BE29 supporting statement B

Supporting Statement

U.S. Department of Commerce

Bureau of Economic Analysis

Annual Survey of Foreign Ocean Carriers’

Expenses in the United States (Form BE-29)

OMB Control Number: 0608-0012

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities (e.g. establishments, State and local governmental units, households, or persons) in the universe and the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form. The tabulation must also include expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection has been conducted before, provide the actual response rate achieved.

The potential respondent universe for the BE-29 survey is all U.S. agents of foreign ocean carriers operating in the United States. An agent must report if it handles 40 or more port calls in the reporting period by foreign ocean vessels, or if covered expenses for all foreign ocean vessels handled by the U.S. agent are $250,000 or more.

BEA intends to mail the survey forms to approximately 85 U.S. companies. Among those companies, the response rates to this annual survey in past years have been high, with a response rate of approximately 85% percent. BEA expects that these high response rates will continue for the survey, providing information of sufficient accuracy and reliability for its intended purposes.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection, including: the statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection; the estimation procedure; the degree of accuracy needed for the purpose described in the justification; any unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures; and any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data collection cycles to reduce burden.

The survey will be administered to U.S. agents of foreign ocean carriers who have expenses in the United States. BEA expects most of the potential respondents to file the survey on a timely basis. In cases where a survey is not filed, or is filed too late to be used for the current estimate, BEA will generate an estimate based on data previously reported or estimated for the non-respondent, in conjunction with information on changes in the data for companies that responded. No unusual problems have been identified that would require the use of specialized sampling procedures. BEA expects to collect data from a cutoff sample of firms meeting the reporting criteria.

The list of respondents will be derived from public and private sources, including business directories and establishment lists. Mandatory reporting is required from a U.S. agent of foreign ocean carriers if it handles 40 or more port calls in the reporting period by foreign ocean vessels, or if covered expenses for all foreign ocean vessels handled by the U.S. agent are $250,000 or more. Some data are expected to be provided voluntarily by persons not meeting these thresholds.

A high degree of accuracy is needed for the purposes stated in the justification.

3. Describe the methods used to maximize response rates and to deal with nonresponse. The accuracy and reliability of the information collected must be shown to be adequate for the intended uses. For collections based on sampling, a special justification must be provided if they will not yield "reliable" data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

Any company specifically contacted by BEA must respond in writing by filing a completed form BE-29 or a valid exemption claim. Non-respondents will be contacted by BEA staff and, in the event of continued nonresponse, will be referred to the Office of General Counsel for further action. BEA expects that at the time of the final revised estimates, reports will be received from approximately 85% of companies required to report. To facilitate response, a notice will be sent to each company on an annual basis notifying the company of the requirement to file the survey and providing links to eFile, BEA’s electronic filing system, and a PDF version of the survey.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Tests are encouraged as effective means to refine collections, but if ten or more test respondents are involved OMB must give prior approval.

No tests were conducted; however, the survey has been conducted in previous years.

5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on the statistical aspects of the design, and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), grantee(s), or other person(s) who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.

The survey is designed and conducted within BEA by the Balance of Payments Division (BPD). No substantive changes are being proposed on statistical aspects of the survey design. For further information, contact Damon Battaglia via email at [email protected] or by phone at 202-606-9837.

2