Direct Investment Surveys: BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, 69041-69044 [2014-27421]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 224 / Thursday, November 20, 2014 / Rules and Regulations
(a) Applicability
(g) Additional Information
This AD applies to Agusta Model A109E,
A109K2, A119, and AW119 MKII helicopters
with a main transmission, part number (P/N)
109–0400–03–103, 109–0400–05–103, or
109–0400–03–109, with a Gleason crown, P/
N 109–0403–07–103, installed, certificated in
any category.
The subject of this AD is addressed in
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD
No. 2013–0118, dated June 3, 2013. You may
view the EASA AD on the Internet at
https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No.
FAA–2014–0472.
This AD defines the unsafe condition as a
crack in a Gleason crown. This condition
could cause damage to or loss of the main
rotor drive and subsequent loss of control of
the helicopter.
(c) Effective Date
This AD becomes effective December 26,
2014.
(d) Compliance
You are responsible for performing each
action required by this AD within the
specified compliance time unless it has
already been accomplished prior to that time.
(e) Required Actions
(1) For main transmissions with 2,400 or
more hours time-in-service (TIS), within 200
hours TIS and thereafter at intervals not
exceeding 1,600 hours TIS, magnetic particle
inspect the Gleason crown, P/N 109–0403–
07–103, for a crack by following the
procedures in:
(i) Annex 1 of Agusta Bollettino Tecnico
(BT) No. 109EP–128, Revision A, dated May
28, 2013, for Model A109E helicopters;
(ii) Annex 1 of Agusta BT No. 109K–57,
Revision A, dated May 28, 2013, for Model
A109K2 helicopters; or
(iii) Annex 1 of Agusta BT No. 119–058,
Revision A, dated May 28, 2013, for Model
A119 and AW119MKII helicopters.
(2) If there is a crack, before further flight,
replace the Gleason crown assembly with a
Gleason Crown assembly, P/N 109–0401–27–
107. Replacing the Gleason crown assembly
with P/N 109–0401–27–107 is terminating
action for the inspection requirements of this
AD.
(3) After the effective date of this AD, do
not install a Gleason crown, P/N 109–0403–
07–103, or a Gleason crown assembly, P/N
109–0401–27–101 or P/N 109–0401–27–109,
on any helicopter.
rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
(f) Alternative Methods of Compliance
(AMOCs)
(1) The Manager, Safety Management
Group, FAA, may approve AMOCs for this
AD. Send your proposal to: Rao Edupuganti,
Aviation Safety Engineer, Regulations and
Policy Group, Rotorcraft Directorate, FAA,
2601 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas
76137; telephone (817) 222–5110; email
rao.edupuganti@faa.gov.
(2) For operations conducted under a 14
CFR part 119 operating certificate or under
14 CFR part 91, subpart K, we suggest that
you notify your principal inspector, or
lacking a principal inspector, the manager of
the local flight standards district office or
certificate holding district office, before
operating any aircraft complying with this
AD through an AMOC.
13:14 Nov 19, 2014
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis
15 CFR Part 801
[Docket No. 1206013202–4700–01]
RIN 0691–AA83
(h) Subject
(b) Unsafe Condition
VerDate Sep<11>2014
69041
Jkt 235001
Joint Aircraft Service Component (JASC)
Code: 6320: Main Rotor Gearbox.
(i) Material Incorporated by Reference
(1) The Director of the Federal Register
approved the incorporation by reference
(IBR) of the service information listed in this
paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR
part 51.
(2) You must use this service information
as applicable to do the actions required by
this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise.
(i) AgustaWestland Bollettino Tecnico No.
109EP–128, Revision A, dated May 28, 2013.
(ii) AgustaWestland Bollettino Tecnico No.
109K–57, Revision A, dated May 28, 2013.
(iii) AgustaWestland Bollettino Tecnico
No. 119–058, Revision A, dated May 28,
2013.
(3) For AgustaWestland service
information identified in this AD, contact
AgustaWestland, Product Support
Engineering, Via del Gregge, 100, 21015
Lonate Pozzolo (VA) Italy, ATTN: Maurizio
D’Angelo; telephone 39–0331–664757; fax
39–0331–664680; or at https://
www.agustawestland.com/technicalbullettins.
(4) You may view this service information
at FAA, Office of the Regional Counsel,
Southwest Region, 2601 Meacham Blvd.,
Room 663, Fort Worth, Texas 76137. For
information on the availability of this
material at the FAA, call (817) 222–5110.
(5) You may view this service information
that is incorporated by reference at the
National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA). For information on
the availability of this material at NARA, call
(202) 741–6030, or go to: https://
www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibrlocations.html.
Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on October 30,
2014.
Lance T. Gant,
Acting Directorate Manager, Rotorcraft
Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2014–26825 Filed 11–19–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
Direct Investment Surveys: BE–10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad
Bureau of Economic Analysis,
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
This final rule amends
regulations of the Department of
Commerce’s Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA) to reinstate reporting
requirements for the 2014 BE–10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad. Benchmark surveys
are conducted every five years; the prior
survey covered 2009. The benchmark
survey covers the universe of U.S. direct
investment abroad, and is BEA’s most
comprehensive survey of such
investment in terms of subject matter.
