801.9—Reports required.
(a) Benchmark surveys.
Section 4(a)(4) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 3103) provides that benchmark surveys of trade in services between U.S. and foreign persons be conducted, but not more frequently than every 5 years. General reporting requirements, exemption levels, and the years of coverage for the BE-120 survey may be found in § 801.10. General reporting requirements, exemption levels, and the years of coverage for the BE-140 survey may be found in § 801.11. More detailed instructions are given on the forms themselves; and general reporting requirements, exemption levels, and the years for coverage for the BE-180 survey may be found in § 801.12.
(i) Who must report.
A BE-29 report is required from U.S. agents on behalf of foreign ocean carriers transporting freight or passengers to or from the United States. U.S. agents are steamship agents and other persons representing foreign carriers in arranging ocean transportation of freight and cargo between U.S. and foreign ports and in arranging port services in the United States. Foreign carriers are foreign persons that own or operate ocean going vessels calling at U.S. ports, including VLCC tankers discharging petroleum offshore to pipelines and lighter vessels destined for U.S. ports. They include carriers who own or who operate their own or chartered (United States 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 operations of such vessels should be reported on Form BE-30, Ocean Freight Revenues and Foreign Expenses of United States Carriers. The Bureau of Economic Analysis may, in lieu of BE-29 reports required from foreign carriers' U.S. agents, accept consolidated reports from foreign governments covering the operations of their national shipping concerns when, in the Bureau's discretion, such consolidated reports would provide the required information. Where such reports are accepted, the individual reports from foreign carriers' U.S. agents will not be required.
(ii) Exemption.
Any U.S. person otherwise required to report is exempted from reporting if the total number of port calls by foreign vessels handled in the reporting period is less than forty or total covered expenses are less than $250,000. For example, if an agent handled less than 40 port calls in a calendar year, the agent is exempted from reporting. If the agent handled 40 or more calls, the agent must report unless covered expenses for all foreign carriers handled by the agent were less than $250,000. 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.
(c) Quarterly surveys.
(1)
BE-30, Ocean Freight Revenues and Foreign Expenses of United States Carriers:
(i) Who must report.
A BE-30 report is required from U.S. carriers, i.e., from U.S. persons that own or operate dry cargo, passenger (including combination), and tanker vessels regardless of whether the vessels are registered in the United States or in foreign countries. Operators are persons who enter into any form of transportation contract with shippers of merchandise (or their agents) for the transportation of freight and cargo between U.S. and foreign ports or between foreign ports, whether on the operators' own vessels or chartered vessels.
(ii) Exemption.
A U.S. person otherwise required to report is exempted from reporting if total annual covered revenues (i.e., revenues on outbound, cross-trade, and inbound cargoes and charter hire received) and total annual covered expenses (i.e., charter hire paid and expenses in foreign countries) are, or are expected to be, each less than $500,000. If either total annual covered revenues or total annual covered expenses are, or are expected to be, $500,000 or more, a report must be filed.
(i) Who must report.
A BE-37 report is required from all U.S. airline operators engaged in transportation of passengers and freight to and from the United States or between foreign points.
(ii) Exemption.
A U.S. person otherwise required to report is exempted from reporting if total annual covered revenues (i.e., revenues from carrying U.S. export freight to foreign countries) and total annual covered expenses (i.e., expenses incurred outside the United States and aircraft leasing expenses) are, or are expected to be, each less than $500,000. If either total annual covered revenues or total annual covered expenses are, or are expected to be, $500,000 or more, a report must be filed.
(3)
BE-9, Quarterly Survey of Foreign Airline Operators' Revenues and Expenses in the United States:
(i) Who must report.
A BE-9 report is required from U.S. offices, agents, or other representatives of foreign airlines that are engaged in transporting passengers or freight and express to or from the United States. If the U.S. office, agent, or other representative does not have all the information required, it must obtain the additional information from the foreign airline operator.
(ii) Exemption.
A U.S. person otherwise required to report is exempt from reporting if total annual covered revenues and total annual covered expenses incurred in the United States were each less than $5 million during the previous year and are expected to be less than $5 million during the current year. If either total annual covered revenues or total annual covered expenses were or are expected to be $5 million or more, a report must be filed.
(4)
BE-185, Quarterly Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons:
(i)
A BE-185, Quarterly Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons, will be conducted covering the first quarter of the 2007 calendar year and every quarter thereafter.
(A) Who must report—
(1) Mandatory reporting. Reports are required from each U.S. person who is a financial services provider or intermediary, or whose consolidated U.S. enterprise includes a separately organized subsidiary or part that is a financial services provider or intermediary, and that had sales of covered services to foreign persons that exceeded $20 million for the previous fiscal year or expects sales to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year, or had purchases of covered services from foreign persons that exceeded $15 million for the previous fiscal year or expects purchases to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. These thresholds should be applied to financial services transactions with foreign persons by all parts of the consolidated U.S. enterprise combined that are financial services providers or intermediaries. Because the thresholds are applied separately to sales and purchases, the mandatory reporting requirement may apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both sales and purchases. Quarterly reports for a year may be required retroactively when it is determined that the exemption level has been exceeded.
