Form BE-29 Foreign Ocean Carriers' Expenses in the United States

OMB No. 0608-0012: Approval Expires 11/30/2015
Form BE-29 (rev 3/2015)

U.S Department of Commerce
Bureau of Economic Analysis

FOREIGN OCEAN CARRIERS’ EXPENSES IN THE UNITED STATES
To be reported by U.S. agents of foreign carriers
(This report is mandatory and confidential. See instructions.)

Name of reporter (U.S. agent)

Name of foreign carrier

Attention
Street

Street
City

State

Zip Code

City

State

Zip Code

Calendar year covered by this report

Nationality of foreign carrier

File this form electronically at www.bea.gov/efile or email to [email protected] or see the General Instructions.
EXPENSES: Report in thousands of U.S. dollars

Item
no.

Item

Liner (including
passenger/cruise)

Tramp
(dry bulk)

Tanker
(liquid bulk)

TOTAL

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

1

Port call expenses

$

000

$

000

$

000

$

000

2

Cargo expenses

$

000

$

000

$

000

$

000

3

Fuel expenses

$

000

$

000

$

000

$

000

4

Other vessel expenses

$

000

$

000

$

000

$

000

5

Other expenses

$

000

$

000

$

000

$

000

6

Total expenses

$

000

$

000

$

000

$

000

tons

000

tons

000

000

tons

000

7

Shipping weights of cargo handled
Report weight in thousands of long tons
(One long ton = 2,240 pounds)

Person to consult concerning questions about this report
Name

tons

Certification – The undersigned official certifies that this report
has been prepared in accordance with the applicable instructions
and is complete.

Title
Telephone number (
Fax number (

)

)

E-mail address
EXEMPTION CLAIM - Mark (x) one

Authorized official’s signature

Not in existence during the reporting period
Did not have transactions related to the survey during the reporting
period
Had transactions related to the survey during the reporting period,
but they were below the mandatory filing threshold

Print or type name and title

Date

Instructions
Public reporting burden for this BE-29 report is estimated to average 3 hours per
response. This burden includes time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate to Director,
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BE-1), U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC
20230; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project
0608-0012, Washington, DC 20503.
Purpose—Reports are required to obtain data for use in estimating the international
transactions accounts of the United States.
Mandatory Reporting—A U.S. person is required to report if the total number of port
calls by foreign vessels handled in the reporting period is 40 or more or if total covered
expenses in the reporting period are $250,000 or more.
Exemptions—A U.S. person that receives this form from BEA but is not required to
report data on a mandatory basis, or is not in existence during the reporting period,
must complete the exemption claim box located in the lower left hand corner of the form.
The determination of whether a U.S. person is exempt may be based on the judgment
of knowledgeable persons who can identify reportable transactions without conducting a
detailed manual records search.
Authority—This survey is being conducted under the authority of the International
Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (P.L. 94-472, 90 Stat. 2059, 22 U.S.C.
3101-3108, as amended – hereinafter “the Act”), and the filing of reports is mandatory
under Section 5(b)(2) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 3104). Regulations for the survey may be
found in 15 CFR Part 801.
Penalties—Whoever fails to report may be subject to a civil penalty of not less than
$2,500, and not more than $32,500, and to injunctive relief commanding such person
to comply, or both. These civil penalties are subject to inflationary adjustments. Those
adjustments are found in 15 CFR 6.4. Whoever willfully fails to report shall be fined
not more than $10,000 and, if an individual, may be imprisoned for not more than one
year, or both. Any officer, director, employee, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in such violations, upon conviction, may be punished by a like fine,
imprisonment, or both. (See 22 U.S.C. 3105.) Notwithstanding the above, a U.S. person
is not subject to any penalty for failure to report if a valid Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) control number is not displayed on the form; such a number (0608-0012)
is displayed at the top of the first page of this form.
Confidentiality—The Act provides that your report to this Bureau is CONFIDENTIAL
and can be used only for analytical or statistical purposes. Without your prior written
permission, the information filed in your report CANNOT be presented in a manner
that allows it to be individually identified. Your report CANNOT be used for purposes of
taxation, investigation, or regulation. Copies retained in your files are immune from legal
process.