For the 2014 benchmark survey, BEA
will make changes in the data items
collected. No changes will be made to
the reporting requirements for the
survey. This mandatory survey will be
conducted under the authority of the
International Investment and Trade in
Services Survey Act (the Act). Unlike
many other BEA surveys conducted
pursuant to the Act, a response will be
required from persons subject to the
reporting requirements of the BE–10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad, whether or not they
are contacted by BEA, in order to ensure
that respondents subject to the
requirements for U.S. direct investment
abroad are identified.
DATES: This final rule is effective
December 22, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patricia Abaroa, Chief, Direct
Investment Division (BE–50), Bureau of
Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of
Commerce, Washington, DC 20230;
phone (202) 606–9591.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August
14, 2014, BEA published a notice of
proposed rulemaking that set forth
revised reporting criteria for the BE–10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad (79 FR 47599–
47603). On September 9, 2014, BEA
published a correction to the notice of
proposed rulemaking to correct the
Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) that
was listed in the first notice (79 FR
53355). BEA received two comments on
the proposed rule.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\20NOR1.SGM
20NOR1
rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
69042
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 224 / Thursday, November 20, 2014 / Rules and Regulations
One comment was written on behalf
of hedge fund managers that are subject
to BE–10 reporting requirements. The
letter suggested that the BE–10 survey is
not well suited to hedge funds and that
for these respondents the burden of
reporting is significant. The commenter
made several recommendations,
including (1) that entities that are not
contacted by BEA should have no
reporting responsibilities (similar to
other BEA surveys), (2) that BEA should
not require reporting by U.S. investment
managers on their management of nonU.S. investment funds, and (3) that BEA
should provide survey instructions
specific to hedge fund filers. BEA is
very concerned about respondent
burden and has employed several
strategies to reduce the burden where
possible. BEA cannot implement the
first two recommendations because of
the legal requirements and the statistical
needs that govern how the data are
collected and tabulated. To address the
third recommendation, BEA will
consider what additional guidance it
can offer to hedge fund filers, possibly
in the form of Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs).
The other commenter was a data user
that urged BEA to reorient the BE–10
survey to address current issues related
to global value chains and trade in value
added. The commenter recommended
that BEA systematically capture data on
firm sales of goods and services by
business function and international
surveys industry (ISI) code, imports and
exports by country, and distribution of
sales and purchases by type of
customer. The commenter also
suggested that BEA reorganize the BE–
10 survey to collect data in matrix
format. BEA does not collect sales by
business function and would need to
explore the feasibility of collecting this
information by conducting outreach to
respondent companies to determine
what information classified by business
function might be available in their
records. BEA will consider this addition
for future surveys. BEA does collect
sales data by ISI code and by type of
customer as well as data on trade in
services by country and on affiliated
goods trade by country. To offer
additional information that will be
useful in analysis of trade in value
added, BEA will add questions to the
BE–10 survey to collect a regional
breakdown of unaffiliated goods trade
by U.S. parent companies. The BE–10
does not cover purchased inputs and
BEA believes that this information
would be more accurately reported on
establishment level surveys. Regarding
survey design, BEA has tended to
VerDate Sep<11>2014
13:14 Nov 19, 2014
Jkt 235001
minimize use of matrix formatting on
the BE–10 survey because of feedback
from experts in survey response
indicating that matrix formatting leads
to unit and item nonresponse on
surveys.
The additional questions related to
unaffiliated trade in goods (described in
the Description of Changes section
below) will be reflected in the final
versions of the forms. This final rule
adds 15 CFR 801.8 to set forth the
reporting requirements for the BE–10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad. BEA conducts the
BE–10 survey under the authority of the
International Investment and Trade in
Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101–
3108).
By rule issued in 2012 (77 FR 24373),
BEA established guidelines for
collecting data on international trade in
services and direct investment through
notices, rather than through rulemaking.
This final rule amends the regulations to
require a response from persons subject
to the reporting requirements of the BE–
10, whether or not they are contacted by
BEA, in order to ensure complete
coverage of U.S. direct investment
abroad.
The benchmark survey covers the U.S.
direct investment abroad universe and
is BEA’s most comprehensive survey of
such investment in terms of subject
matter. U.S. direct investment abroad is
defined as the ownership or control,
directly or indirectly, by one U.S.
person of 10 percent or more of the
voting securities of an incorporated
foreign business enterprise or an
equivalent interest in an unincorporated
foreign business enterprise, including a
branch.
The purpose of the benchmark survey
is to obtain universe data on the
financial and operating characteristics
of, and on positions and transactions
between, U.S. parent companies and
their foreign affiliates. The data are
needed to measure the size and
economic significance of U.S. direct
investment abroad, measure changes in
such investment, and assess its impact
on the U.S. and foreign economies.
