Trade Statistics Branch
UN ServiceTrade
   
Interagency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services
  The Manual on SITS
  Update MSITS
  Technical Subgroup on Movement of Persons - Mode 4
   
Meetings and Reports
Meetings documents
Reports to the UN Statistical Commission
   
Compilation guidance
Training materials
  Archive of papers on SITS
   
Newsletter
   
Contact Us

 

Interagency Task Force on Statistics of
International Trade in Services

 

(updated 4 December 2008):

The Interagency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services (TFSITS) was established at the request of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and UNCTAD to the Statistical Commission in 1994. The objectives of the Task Force are to elaborate the statistical requirements of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). A Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services (MSITS) was published in 2002 and is currently being revised. A revised version will be presented to the UN Statistical Commission in 2010.

The Task Force is convened by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and consists of Eurostat, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Task Force is focusing on the development of the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services (MSITS). The first edition of MSITS was approved by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2002. The Manual sets out a statistical framework for the collection and dissemination of Trade in Services data.

The Task Force continues to focus on developing the MSITS further in parallel with the revision of the IMF 5th Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5) and the update of the 1993 SNA.

The manual is to reflect the outcome of the work of the Technical Subgroup on the Movement of Natural Persons – Mode 4. UNSD acts as Chair and Secretariat of the Technical Subgroup on the Movement of Persons - Mode 4 (TSG). The establishment of this TSG was in response to the need for a statistical framework to measure the economic impact of the movement of natural persons, and in particular of Mode 4, on the home and host countries.

The Task Force is to execute two more rounds of world wide consultations inviting countries, national statistical offices, central banks and other trade related authorities ensuring the maximum possible consensus on the content of the manual. The Task Force holds regular meetings which documentation is published here.

The Task Force can be reached by e-mail at: tradeserv@un.org or STD.Servstat@oecd.org