting requirements may apply 
only to sales, only to purchases, or to both.
    BEA proposes to make the following modifications to the data 
collection instrument:
    (1) Research and development services will be broken out into two 
categories: (1) Provision of customized and non-customized R&D services 
and (2) other R&D services, including testing.
    (2) Engineering, architectural, and surveying services will be 
broken out into three categories: (1) Architectural services; 2) 
engineering services; and (3) surveying, cartography, certification, 
testing, and technical inspection services.
    (3) Management, consulting, and public relation services will be 
broken out into three categories: (1) Market research services; (2) 
public opinion polling services; and (3) other management, consulting, 
and public relations services. Trade exhibition and sales convention 
services will be collected separately.
    (4) Database and other information services will be broken out into 
two components: (1) News agency services and (2) other information 
services.
    (5) Computer Services will be expanded into three categories: (1) 
Computer software, including end-user licenses and customization 
services; (2) cloud computing and data storage services; and (3) other 
computer services.
    (6) Several service categories previously collected under ``Other 
Selected Services'' will be collected separately. These services 
include contract manufacturing services, disbursements for sales 
promotion and representation, photographic services (including 
satellite photography), space transport services, trade exhibition and 
sales convention services, agricultural services, and waste treatment 
and depollution services.
    (7) Mandatory Schedule C will be modified to only collect 
information on goods related to construction services. On the current 
BE-125 survey, exports (sales) of three service types are collected on 
a separate schedule, Schedule C, to allow for reporting of information 
on the gross operating revenues and related goods exports and foreign 
expenses. The three categories are: (1) Construction services; (2) 
engineering, architectural, and surveying services; and (3) mining 
services. Beginning with reporting for first quarter 2019, only 
construction services will be collected on Schedule C. Mining services, 
as well as the three new categories that will replace engineering, 
architectural, and surveying services, will be collected on Schedule A.
    BEA estimates the proposed changes, which would be implemented 
beginning with reporting for first quarter 2019, will increase the 
average number of hours per response from 19 hours to 21 hours for 
those reporting data. The total respondent burden estimates have been 
increased to reflect this. This change represents an estimated 0.75-
hour increase in burden associated with the proposed transaction code 
expansions set forth, as well as an increase in burden of 1.25 hours 
for an estimated 375 additional reporters that will now be required to 
complete one or more of the mandatory schedules as a result of the 
application of a ``combined'' reporting threshold. The reporting 
thresholds of the current BE-125 survey will be retained. The effort to 
keep current reporting thresholds unchanged is intended to minimize 
respondent burden while considering the needs of data users. Existing 
language in the instructions and definitions will be reviewed and 
adjusted as necessary to clarify survey requirements.

II. Method of Collection

    BEA contacts potential respondents by mail at the end of each 
fiscal quarter. Respondents must file completed BE-125 forms within 45 
days after the end of each fiscal quarter, or within 90 days after the 
close of the fiscal year. Reports are required from each U.S. person 
that had sales of covered services or intellectual property to foreign 
persons that exceeded $6 million for the previous fiscal year, or are 
expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year, or that 
had purchases of covered services or intellectual property from foreign 
persons that exceeded $4 million for the previous fiscal year, or are 
expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. Entities 
required to report will be contacted individually by BEA. Entities not 
contacted by BEA have no reporting responsibilities.
    BEA offers its electronic filing option, the eFile system, for use 
in reporting on Form BE-125. For more information about eFile, go to 
www.bea.gov/efile. In addition, BEA posts all its survey forms and 
reporting instructions on its website, www.bea.gov/ssb. These may be 
downloaded, completed, printed, and submitted via fax or mail.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0608-0067.
    Form Number: BE-125.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 8,800 annually (2,200 filed each 
quarter; 1,700 reporting mandatory data, and 500 that would file other 
responses).
    Estimated Time per Response: 21 hours is the average for those 
reporting data. One hour is the average for those filing an exemption 
claim. Hours may vary considerably among respondents because of 
differences in company size and complexity.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 144,800.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: International Investment and Trade in Services 
Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108, as amended).

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-14423 Filed 7-3-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-06-P