Transcript IRDTS 2008 – reasons for revision, revision process and recommendations of the 39th session of the SC Workshop for African countries on the.

IRDTS 2008 – reasons for revision,
revision process and recommendations of
the 39th session of the SC
Workshop for African countries on the Implementation of International
Recommendations for Distributive Trade Statistics
27-30 May 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
UNITED NATIONS STATISTICS DIVISION
Trade Statistics Branch
Distributive Trade Statistics Section
Background
Since 1950s, UN has published international
recommendations to establish a coherent and
uniform measurement of distributive trade activity
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1956 – 9th session of the UNSC adopted recommendations
for statistics of the distributive and related services trade
1974 – 18th session of the UNSC adopted International
Recommendations on Statistics of Distributive Trades and
Services (ST/ESA/STAT/Ser.M/57)
1977 - UNSD published Organization and Conduct of
Distributive-Trade Surveys (ST/ESA/STAT/SER.F/19)
UNSC in 2006 endorsed the UNSD initiative to revise
the existing international recommendations for DTS
Need for revision (1)
Appearance of new economic developments in
distributive trade sector
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Integration of distribution chains
Growing importance of groups of enterprises
Success of such modes of association as franchising
Growing role of shopping centres
Expansion of electronic commerce
Globalization (incl. outsourcing)
Persistent importance of informal sector in less developed
countries
Harmonization of IRDTS 2008 with:
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ISIC, Rev.4, and CPC, Ver.2
System of National Accounts 1993, Rev.1 (1993 SNA,
Rev.1)
International Recommendations for Industrial Statistics
2008 (IRIS 2008)
Need for revision (2)
Experience of countries in implementation of
integrated approach to compilation of basic
economic statistics
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Consistency with concepts, definitions and
terminology used in statistical publications and
regulations of other international organizations
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Eurostat - statistical business register and regulations on
short-term and structural business statistics
OECD - measurement of non-observed economy,
compilation of index of service production, business
demography and data and metadata reporting and
presentation
ILO - international classification of status in employment,
statistics of employment in the informal sector, and
working time measurement
Need for revision (3)
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Provide guidance on the variables for compilation,
data sources and data compilation methods for
DTS
Bring into light new practices in data collection and
data compilation resulting in improved quality and
coverage of statistical information on distributive
trade
Ensure uniformity in international reporting in order
to create a worldwide database on DTS
Take into account the increased volume and
complexity of the interrelationships between
distributive trade and other service activities both
within and between enterprises
Revision process (1)
UNSD multi-year strategy for updating the IRDTS endorsed by the 37th session of the UNSC
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Initial assessment of country practices in the
compilation of distributive trade statistics
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Countries frequently use different definitions of the scope of
distributive trade and of compiled variables, thus making
international comparisons of data quite difficult
40 per cent of the countries were unable to conduct
quarterly/monthly surveys and to compile indices of
distributive trade and/or performance indicators
Strong confirmation that DTS needs revisiting and careful reexamination
Revision process (2)
UN Expert Group on DTS
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Established by UNSD in 2005 in order to obtain assistance
and guidance during the revision of the existing
recommendations
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/Distributive_trade/distributive_trade.htm
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Objectives
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To provide an assessment of old recommendations in view of
the new realities in distributive trade and current country
practices in the compilation of the relevant statistics
To contribute to the drafting of revised recommendations and to
suggest new approaches in data compilation, including the
organization and conduct of distributive trade surveys
To review the provisional draft of the revised international
recommendations for DTS
To advise on the preparation of follow-up manuals
Africa represented by three countries – Egypt, Ghana and
South Africa
Revision process (3)
UN Expert Group on DTS (cont.)
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EG meetings
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First meeting – 22-25 August 2005
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Second meeting – 16-19 July 2007
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Most important conclusions – scope of DTS, set of data items,
advanced data collection methods, need for more guidelines on
measurement of the activities of small unincorporated enterprises,
need for recommendations for compilation of distributive trade
indices
Most important conclusions – review and endorsement of draft
IRDTS, advise on the follow-up manuals, joint sessions with the EG
on Industrial Statistics to ensure the coherence between the two
sets of recommendations
Discussion forum
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Password-protected website - created to facilitate
communication among members of the EG-DTS and sharing of
relevant materials and draft chapters of the revised IRDTS
Crucial for the future activities in the area of DTS
Revision process (4)
Global consultations
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In accordance with the recommendation of the SC
that the revision process should be carried out in
close consultation with NSOs in order to reflect
fully the specific needs and circumstances of
various groups of countries
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October 2006 – draft outline of IRDTS
June-July 2007 – provisional draft IRDTS
November-December 2007 – draft IRDTS 2008
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Undertaken simultaneously with the global consultation of
international recommendations for industrial statistics
Overwhelming support by respondents for this initiative as
well as for the coordinated manner in which the revision was
carried out and for the transparency and involvement of all
interested parties in the revision process
Recommendations of the 39th session
of the UNSC
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The Commission:
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Welcomed the report of the Secretary-General on DTS and the
background document entitled International Recommendation
for Distributive Trade Statistics 2008 (IRDTS 2008)
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Adopted IRTDS 2008 as contained in the background document
Agreed to the implementation programme of IRDTS 2008 as
outlined in the report including a conduct of regional training
workshops, collection of national practices on distributive trade
statistics and preparation of:
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Distributive Trade Statistics: Compilers Manual
Indices of Distributive Trade: A Handbook of Good Practices
Thank You