These data are used to derive current
universe estimates of direct investment
from sample data collected in other BEA
surveys in non-benchmark years. In
particular, they would serve as
benchmarks for the quarterly direct
investment estimates included in the
U.S. international transactions,
international investment position, and
national income and product accounts,
and for annual estimates of the
operations of U.S. parent companies and
their foreign affiliates.
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
Description of Changes
The changes amend the regulations
and the survey forms for the BE–10
benchmark survey. These amendments
include changes in the data items
collected and questionnaire design.
Under the revised regulations, unlike
many other BEA surveys conducted
pursuant to the Act, persons subject to
the reporting requirements of the BE–10,
Survey of U.S. Direct Investment
Abroad, are required to respond
whether or not they are contacted by
BEA.
BEA will add and delete some items
on the benchmark survey forms. Most of
the additions are made in response to
suggestions from data users. The
following items will be added to the
benchmark survey:
(1) For U.S. parent companies,
questions will be added to collect data
on the U.S. imports of goods by the
intended use of the goods and by
whether the shipper of the goods is a
foreign affiliate or an unaffiliated
foreign entity.
(2) For U.S. parent companies,
questions will be added to collect data
on U.S. exports to and imports from
unaffiliated foreigners in the following
regions: Canada, Europe, Latin America
and other Western Hemisphere, Africa,
Middle East, and Asia and Pacific.
(3) For larger U.S. parent companies
(those with assets, sales, or net income
greater than $300 million), questions
will be added to collect information on
assets, liabilities, and interest receipts
and payments that are related to
banking activities. These questions are
collected on the Annual Survey of U.S.
Direct Investment Abroad (BE–11).
(4) A question will be added to collect
the city in which each foreign affiliate
is located.
(5) For majority-owned foreign
affiliates with assets, sales, or net
income greater than $80 million, a
question will be added to the balance
sheet to collect data on cash and cash
equivalents.
(6) For larger majority-owned foreign
affiliates (those with assets, sales, or net
income greater than $300 million),
questions will be added to the section
on sales to collect the top five countries
(besides the U.S. and the country of the
affiliate) to which the affiliates made
sales. For each country, sales will be
categorized by customer: ‘‘other foreign
affiliates of the U.S. Reporter(s)’’ and
‘‘unaffiliated customers.’’ An ‘‘all other’’
item will also be added after the top five
countries. Questions on sales by region
of destination will be retained.
(7) For majority-owned foreign
affiliates with assets, sales, or net
E:\FR\FM\20NOR1.SGM
20NOR1
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 224 / Thursday, November 20, 2014 / Rules and Regulations
income greater than $80 million,
questions will be added to the section
on royalties and license fees to collect
receipts from U.S. parents, receipts from
other U.S. persons, payments to U.S.
parents, and payments to other U.S.
persons. On the previous benchmark
survey, this section only included
receipts from and payments to foreign
persons.
(8) For foreign affiliates with assets,
sales, or net income greater than $25
million, several check-box questions
will be added to ensure that certain
types of finance companies do not
report intercompany debt to BEA that is
already reported on Treasury
International Capital surveys. Similar
questions are included in the Quarterly
Survey of U.S. Direct Investment
Abroad (BE–577).
(9) For foreign affiliates with assets,
sales, or net income between $25
million and $80 million, a question will
be added to collect expenditures for
research and development performed by
the foreign affiliate.
Several questions will be modified:
(1) Questions on contract
manufacturing will be updated to
incorporate improved wording.
(2) The cash item on the balance sheet
for U.S. parent companies will be
modified to include cash equivalents.
BEA will eliminate several items from
the benchmark survey because they are
no longer used:
(1) Official foreign identification
numbers issued by host-country
governments to foreign affiliates on BE–
10B.
(2) Withholding taxes on interest
received from and paid to U.S. parent
companies by foreign affiliates on BE–
10B.
In addition, BEA will redesign the
survey questionnaires. The new design
will incorporate improvements made to
other BEA surveys. Survey instructions
and data item descriptions will be
changed to improve clarity and make
the benchmark survey forms more
consistent with those of other BEA
surveys.
rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
Executive Order 12866
This final rule has been determined to
be not significant for purposes of E.O.
12866.
Executive Order 13132
This final rule does not contain
policies with Federalism implications
sufficient to warrant preparation of a
Federalism assessment under E.O.
13132.
13:14 Nov 19, 2014
Jkt 235001
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Chief Counsel for Regulation,
Department of Commerce, certified at
the proposed rule stage to the Chief
Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business
Administration, under the provisions of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5
U.S.C. 605(b), that this final rule will
not have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the
certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here.
No comments were received regarding
the certification or the economic impact
of the rule more generally. No final
regulatory flexibility analysis was
prepared.
List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection of information in this
final rule has been submitted to the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA). OMB has pre-approved the
information collection under OMB
control number 0608–0049.
Notwithstanding any other provisions
of the law, no person is required to
respond to, nor shall any person be
subject to a penalty for failure to comply
with, a collection of information subject
to the requirements of the PRA unless
that collection displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
The BE–10 survey is expected to
result in the filing of reports from
approximately 3,900 respondents. The
respondent burden for this collection of
information will vary from one
company to another, but is estimated to
average 144 hours per response,
including time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining the
data needed, and completing and
reviewing the collection of information.
