[Federal Register: August 4, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 149)]
[Notices]               
[Page 45791-45792]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04au03-18]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    DOC has submitted 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: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
    Title: Initial Report on a Foreign Person's Direct or Indirect 
Acquisition, Establishment, or Purchase of the Operating Assets, 
Including Real Estate, of a U.S. Business Enterprise.
    Form Number(s): BE-13, BE-14, and BE-13 Supplement C (Exemption 
Claim).
    Agency Approval Number: 0608-0035.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 900 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 600 annually.
    Avg Hours Per Response: 1.5 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The Initial Report on a Foreign Person's Direct or 
Indirect Acquisition, Establishment, or Purchase of the Operating 
Assets, of a U.S. Business Enterprise, Including Real Estate (Form BE-
13) and the Report by a U.S. Person Who Assists or Intervenes in the 
Acquisition of a U.S. Business Enterprise by, or Who Enters Into a 
Joint Venture with, a Foreign Person (Form BE-14) obtain initial data 
on new foreign direct investment in the United States. Survey form BE-
13 collects information on the cost of new foreign direct investment in 
the United States, the sources of funding (i.e., the foreign parent 
group and/or existing U.S. affiliates of the foreign parent), and 
limited financial and operating data for the U.S. entity being 
established or acquired; the survey also collects identification 
information about the U.S. entity being established or acquired and 
about the new foreign owner. Survey form BE-14 collects information 
from U.S. persons who assist in an investment transaction, such as a 
real estate broker or attorney, or who enter into a U.S. joint venture 
with a foreign person. The primary purpose of this information 
collection is to identify new U.S. affiliates that should be included 
in BEA's estimates of foreign direct investment in the United States. 
The information is needed to update data on the universe of U.S. 
affiliates to ensure that it is complete, and to determine whether the 
new affiliates exceed the exemption criteria required for reporting in 
related benchmark, annual, and quarterly surveys of foreign direct 
investment conducted by BEA. The information is also used to improve 
the accuracy of universe estimates derived from the ongoing quarterly 
and annual surveys, which are sample surveys.
    Many State and local governments have taken steps to attract new 
foreign direct investment to their localities. To make informed policy 
decisions concerning such investment, it is essential that government 
entities, including the U.S. Government, have the means to measure 
foreign direct investment in the United States, monitor changes in it, 
and assess its economic impact. Data from the survey are intended to be 
general purpose statistics on foreign direct investment that are 
readily available to answer any number of research and policy questions 
when they arise.
    Affected Public: U.S. businesses or other for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: One-time survey.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 22 U.S.C., Sections 3101-3108, as amended.
    OMB Desk Officer: Paul Bugg, (202) 395-3093.
    You may obtain copies of the above information collection proposal 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, (202) 482-0266, 
Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230, or via the Internet at dHynek@doc.gov.    Send comments on the proposed information collection within 30 days 
of publication of this notice to Paul Bugg, OMB Desk Officer, via the 
Internet at

[[Page 45792]]

pbugg@omb.eop.gov, or by fax at (202) 395-7245.

    Dated: July 29, 2003.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-19668 Filed 8-1-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-06-P