(i) The determination of whether a U.S. financial services provider or intermediary is subject to this mandatory reporting requirement may be based on the judgment of knowledgeable persons in a company who can identify reportable transactions on a recall basis, with a reasonable degree of certainty, without conducting a detailed records search.
(ii) Reporters who file pursuant to this mandatory reporting requirement must provide data on total sales and/or purchases of each of the covered types of financial services transactions and must disaggregate the totals by country.
(2) Voluntary reporting. If a financial services provider or intermediary, or all of a firm's subsidiaries or parts combined that are financial services providers or intermediaries, had covered sales of $20 million or less, or covered purchases of $15 million or less during the previous fiscal year, and if covered sales or purchases are not to expected to exceed these amounts in the current fiscal year, a person is requested to provide an estimate of the total for each type of service for the most recent quarter. Provision of this information is voluntary. The estimates may be based on the reasoned judgment of the reporting entity. Because these thresholds apply separately to sales and purchases, voluntary reporting may apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both.
(B) BE-185 definition of financial services provider.
The definition of financial services provider used for this survey is identical in coverage to Sector 52 B Finance and Insurance, and holding companies that own or influence, and are principally engaged in making management decisions for these firms (part of Sector 55 B Management of Companies and Enterprises) of the North American Industry Classification System, United States, 2002. For example, companies and/or subsidiaries and other separable parts of companies in the following industries are defined as financial services providers: Depository credit intermediation and related activities (including commercial banking, savings institutions, credit unions, and other depository credit intermediation); nondepository credit intermediation (including credit card issuing, sales financing, and other nondepository credit intermediation); activities related to credit intermediation (including mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers, financial transactions processing, reserve, and clearinghouse activities, and other activities related to credit intermediation); securities and commodity contracts intermediation and brokerage (including investment banking and securities dealing, securities brokerage, commodity contracts dealing, and commodity contracts brokerage); securities and commodity exchanges; other financial investment activities (including miscellaneous intermediation, portfolio management, investment advice, and all other financial investment activities); insurance carriers; insurance agencies, brokerages, and other insurance related activities; insurance and employee benefit funds (including pension funds, health and welfare funds, and other insurance funds); other investment pools and funds (including open-end investment funds, trusts, estates, and agency accounts, real estate investment trusts, and other financial vehicles); and holding companies that own, or influence the management decisions of, firms principally engaged in the aforementioned activities.
(C) Covered types of services.
The BE-185 survey covers the following types of financial services transactions (purchases and/or sales) between U.S. financial services providers and foreign persons: Brokerage services related to equities transactions; other brokerage services; underwriting and private placement services; financial management services; credit-related services, except credit card services; credit card services; financial advisory and custody services; securities lending services; electronic funds transfer services; and other financial services.
(5)
BE-45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance Transactions by U.S. Insurance Companies with Foreign Persons:
(i)
A BE-45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance Transactions by U.S. Insurance Companies with Foreign Persons, will be conducted covering the first quarter of the 2004 calendar year and every quarter thereafter.
(A) Who must report—
(1) Mandatory reporting. Reports are required from each U.S. insurance company whose covered transactions with foreign persons exceeded $8 million for the previous fiscal year or are expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. This threshold is applied separately to each of the eight individual types of transactions covered by the survey rather than to the sum of the data for all eight types combined. Quarterly reports for a year may be required retroactively when it is determined that the exemption level has been exceeded.
(2) Voluntary reporting. Reports are requested from each U.S. insurance company whose covered transactions with foreign persons were $8 million or less for the previous fiscal year and are not expected to exceed the $8 million amount during the current fiscal year. Provision of this information is voluntary. The estimates may be based on recall, without conducting a detailed records search.
(B)
Any person receiving a BE-45 survey form from BEA must complete all relevant parts of the form and return the form to BEA. A person not subject to the mandatory reporting requirement in paragraph (c)(5)(i)(A) of this section and is not filing information on a voluntary basis must only complete the “Determination of reporting status” and the “Certification” sections of the survey. This requirement is necessary to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements and efficient administration of the survey by eliminating unnecessary followup contact.
(C) Covered insurance transactions.
The transactions covered by this survey are: reinsurance premiums received, reinsurance premiums paid, reinsurance losses paid, reinsurance losses recovered, primary insurance premiums received, primary insurance losses paid, auxiliary insurance services receipts, and auxiliary insurance services payments. (Auxiliary insurance services include agent's commissions, insurance brokering and agency services, insurance consulting services, evaluation and adjustment services, actuarial services, salvage administration services, and regulatory and monitoring services on indemnities and recovery services.)
