Bureau of Economic Analysis April 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revises its rules to establish general guidelines for how BEA will collect data on international trade in services and direct investment surveys, which are provided for by the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (the Act). In addition to the Act, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 authorizes BEA to conduct international trade in services surveys. Currently, international trade in services and direct investment surveys are promulgated through separate rulemaking actions. This final rule modifies BEA's regulations to allow BEA to issue surveys through notices rather than through notice and comment rulemaking. It also provides a more general framework for how BEA collects data on these surveys that are required, or provided for, by the statutes. This rule will simplify and generalize existing regulations governing the procurement of information on international trade in services and direct investment.