Thus the total respondent burden for
this survey is estimated at 561,100
hours, compared to 459,400 hours for
the previous (2009) benchmark survey.
The increase in burden hours is due to
an increase in the size of the respondent
universe.
Written comments regarding the
burden-hour estimates or other aspects
of the collection-of-information
requirements contained in the final rule
should be sent to both BEA via email at
Patricia.Abaroa@bea.gov, and to OMB,
O.I.R.A., Paperwork Reduction Project
0608–0049, Attention PRA Desk Officer
for BEA, via email at pbugg@
omb.eop.gov or by FAX at (202) 395–
7245.
Economic statistics, International
transactions, Multinational companies,
Penalties, Reporting and record keeping
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
69043
requirements, U.S. direct investment
abroad.
Brian C. Moyer,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
For reasons set forth in the preamble,
BEA amends 15 CFR part 801 as
follows:
PART 801—SURVEY OF
INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES
BETWEEN U.S. AND FOREIGN
PERSONS AND SURVEYS OF DIRECT
INVESTMENT
1. The authority citation for part 801
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 15 U.S.C. 4908; 22
U.S.C. 3101–3108; E.O. 11961 (3 CFR, 1977
Comp., p. 86), as amended by E.O. 12318 (3
CFR, 1981 Comp. p. 173); and E.O. 12518 (3
CFR, 1985 Comp. p. 348).
■
2. Revise § 801.3 to read as follows:
§ 801.3
Reporting requirements.
Except for surveys subject to
rulemaking in §§ 801.7 and 801.8,
reporting requirements for all other
surveys conducted by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis shall be as follows:
(a) Notice of specific reporting
requirements, including who is required
to report, the information to be reported,
the manner of reporting, and the time
and place of filing reports, will be
published by the Director of the Bureau
of Economic Analysis in the Federal
Register prior to the implementation of
a survey;
(b) In accordance with section
3104(b)(2) of title 22 of the United States
Code, persons notified of these surveys
and subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States shall furnish, under oath,
any report containing information
which is determined to be necessary to
carry out the surveys and studies
provided for by the Act; and
(c) Persons not notified in writing of
their filing obligation by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis are not required to
complete the survey.
■ 3. Add § 801.8 to read as follows:
§ 801.8 Requirements for the BE–10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad—2014.
A BE–10, Benchmark Survey of U.S.
Direct Investment Abroad will be
conducted covering 2014. All legal
authorities, provisions, definitions, and
requirements contained in §§ 801.1 and
801.2 and §§ 801.4 through 801.6 are
applicable to this survey. Specific
additional requirements for the BE–10
survey are given in paragraphs (a)
through (d) of this section. More
detailed instructions are given on the
report forms and instructions.
E:\FR\FM\20NOR1.SGM
20NOR1
rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
69044
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 224 / Thursday, November 20, 2014 / Rules and Regulations
(a) Response required. A response is
required from persons subject to the
reporting requirements of the BE–10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad—2014, contained
herein, whether or not they are
contacted by BEA. Also, a person, or
their agent, that is contacted by BEA
about reporting in this survey, either by
sending them a report form or by
written inquiry, must respond in writing
pursuant this section. This may be
accomplished by:
(1) Certifying in writing, by the due
date of the survey, to the fact that the
person had no direct investment within
the purview of the reporting
requirements of the BE–10 survey;
(2) Completing and returning the
‘‘BE–10 Claim for Not Filing’’ by the due
date of the survey; or
(3) Filing the properly completed BE–
10 report (comprising Form BE–10A and
Form(s) BE–10B, BE–10C, and/or BE–
10D) by May 29, 2015, or June 30, 2015,
as required.
(b) Who must report. (1) A BE–10
report is required of any U.S. person
that had a foreign affiliate—that is, that
had direct or indirect ownership or
control of at least 10 percent of the
voting stock of an incorporated foreign
business enterprise, or an equivalent
interest in an unincorporated foreign
business enterprise, including a
branch—at any time during the U.S.
person’s 2014 fiscal year.
(2) If the U.S. person had no foreign
affiliates during its 2014 fiscal year, a
‘‘BE–10 Claim for Not Filing’’ must be
filed by the due date of the survey; no
other forms in the survey are required.
If the U.S. person had any foreign
affiliates during its 2014 fiscal year, a
BE–10 report is required and the U.S.
person is a U.S. Reporter in this survey.
(3) Reports are required even if the
foreign business enterprise was
established, acquired, seized,
liquidated, sold, expropriated, or
inactivated during the U.S. person’s
2014 fiscal year.
(4) The amount and type of data
required to be reported vary according
to the size of the U.S. Reporters or
foreign affiliates, and, for foreign
affiliates, whether they are majorityowned or minority-owned by U.S. direct
investors. For purposes of the BE–10
survey, a ‘‘majority-owned’’ foreign
affiliate is one in which the combined
direct and indirect ownership interest of
all U.S. parents of the foreign affiliate
exceeds 50 percent; all other affiliates
are referred to as ‘‘minority-owned’’
affiliates.
