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Inter-agency Consultation on the Future of International Trade Statistics

Thursday 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.

Agenda1. 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

———————3. Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in

cooperation with third parties

(UNSD introduction followed by open discussion)

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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-IMTShttp://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/EG-IMTS/EG-IMTS%20web%20announcement.htm

Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics

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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)

Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics

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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

Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics

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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

Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics

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Issues to work on in the near futureImplementation 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

Item 1: Status of preparation of the revised recommendations for international merchandise and services trade statistics

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Issues to focus more in the near and far future

1. 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

2. 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

Item 2: Towards an integrated approach to international trade statistics: challenges and the ways to deal with them effectively

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How do we engage with the private sector?

Item 3: Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties

PROGNOZGlobal Trade Information Services

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.. Or research sector?

Item 3: Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties

TradeSiFt …a systematic and integrated framework for trade analysis

BACI: A World Database of International Trade at the Product Level

Holyoke University - WISERTrade

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.. Or do we need to do it ourselves?

Item 3: Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties

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.

International Trade Centre

UNECLAC – Trade application

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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?

Item 3: Trade data dissemination by the international organizations in cooperation with the third parties