Attachment 8B - Submission Instructions

U.S. Import/Export Price Indexes

Submitting Your Data to the IPP
March 2013

www.bls.gov

Thank you for participating in the International Price Program (IPP). You will provide data online using the BLS Internet
Data Collection Facility (IDCF). This handout is intended to assist you in providing your data over the internet. Be sure
to log on after you receive the price request emails and verify your data, even if the price has not changed.

Important Points to Know Before Submitting Prices to IPP
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For your convenience, your permanent account number will be included in the notification email sent to you
prior to each month you agreed to submit prices. To log on to IDCF, you can use the account number or your
email address.

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If you do not have all the necessary item and pricing information needed, you can submit partial information
and return to the system later to finish.

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You can navigate forward and backward through the survey by clicking the Continue button or the numbered
bubbles at the top of the screen.

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You can click on any field label to get field-specific help.

Getting Started
You will receive an email from [email protected] notifying you that it is time to submit prices each month in
which you agreed to submit prices to the IPP. The email includes a link to the secure BLS website for internet data
collection: https://idcf.bls.gov.
1. On the IDCF Logon page, enter your account number or email address and password and click the I Accept
button.
2. On the Welcome to IDCF page, verify your contact information, select International Price Program from the
Select a Survey Box, and click the Continue button to proceed to the survey.

3. On the Welcome to the International Price Program screen, click the Continue button to get started.

Step 1: Verify Contact Information
On this screen, we ask you to again verify your contact information. Please update the information if it has changed.
You may also add or update Alternate Contact Information to designate that another person in your company
receives a copy of the emails from the IPP.
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After you have verified or updated your contact information, click the Continue button or click the Submit Item
Prices bubble.
International Price Program • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/mxp • 202-691-7101

Step 2: Submit Item Prices
On this screen, you will see a list of the items for which you currently submit prices to the IPP. Here we ask you to
update item information and submit current prices for each item that is still offered. The sections of the Submit
Item Prices screen are described below.

Submit Item Prices Screen

Item Information

Price Information

Comments

Price Information
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For each item, do one of the following to enter a current price for the requested month:
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Type the current price in the Please Provide Price For box. Do not include commas or other special
characters, such as $. If the new price exceeds the old by a predetermined percentage, you will be taken to
the Review Large Price Changes screen, where you will be asked to verify the new price.
If the price did not change since the item was last reported, click the Same Price check box. If none of the
items’ prices changed, click the box at the top of the column.

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If the item was not traded since the last time prices were submitted, click the Not Traded check box.

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To change the price that was reported the last time prices were submitted, click Edit in the Last Reported Price
column. This will take you to the Last Reported Price screen, where you can update the price, currency, or price
basis, or indicate that the item was not traded in that month.
International Price Program • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/mxp • 202-691-7101

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To update discount or surcharge information that was previously provided, click Edit Price Adjustments for the
item in the Please Provide Price For column. This will take you to the Edit Price Adjustments screen, where you
can update, add, or delete a discount or surcharge for the item.

Item Information
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If you no longer trade the item, click the No Longer Offered button next to the item. This will take you to the
Report Item Discontinued screen, which will ask if you can provide a comparable replacement item.
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If you cannot provide a replacement item, select No and click Submit.

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If you can provide a comparable replacement item, select Yes and click Submit. This will take you to the
Replace Item screen, where you can enter information for the new item. The specifications of the
discontinued item will be displayed in the fields to help you provide a comparable item.

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To change an item’s description, click inside the Item Description box and make any updates.

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To review or update all of an item’s information, and to add any information not on the Submit Item Prices
screen, click Review More Item Price Factors. This will take you to the More Item Price Factors screen.

Upper Part of the More Item Price Factors Screen

Comments
The last column on the Submit Item Prices screen lets you enter comments about each item or access messages
from the IPP Industry Analyst.
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Click the comments icon
to provide item-specific comments. Click the link or icon in the upper right of the
screen to provide general comments.

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If Message from analyst exists appears in the Item Comments column, click it to go to a window with a message
from the IPP Industry Analyst. There will be a text box where you can enter a response.
International Price Program • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/mxp • 202-691-7101

Comments Screen

Step 3: Verify Item Information
You will see your items summarized into two groups: Incomplete Items and Completed Items.
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Please review any Incomplete Items and provide a current price if you can.

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Click the Print versions: Summary or Detailed link if you wish to print out a copy of your updated information.

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Click the Finish button to submit your prices.

Thank you for using our secure website to submit data. Your continued participation allows us to produce high quality
economic indicators for the nation.
If you have any questions or comments, please send an e-mail to: [email protected].

Important Points to Know About Your Account
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Your temporary password can only be used once to create an account. To log on afterward, you are required to
use your permanent password.

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If you forget your password, simply click the Forgot Password link located to the right of the Password field and
then enter your permanent account number or email address into the appropriate field. You will receive an
email with a link to a secure page where the password can be reset. The link will expire in three days.

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If you are idle for more than 30 minutes, your session will time out. The data that you entered will not be lost.
Simply re-access your data by going to https://idcf.bls.gov and logging on again.

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Some mail servers will block emails originating from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Add [email protected]
and [email protected] to your Contacts list to allow transmission.

International Price Program • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/mxp • 202-691-7101