(c) Forms to be filed. (1) Form BE–10A
must be completed by a U.S. Reporter.
If the U.S. Reporter is a corporation,
VerDate Sep<11>2014
13:14 Nov 19, 2014
Jkt 235001
Form BE–10A is required to cover the
fully consolidated U.S. domestic
business enterprise. It must also file
Form(s) BE–10B, C, and/or D for its
foreign affiliates, whether held directly
or indirectly.
(2) Form BE–10B must be filed for
each majority-owned foreign affiliate for
which any of the following three
items—total assets, sales or gross
operating revenues excluding sales
taxes, or net income after provision for
foreign income taxes—was greater than
$80 million (positive or negative) at any
time during the affiliate’s 2014 fiscal
year.
(3) Form BE–10C must be filed:
(i) For each majority-owned foreign
affiliate for which any one of the three
items listed in paragraph (c)(2) of this
section was greater than $25 million but
for which none of these items was
greater than $80 million (positive or
negative), at any time during the
affiliate’s 2014 fiscal year, and
(ii) For each minority-owned foreign
affiliate for which any one of the three
items listed in (c)(2) of this section was
greater than $25 million (positive or
negative), at any time during the
affiliate’s 2014 fiscal year.
(4) Form BE–10D must be filed for
majority- or minority-owned foreign
affiliates for which none of the three
items listed in paragraph (c)(2) of this
section was greater than $25 million
(positive or negative) at any time during
the affiliate’s 2014 fiscal year. Form BE–
10D is a schedule; a U.S. Reporter
would submit one or more pages of the
form depending on the number of
affiliates that are required to be filed on
this form.
(d) Due date. A fully completed and
certified BE–10 report comprising Form
BE–10A and Form(s) BE–10B, C, and/or
D (as required) is due to be filed with
BEA not later than May 29, 2015, for
those U.S. Reporters filing fewer than
50, and June 30, 2015, for those U.S.
Reporters filing 50 or more, foreign
affiliate Forms BE–10B, C, and/or D. If
the U.S. person had no foreign affiliates
during its 2014 fiscal year, it must file
a BE–10 Claim for Not Filing by May 29,
2015.
[FR Doc. 2014–27421 Filed 11–19–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–06–P
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY
COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 1700
[CPSC Docket No. CPSC–2012–0005]
Requirements for Child-Resistant
Packaging: Products Containing
Specified Imidazolines Equivalent to
0.08 Milligrams or More; Extension of
Stay of Enforcement
Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
ACTION: Extension of stay of
enforcement.
AGENCY:
This document announces the
Commission’s decision to extend the
conditional stay of enforcement of
special packaging requirements for overthe-counter and prescription products
containing the equivalent of 0.08
milligrams or more of a specified
imidazoline (tetrahydrozoline,
naphazoline, oxymetazoline, or
xylometazoline) in a single package.
Firms that meet the conditions of the
stay have until June 10, 2015 to comply
with the special packaging
requirements.
SUMMARY:
The stay of enforcement of
special packaging requirements for
specified imidazoline products expires
on June 10, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Carol Afflerbach, Senior Compliance
Officer, Division of Regulatory
Enforcement, Office of Compliance and
Field Operations, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East West
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814;
telephone (301) 504–7529; email:
cafflerbach@cpsc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
I. Background
On December 10, 2012 (77 FR 73294),
the Commission issued a rule requiring
special packaging (also called childresistant or CR packaging) for any overthe-counter or prescription products
containing the equivalent of 0.08
milligrams or more of a specified
imidazoline (tetrahydrozoline,
naphazoline, oxymetazoline, or
xylometazoline) in a single package. 16
CFR 1700.14(a)(3). The rule included an
effective date of 1 year after publication
of the rule in the Federal Register
(making the effective date December 10,
2013); however, in consideration of
concerns raised in comments on the
proposed rule, the Commission allowed
manufacturers of imidazoline products
subject to the rule to avail themselves of
a 1-year conditional stay of enforcement
(77 FR 73300). Firms meeting the
E:\FR\FM\20NOR1.SGM
20NOR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 224 (Thursday, November 20, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 69041-69044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27421]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis
15 CFR Part 801
[Docket No. 1206013202-4700-01]
RIN 0691-AA83
Direct Investment Surveys: BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad
AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This final rule amends regulations of the Department of
Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to reinstate reporting
requirements for the 2014 BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad. Benchmark surveys are conducted every five years;
the prior survey covered 2009. The benchmark survey covers the universe
of U.S. direct investment abroad, and is BEA's most comprehensive
survey of such investment in terms of subject matter. For the 2014
benchmark survey, BEA will make changes in the data items collected. No
changes will be made to the reporting requirements for the survey. This
mandatory survey will be conducted under the authority of the
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (the Act).