(6)
BE-125, Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and Intangible Assets with Foreign Persons:
(i)
A BE-125, Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and Intangible Assets with Foreign Persons, will be conducted covering the first quarter of the 2007 calendar year and every quarter thereafter.
(A) Who must report—
(1) Mandatory reporting. Reports are required from each U.S. person that: (a) Had sales of covered services or intangible assets to foreign persons that exceeded $6 million for the previous fiscal year or are expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year; or (b) had purchases of covered services or intangible assets from foreign persons that exceeded $4 million for the previous fiscal year or are expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. Because the thresholds are applied separately to sales and purchases, the mandatory reporting requirement may apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both sales and purchases. Quarterly reports for a year may be required retroactively when it is determined that the exemption level has been exceeded.
(2) Voluntary reporting. Reports are requested from each U.S. person that had sales of covered services or intangible assets to foreign persons that were $6 million or less for the previous fiscal year and are expected to be less than or equal to that amount during the current fiscal year, or had purchases of covered services or intangible assets from foreign persons that were $4 million or less for the previous fiscal year and are expected to be less than or equal to that amount during the current fiscal year. Provision of this information is voluntary. The estimates may be based on recall, without conducting a detailed records search. Because these thresholds apply separately to sales and purchases, voluntary reporting may apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both.
(B)
Any person receiving a BE-125 survey form from BEA must complete all relevant parts of the form and return the form to BEA. A person that is not subject to the mandatory reporting requirement in paragraph (c)(6)(i)(A)(1) of this section and is not filing information on a voluntary basis must complete Parts 1 and 2 of the survey. This requirement is necessary to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements and efficient administration of the survey by eliminating unnecessary follow-up contact.
(C) Covered services and intangible assets.
The BE-125 survey is intended to collect information on U.S. international trade in all types of services and intangible assets for which information is not collected in other BEA surveys and is not available to BEA from other sources. The major types of services transactions not covered by the BE-125 survey are travel, transportation, insurance (except for purchases of primary insurance), financial services (except for purchases by non-financial firms), and expenditures by students and medical patients who are studying or seeking treatment in a country different from their country of residence. Covered services are: Advertising services; accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services; auxiliary insurance services; computer and data processing services; construction services; data base and other information services; educational and training services; engineering, architectural, and surveying services; financial services (purchases only, by companies or parts of companies that are not financial services providers); industrial engineering services; industrial-type maintenance, installation, alteration, and training services; legal services; management, consulting, and public relations services (including allocated expenses); merchanting services (sales only); mining services; operational leasing services; other trade-related services; performing arts, sports, and other live performances, presentations, and events; premiums paid on purchases of primary insurance; losses recovered on purchases of primary insurance; research, development, and testing services; telecommunications services; and other selected services. “Other selected services” includes, but is not limited to: Agricultural services; account collection services; disbursements to fund news-gathering costs of broadcasters; disbursements to fund news-gathering costs of print media; disbursements to fund production costs of motion pictures; disbursements to fund production costs of broadcast program material other than news; disbursements to maintain government tourism and business promotion offices; disbursements for sales promotion and representation; disbursements to participate in foreign trade shows (purchases only); employment agencies and temporary help supply services; language translation services; mailing, reproduction, and commercial art; management of health care facilities; salvage services; satellite photography and remote sensing/satellite imagery services; security services; space transport (includes satellite launches, transport of goods and people for scientific experiments, and space passenger transport); transcription services; and waste treatment and depollution services. The intangible assets covered by the BE-125 survey are rights related to: Industrial processes and products; books, compact discs, audio tapes and other copyrighted material and intellectual property; trademarks, brand names, and signatures; performances and events pre-recorded on motion picture film and television tape, including digital recording; broadcast and recording of live performances and events; general use computer software; business format franchising fees; and other intangible assets, including indefeasible rights of users.
(i)
A BE-150, Quarterly Survey of Cross-Border Credit, Debit, and Charge Card Transactions will be conducted covering the first quarter of the 2009 calendar year and every quarter thereafter.
(A) Who must report.
A BE-150 report is required from each U.S. company that operates networks for clearing and settling credit card transactions made by U.S. cardholders in foreign countries and by foreign cardholders in the United States. Each reporting company must complete all applicable parts of the BE-150 form before transmitting it to BEA. Issuing banks, acquiring banks, and individual cardholders are not required to report.
(B) Covered transactions.
The BE-150 survey collects aggregate information on the use of credit, debit, and charge cards by U.S. cardholders when traveling abroad and foreign cardholders when traveling in the United States. Data are collected by the type of transaction, by type of card, by spending category, and by country.