General Instructions

expenses of all liner carriers that the U.S. agent represents. Include all the vessels of
that carrier calling at U.S. ports. If the agent represents the carrier in more than one U.S.
port, then a consolidated report should be filed. A separate form should be used for each
carrier.
For tramp and tanker services (dry or liquid bulk)—Report the expenses of a
minimum of 10 separate port calls for these services. The expenses of the port
calls selected should be representative of the type of service, size, and nationality of
vessel that you handle. Select the port calls for which you have the most information. A
separate form should be used for each port call.
How to report—Use this form to report information in accordance with the instructions
and definitions provided. Report expenses in thousands of dollars and shipping weights
in thousands of long tons (1 long ton=2,240 pounds).
Where to send report—File this form electronically at www.bea.gov/efile or email to
[email protected]. In addition, you may mail the reports to U.S. Department of
Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, BE–50 (SSB), Washington, DC 20230.
Frequency—A report must be filed for each calendar year within 90 days after the end
of the year.
Assistance—For assistance in filing this report, call (202) 606–5588 Monday to Friday
from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time.
United States—Includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S.
possessions and territories.
Foreign countries—Consists of all other countries and areas.

Specific Instructions
Nationality of carrier—Report the foreign carrier’s name and country of residence, that
is, the country in which the home office or principal place of business is located. This
may differ from the country of registration, or flag, of the vessels operated. A separate
report is required for each carrier.
Types of service:
Liner—Dry cargo, passenger, or combination vessels operating on a definite, advertised
schedule, giving relatively frequent sailings at regular intervals between U.S. and foreign
ports.
Tramp—Dry cargo vessels operating on an irregular or unscheduled basis.
Tanker—Vessels ordinarily engaged in carriage of liquid cargo.
Expenses:

Who must report—Reports are required from U.S. agents on behalf of foreign ocean
carriers. U.S. agents are steamship agents and other persons representing foreign carriers in arranging ocean transportation between U.S. and foreign ports and in arranging
for port services in the United States. U.S. agents must report all relevant transactions
of which they have knowledge. U.S. agents must report information on port services
provided or obtained by them for foreign carriers. They must also report, to the extent of
their knowledge, information on port services provided by third persons. For example,
agents who approve invoices for payment by foreign carriers for port services provided
by third persons should include that information in preparing this report.
Explain briefly any omission of data (for example, no access to this information, services
not purchased by foreign carrier, etc.) and if known, any information about who could
provide these data.
Foreign carriers must report expenses for services not reported or provided by U.S.
agents.
Carriers are owners or operators of dry cargo, passenger (including cruise and combination) and tanker vessels calling at U.S. ports. The term carrier also includes VLCC
tankers discharging petroleum offshore destined for U.S. ports. Foreign carriers are
those whose residence is outside the United States.
Foreign carriers include those who own or operate their own or chartered (U.S.-flag or
foreign-flag) vessels. They also include foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies operating their own or chartered vessels as carriers for their own accounts. Where the vessels
under foreign registry are operated directly by a U.S. carrier for its own account, the
operation of such vessels should be reported on Form BE–30, Ocean Freight Revenues
and Expenses of U.S. Carriers.
What must be reported:
For liner services, including cruise vessels—Each U.S. agent must report the port

Port call expenses—Report expenses related to calling at U.S. ports. Include expenses
for services such as pilotage; towing and tugboat services; lines; surveys; documentation; harbor fees; berth fees; etc.
Cargo expenses—Report expenses related to loading, unloading, and storing cargo at
U.S. ports. Report expenses such as those for stevedoring; for handling bulk cargoes,
containers, barges, etc.; for lighterage; for container and barge rentals; and for warehouse and terminal rentals and expenses.
Fuel expenses—Report expenses for fuels and oils (bunkers) taken on in U.S. ports.
Do not report fuel and oil expenses incurred in foreign ports even though payments for
them are made to U.S. companies.
Other vessel expenses—Report other (nonfuel) operating expenses such as stores
and supplies, vessel repairs, and personnel expenses in the United States.
Other expenses—Report other U.S. expenses of foreign carriers related to U.S. operations. Report expenses—such as, but not limited to, U.S. agents’ and brokers’ fees and
commissions—and expenses related to maintaining U.S. offices, such as rent, advertising, and wages.
Total expenses—Report all expenses incurred by foreign operators in the United
States. This should equal the sum of expenses reported above.
Expenses not reportable on this form—Do not include insurance for cargoes and vessels. Do not include vessel leasing expenses, capital transfers such as vessel mortgage
payments for principal and interest, depreciation expense, and payments for equipment
and supplies for which Shippers Export Declarations were filed with the U.S. Customs
and Border Protection.
Shipping weight of cargo handled—Report shipping weight in long tons (1 long
ton=2,240 pounds) of total export and import cargo handled by foreign carriers included
in this report and for which cargo expenses were reported above.

www.bea.gov

Form BE-29 (rev 3/2015)