Unlike many other BEA surveys conducted pursuant to the Act, a response
will be required from persons subject to the reporting requirements of
the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, whether
or not they are contacted by BEA, in order to ensure that respondents
subject to the requirements for U.S. direct investment abroad are
identified.
DATES: This final rule is effective December 22, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Abaroa, Chief, Direct
Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; phone (202) 606-9591.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 14, 2014, BEA published a notice
of proposed rulemaking that set forth revised reporting criteria for
the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (79 FR
47599-47603). On September 9, 2014, BEA published a correction to the
notice of proposed rulemaking to correct the Regulation Identifier
Number (RIN) that was listed in the first notice (79 FR 53355). BEA
received two comments on the proposed rule.
[[Page 69042]]
One comment was written on behalf of hedge fund managers that are
subject to BE-10 reporting requirements. The letter suggested that the
BE-10 survey is not well suited to hedge funds and that for these
respondents the burden of reporting is significant. The commenter made
several recommendations, including (1) that entities that are not
contacted by BEA should have no reporting responsibilities (similar to
other BEA surveys), (2) that BEA should not require reporting by U.S.
investment managers on their management of non-U.S. investment funds,
and (3) that BEA should provide survey instructions specific to hedge
fund filers. BEA is very concerned about respondent burden and has
employed several strategies to reduce the burden where possible. BEA
cannot implement the first two recommendations because of the legal
requirements and the statistical needs that govern how the data are
collected and tabulated. To address the third recommendation, BEA will
consider what additional guidance it can offer to hedge fund filers,
possibly in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
The other commenter was a data user that urged BEA to reorient the
BE-10 survey to address current issues related to global value chains
and trade in value added. The commenter recommended that BEA
systematically capture data on firm sales of goods and services by
business function and international surveys industry (ISI) code,
imports and exports by country, and distribution of sales and purchases
by type of customer. The commenter also suggested that BEA reorganize
the BE-10 survey to collect data in matrix format. BEA does not collect
sales by business function and would need to explore the feasibility of
collecting this information by conducting outreach to respondent
companies to determine what information classified by business function
might be available in their records. BEA will consider this addition
for future surveys. BEA does collect sales data by ISI code and by type
of customer as well as data on trade in services by country and on
affiliated goods trade by country. To offer additional information that
will be useful in analysis of trade in value added, BEA will add
questions to the BE-10 survey to collect a regional breakdown of
unaffiliated goods trade by U.S. parent companies. The BE-10 does not
cover purchased inputs and BEA believes that this information would be
more accurately reported on establishment level surveys. Regarding
survey design, BEA has tended to minimize use of matrix formatting on
the BE-10 survey because of feedback from experts in survey response
indicating that matrix formatting leads to unit and item nonresponse on
surveys.
The additional questions related to unaffiliated trade in goods
(described in the Description of Changes section below) will be
reflected in the final versions of the forms. This final rule adds 15
CFR 801.8 to set forth the reporting requirements for the BE-10,
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad. BEA conducts the BE-
10 survey under the authority of the International Investment and Trade
in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101-3108).
By rule issued in 2012 (77 FR 24373), BEA established guidelines
for collecting data on international trade in services and direct
investment through notices, rather than through rulemaking. This final
rule amends the regulations to require a response from persons subject
to the reporting requirements of the BE-10, whether or not they are
contacted by BEA, in order to ensure complete coverage of U.S. direct
investment abroad.
The benchmark survey covers the U.S. direct investment abroad
universe and is BEA's most comprehensive survey of such investment in
terms of subject matter. U.S. direct investment abroad is defined as
the ownership or control, directly or indirectly, by one U.S. person of
10 percent or more of the voting securities of an incorporated foreign
business enterprise or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated
foreign business enterprise, including a branch.
The purpose of the benchmark survey is to obtain universe data on
the financial and operating characteristics of, and on positions and
transactions between, U.S. parent companies and their foreign
affiliates. The data are needed to measure the size and economic
significance of U.S. direct investment abroad, measure changes in such
investment, and assess its impact on the U.S. and foreign economies.
These data are used to derive current universe estimates of direct
investment from sample data collected in other BEA surveys in non-
benchmark years. In particular, they would serve as benchmarks for the
quarterly direct investment estimates included in the U.S.
international transactions, international investment position, and
national income and product accounts, and for annual estimates of the
operations of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates.
Description of Changes
The changes amend the regulations and the survey forms for the BE-
10 benchmark survey. These amendments include changes in the data items
collected and questionnaire design.
Under the revised regulations, unlike many other BEA surveys
conducted pursuant to the Act, persons subject to the reporting
requirements of the BE-10, Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, are
required to respond whether or not they are contacted by BEA.
BEA will add and delete some items on the benchmark survey forms.
Most of the additions are made in response to suggestions from data
users. The following items will be added to the benchmark survey:
(1) For U.S. parent companies, questions will be added to collect
data on the U.S. imports of goods by the intended use of the goods and
by whether the shipper of the goods is a foreign affiliate or an
unaffiliated foreign entity.
