Revision of recommendations for International Merchandise Trade Statistics Activities in 2007-2008

1. Inter-agency Consultation on the Future of International Trade StatisticsThursday 26 February 2009, 8:45 – 10:00 am, Conference Room C, United Nations, New York The main purpose of the consultation is to exchange views on several issues relevant to this topic in connection with the preparation for the 41st session of the Commission in 2010 where international trade statistics will be one of the major items for discussion. Agenda • Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics ——————— 2. Towards an integrated approach to international trade statistics: challenges and the ways to deal with them effectively ——————— • Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with third parties (UNSD introduction followed by open discussion) UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

2. Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics Revision of recommendations for International Merchandise Trade Statistics Activities in 2007-2008 • 3 – 6 December 2007: First meeting of the Expert Group on IMTS (EG-IMTS) in New York • May – June 2008: First round of worldwide consultation on 17 issues selected by the EG-IMTS • 5 November – 5 December 2008: First virtual meeting of the EG-IMTS on the results of the first round of worldwide consultation and first draft text proposals by UNSD Tentative schedule 2009 • 25 March - 24 April: Second virtual meeting of the EG-IMTS on draft chapters 1 and 2 • 6 May - 5 June: Third virtual meeting of the EG-IMTS on the remaining draft chapters • 26 June - 28 August: Second round of worldwide consultation on the full provisional draft • 27-30 October: Second EG-IMTS meeting to review and endorse the draft IMTS Rev. 3 • December: Submission of the final draft of IMTS, Rev.3 to the Statistical Commission 2010 For full information on the revision process and past meetings of the EG-IMTS http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/EG-IMTS/EG-IMTS%20web%20announcement.htm UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

3. Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics Core issues Coverage (definition, change of ownership, packaged software, goods for processing, transactions between parent and affiliated branches, downloadable or otherwise electronically delivered goods, asymmetric inclusions and exclusions)  Adding mode of transport  Adding imports on FOB-type basis  Country of consignment for imports and exports  Use of non-customs sources and data compilation strategies including maintaining institutional arrangements  Recommendations on data quality and the dissemination of metadata  Supplementary topics (Compilation of external trade indices and seasonally adjusted data) UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

4. Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics After IMTS, Rev. 3 – Future work Selected issues for the updated IMTS Compilers Manual and the related research agenda • non-customs sources and data compilation strategies, moving towards a more integrated approach • how to maintain effective institutional arrangements • promotion of data quality assurance and the innovative ways to dissemination of data and metadata (including SDMX) • analytical trade statistics (e.g., various trade indicators) • asymmetries in partner data, reconciliation studies and repository of reconciliation studies • future of trade statistics in customs unions • capturing the nature of trade / trade in the time of globalization / trade and business statistics • compilation of external trade indices and seasonally adjusted data • trade statistics and national accounts / BOP • Issues of the IMTS Rev.3 implementation UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

5. Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics Revision of the Manual on International Trade in Services Timeline to submit the draft manual to the Statistical Commission for adoption at its 41st Session in 2010 by the Task Force • TFSITS to review comments received during the first round of the worldwide consultation and re-draft MSITS chapters by March 2009; • Finalize draft of MSITS chapters and annexes by June 2009; • Post the draft for the second round of the worldwide consultation in July – August 2009; • Finalizing the draft for the Statistical Commission during the TF November 2009 meeting. • Further information is available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/TFSITS/msits.htm Revision of the Manual on IRTS 2008 and TSA:RMF 2008 The manuals were presented and adopted by the Statistical Commission in 2008 and are available in a white cover format The manuals are available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/tourism.htm UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

6. Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics Issues to work on in the near future Implementation of the MSITS – coordination of activities of TFSITS members and the UN regional commissions • Development of SITS Compilers Manual to promote an integrated approach to data collection with other economic statistics • Developing further the global database on trade in services statistics of UNSD  Implementation of the IRTS 2008 and TSA: RMF 2008 – role of the UN regional commissions UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

7. Item 2:Towards an integrated approach to international trade statistics: challenges and the ways to deal with them effectively Issues to focus more in the near and far future • Integration of trade in goods and trade in services? • Integrating the international work and research programs (i.e. intra-firm trade, value-added chains, trade asymmetries, price indices/ deflation) and institutional arrangements • Integrating trade in goods and trade in services data • Data compilation and analysis: Trade in goods and trade in services as part of an integrated system for economics statistics • Compilation issues of trade in goods and trade in services as part of business statistics (including FATS) • Analysis of trade by enterprise • Contributing to the analysis of trends in globalization • Trade in goods and trade in services data for national accounts and balance of payment purposes UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

8. Item 3:Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties How do we engage with the private sector? Global Trade Information Services PROGNOZ UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

9. Item 3:Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties .. Or research sector? TradeSiFt …a systematic and integrated framework for trade analysis Holyoke University - WISERTrade BACI: A World Database of International Trade at the Product Level UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

10. Item 3:Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties .. Or do we need to do it ourselves? International Trade Centre The World Bank, in close collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has developed the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) for access and retrieval of information on trade and tariffs compiled by various International Organizations. UNECLAC – Trade application UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch

11. Item 3:Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties Data dissemination .. Do we need to do it ourselves? .. Do we engage with not-for-profit sector? .. Do we engage with the private sector? What purposes do we serve in disseminating? UNSD/ Trade Statistics Branch