Accounting Framework for Trade
and Macro-economic Issues

Starting from the measurement framework of the System of National Accounts, this part clarifies the measurement of the international economic dimension of the SNA, especially to measure economic interdependencies of nations, their exposures and vulnerabilities. The international accounts for an economy summarize the economic relationships between residents of that economy and the rest of the world. Many international task teams are working on aspects of international trade and economic globalization, but an overarching framework is still missing.

Working Groups

Inter-Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts

The ISWGNA is one of the oldest interagency bodies set up by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) to enhance cooperation among international organisations working in the same field. Since the early 1980s, it has had the following five members: European Commission, International Monetary Fund, OECD, the United Nations, and World Bank.

UNECE Task Force on Global Production

The Task Force is established under the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) SG on National Accounts. The objectives of the Task Force on global production are twofold. The first goal is to develop guidance on the unresolved conceptual issues arising from 2008 SNA and BPM6 in relation to global production. The second goal is to develop further guidance on implementation aspects. In doing so, the TF will study the existing practices of countries in relation to the different types of global production arrangements.

OECD Working Party on National Accounts

Under the general direction of OECD Committee on Statistics, the Working Party identifies research topics and discusses issues related National Accounts. The topics include measuring intangible assets outside the SNA boundary, the Handbook on Globalisation and the National Accounts, developments on measuring trade in value-added, measuring disparities in a national accounts framework, and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting.

Eurostat Task Force on Goods sent abroad for Processing

Directors of Macro Economic Statistics agreed that Eurostat set up a Task Force on goods for processing in 2011. The main objectives of the Task Force were to study the main consequences of the implementation of the new treatment of goods sent abroad in ESA 2010, to identify the need for new data sources, to promote the exchange of experiences related to goods for processing, and to propose some practical solutions to the main difficulties encountered.