(2) For U.S. parent companies, questions will be added to collect
data on U.S. exports to and imports from unaffiliated foreigners in the
following regions: Canada, Europe, Latin America and other Western
Hemisphere, Africa, Middle East, and Asia and Pacific.
(3) For larger U.S. parent companies (those with assets, sales, or
net income greater than $300 million), questions will be added to
collect information on assets, liabilities, and interest receipts and
payments that are related to banking activities. These questions are
collected on the Annual Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (BE-
11).
(4) A question will be added to collect the city in which each
foreign affiliate is located.
(5) For majority-owned foreign affiliates with assets, sales, or
net income greater than $80 million, a question will be added to the
balance sheet to collect data on cash and cash equivalents.
(6) For larger majority-owned foreign affiliates (those with
assets, sales, or net income greater than $300 million), questions will
be added to the section on sales to collect the top five countries
(besides the U.S. and the country of the affiliate) to which the
affiliates made sales. For each country, sales will be categorized by
customer: ``other foreign affiliates of the U.S. Reporter(s)'' and
``unaffiliated customers.'' An ``all other'' item will also be added
after the top five countries. Questions on sales by region of
destination will be retained.
(7) For majority-owned foreign affiliates with assets, sales, or
net
[[Page 69043]]
income greater than $80 million, questions will be added to the section
on royalties and license fees to collect receipts from U.S. parents,
receipts from other U.S. persons, payments to U.S. parents, and
payments to other U.S. persons. On the previous benchmark survey, this
section only included receipts from and payments to foreign persons.
(8) For foreign affiliates with assets, sales, or net income
greater than $25 million, several check-box questions will be added to
ensure that certain types of finance companies do not report
intercompany debt to BEA that is already reported on Treasury
International Capital surveys. Similar questions are included in the
Quarterly Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (BE-577).
(9) For foreign affiliates with assets, sales, or net income
between $25 million and $80 million, a question will be added to
collect expenditures for research and development performed by the
foreign affiliate.
Several questions will be modified:
(1) Questions on contract manufacturing will be updated to
incorporate improved wording.
(2) The cash item on the balance sheet for U.S. parent companies
will be modified to include cash equivalents.
BEA will eliminate several items from the benchmark survey because
they are no longer used:
(1) Official foreign identification numbers issued by host-country
governments to foreign affiliates on BE-10B.
(2) Withholding taxes on interest received from and paid to U.S.
parent companies by foreign affiliates on BE-10B.
In addition, BEA will redesign the survey questionnaires. The new
design will incorporate improvements made to other BEA surveys. Survey
instructions and data item descriptions will be changed to improve
clarity and make the benchmark survey forms more consistent with those
of other BEA surveys.
Executive Order 12866
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
Executive Order 13132
This final rule does not contain policies with Federalism
implications sufficient to warrant preparation of a Federalism
assessment under E.O. 13132.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection of information in this final rule has been submitted
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA). OMB has pre-approved the information collection
under OMB control number 0608-0049.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the PRA unless that collection displays a currently
valid OMB control number.
The BE-10 survey is expected to result in the filing of reports
from approximately 3,900 respondents. The respondent burden for this
collection of information will vary from one company to another, but is
estimated to average 144 hours per response, including time for
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Thus the total respondent burden for this
survey is estimated at 561,100 hours, compared to 459,400 hours for the
previous (2009) benchmark survey. The increase in burden hours is due
to an increase in the size of the respondent universe.
Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in the
final rule should be sent to both BEA via email at
Patricia.Abaroa@bea.gov, and to OMB, O.I.R.A., Paperwork Reduction
Project 0608-0049, Attention PRA Desk Officer for BEA, via email at
pbugg@omb.eop.gov or by FAX at (202) 395-7245.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Chief Counsel for Regulation, Department of Commerce, certified
at the proposed rule stage to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small
Business Administration, under the provisions of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 605(b), that this final rule will not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding the certification or the economic impact of the rule more
generally. No final regulatory flexibility analysis was prepared.
List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801
Economic statistics, International transactions, Multinational
companies, Penalties, Reporting and record keeping requirements, U.S.
direct investment abroad.
Brian C. Moyer,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
For reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA amends 15 CFR part 801
as follows:
PART 801--SURVEY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES BETWEEN U.S.
AND FOREIGN PERSONS AND SURVEYS OF DIRECT INVESTMENT
0
1. The authority citation for part 801 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 15 U.S.C. 4908; 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108;
E.O. 11961 (3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86), as amended by E.O. 12318 (3
CFR, 1981 Comp. p. 173); and E.O. 12518 (3 CFR, 1985 Comp. p. 348).
0
2. Revise Sec. 801.3 to read as follows:
Sec. 801.3 Reporting requirements.
Except for surveys subject to rulemaking in Sec. Sec. 801.7 and
801.8, reporting requirements for all other surveys conducted by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis shall be as follows:
(a) Notice of specific reporting requirements, including who is
required to report, the information to be reported, the manner of
reporting, and the time and place of filing reports, will be published
by the Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the Federal
Register prior to the implementation of a survey;
(b) In accordance with section 3104(b)(2) of title 22 of the United
States Code, persons notified of these surveys and subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States shall furnish, under oath, any report
containing information which is determined to be necessary to carry out
the surveys and studies provided for by the Act; and
(c) Persons not notified in writing of their filing obligation by
the Bureau of Economic Analysis are not required to complete the
survey.
0
3. Add Sec. 801.8 to read as follows:
Sec. 801.8 Requirements for the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S.
Direct Investment Abroad--2014.
A BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad will be
conducted covering 2014. All legal authorities, provisions,
definitions, and requirements contained in Sec. Sec. 801.1 and 801.2
and Sec. Sec. 801.4 through 801.6 are applicable to this survey.
Specific additional requirements for the BE-10 survey are given in
paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section. More detailed instructions
are given on the report forms and instructions.
[[Page 69044]]
(a) Response required. A response is required from persons subject
to the reporting requirements of the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S.
Direct Investment Abroad--2014, contained herein, whether or not they
are contacted by BEA. Also, a person, or their agent, that is contacted
by BEA about reporting in this survey, either by sending them a report
form or by written inquiry, must respond in writing pursuant this
section. This may be accomplished by:
(1) Certifying in writing, by the due date of the survey, to the
fact that the person had no direct investment within the purview of the
reporting requirements of the BE-10 survey;
(2) Completing and returning the ``BE-10 Claim for Not Filing'' by
the due date of the survey; or
(3) Filing the properly completed BE-10 report (comprising Form BE-
10A and Form(s) BE-10B, BE-10C, and/or BE-10D) by May 29, 2015, or June
30, 2015, as required.
(b) Who must report. (1) A BE-10 report is required of any U.S.
person that had a foreign affiliate--that is, that had direct or
indirect ownership or control of at least 10 percent of the voting
stock of an incorporated foreign business enterprise, or an equivalent
interest in an unincorporated foreign business enterprise, including a
branch--at any time during the U.S. person's 2014 fiscal year.
(2) If the U.S. person had no foreign affiliates during its 2014
fiscal year, a ``BE-10 Claim for Not Filing'' must be filed by the due
date of the survey; no other forms in the survey are required. If the
U.S. person had any foreign affiliates during its 2014 fiscal year, a
BE-10 report is required and the U.S. person is a U.S. Reporter in this
survey.
(3) Reports are required even if the foreign business enterprise
was established, acquired, seized, liquidated, sold, expropriated, or
inactivated during the U.S. person's 2014 fiscal year.
(4) The amount and type of data required to be reported vary
according to the size of the U.S. Reporters or foreign affiliates, and,
for foreign affiliates, whether they are majority-owned or minority-
owned by U.S. direct investors. For purposes of the BE-10 survey, a
``majority-owned'' foreign affiliate is one in which the combined
direct and indirect ownership interest of all U.S. parents of the
foreign affiliate exceeds 50 percent; all other affiliates are referred
to as ``minority-owned'' affiliates.
(c) Forms to be filed. (1) Form BE-10A must be completed by a U.S.
Reporter. If the U.S. Reporter is a corporation, Form BE-10A is
required to cover the fully consolidated U.S. domestic business
enterprise. It must also file Form(s) BE-10B, C, and/or D for its
foreign affiliates, whether held directly or indirectly.
(2) Form BE-10B must be filed for each majority-owned foreign
affiliate for which any of the following three items--total assets,
sales or gross operating revenues excluding sales taxes, or net income
after provision for foreign income taxes--was greater than $80 million
(positive or negative) at any time during the affiliate's 2014 fiscal
year.
(3) Form BE-10C must be filed:
(i) For each majority-owned foreign affiliate for which any one of
the three items listed in paragraph (c)(2) of this section was greater
than $25 million but for which none of these items was greater than $80
million (positive or negative), at any time during the affiliate's 2014
fiscal year, and
(ii) For each minority-owned foreign affiliate for which any one of
the three items listed in (c)(2) of this section was greater than $25
million (positive or negative), at any time during the affiliate's 2014
fiscal year.
(4) Form BE-10D must be filed for majority- or minority-owned
foreign affiliates for which none of the three items listed in
paragraph (c)(2) of this section was greater than $25 million (positive
or negative) at any time during the affiliate's 2014 fiscal year. Form
BE-10D is a schedule; a U.S. Reporter would submit one or more pages of
the form depending on the number of affiliates that are required to be
filed on this form.
(d) Due date. A fully completed and certified BE-10 report
comprising Form BE-10A and Form(s) BE-10B, C, and/or D (as required) is
due to be filed with BEA not later than May 29, 2015, for those U.S.
Reporters filing fewer than 50, and June 30, 2015, for those U.S.
Reporters filing 50 or more, foreign affiliate Forms BE-10B, C, and/or
D. If the U.S. person had no foreign affiliates during its 2014 fiscal
year, it must file a BE-10 Claim for Not Filing by May 29, 2015.
[FR Doc. 2014-27421 Filed 11-19-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P
