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1993 SNA Update Information - Country comments for issue:
Valoración del agua

Issue description
Issue description in [English] | [French] | [Russian] | [Spanish]
Cuando el agua deja de ser un recurso gratuito, ¿cómo debe ser tratado el cargo que se paga por ella? Si bien gran parte de los cargos representan costos de distribución, ¿debe tratarse de manera similar a la tierra o a los recursos minerales, dando lugar para recibir la renta? ¿Cómo debe tratarse el agua utilizada en la eliminación de desechos?
Country comments
Number of country comments for selected issue:51
  Date postedSourceComment
 10/11/2006ArmeniaThe National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia agrees with the most recent AEG recommendations.
 9/29/2006Bank of KoreaWe agree to all the recommendations.
 9/15/2006United KingdomWe agree with all the recommendations made by the AEG.
 9/15/2006LatviaAfter deep discussions and expert consultations we basically support the 1993 SNA Update Issues.
 9/6/2006Monetary Agency of Saudi ArabiaHow to treat or consider the depreciation of water, if it was an asset? This is particularly relevant to countries where water is scarce therefore it should be given relatively more weight.
 8/21/2006Central Bank of El SalvadorSe está de acuerdo con el AEG tomando en cuenta las características particulares de cada país.

The SCN agrees with the AEG, taking into account each country's particular characteristics.
 8/18/2006NetherlandsWe generally support the recommendations made at the Frankfurt Meeting of the AEG.
 8/18/2006USAWe agree with the recommendations of the AEG.
 8/2/2006European Central BankThe ECB generally supports the recommendations made by the AEG.
 8/1/2006National Bank/ National Bureau for Statistics MoldovaNational Bank and National Bureau for Statistics of Moldova agree with the recommendations made at the latest meeting of the AEG.
 8/1/2006Reserve Bank of South AfricaWe carefully worked through all the issues and would like to give our general support to the recommendations made by the AEG.
 7/31/2006IsraelWe agree with the recommendations of the AEG on this issue.
 7/31/2006Macao SARStatistics and Census Service of Macao SAR agrees to the AEG recommendations and has no further comments.
 7/31/2006Bosnia and HerzegovinaWe agree with AEG recommendations on the update of the 1993 SNA and do not have any further comments.
 7/28/2006VietnamI agree with the outcomes of AEG. Treatment of water should be similar with the treatment of land or mineral resources. Its transport should be a service.
 7/28/2006National Bank of SlovakiaConcerning the results of the most recent AEG meeting, we fully support the conclusions and recommendations made by the AEG.
 7/28/2006LithuaniaIn general we support the recommendations.
 7/28/2006Bank of PortugalBanco de Portugal would like to express general support for the recommendations made in the Frankfurt meeting of the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts (AEG).
 7/28/2006Bank of PolandPlease find our general support for the AEG recommendations made during its recent meeting in Frankfurt.
 7/27/2006Bank of Sierra LeoneWe agree with the recommendations made by the AEG.
 7/27/2006EgyptWe agree with the recommendation considering water as an asset. But practically we will face lots of problems in estimating the value of the water in different sources. We have to mention that constructing dams and artificial reservoirs is a process for water control. Can we consider the water flow after the dam or reservoir is under control by the management? Can we consider the government as the owner of these sources as in the case of mineral resources?
 7/25/2006Bank of ItalyWe broadly support the conclusions.
 7/24/2006GermanyWe are pleased to express our agreement with the solutions proposed and with out-come of the e-consultation. We take for granted that the AEG will accept this clear vote.
 7/24/2006National Bank of the Republic of AzerbaijanWe have analyzed the “Comment on the recommendations of the most recent Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts (AEG) meeting (January 30 – February 8, 2006) in Frankfurt” within the scope of our responsibilities and I am pleased to inform you that we are in agreement with the AEG recommendations.
 7/10/2006DenmarkAgreement
 2/23/2006South African Reserve Bank We agree in principal but would like to see some flexibility in the implementation related to the parallel with mineral resources and the valuation of water in rivers and lakes, which can change substantially on account of recurrent weather conditions.
 1/27/2006Central Bank of El SalvadorEl agua es un bien preciado cuyo tratamiento podría ser similar al de los recursos minerales cuyos gastos están asociados a la extracción y distribución. No estamos de acuerdo en incorporarlo dentro del marco central del SCN sino como un anexo o tratamiento especial.
 1/17/2006Central Bank of ChileEstamos de acuerdo con clarificar el tratamiento del agua en el SCN con una amplificación que permita un mayor reconocimiento del valor del agua como un recurso cada vez más escaso.
Pero consideramos que este tema como otros temas sobre activos ambientales no deben formar parte del núcleo central del SCN, sino más bien debe incluirse en los manuales de cuentas satélite del medio ambiente.
 1/3/2006CubaConsideramos que tanto la clasificación, frontera, valoración y definición de los activos convienen ser revisados. Debe ser analizado también el criterio de propiedad por parte de una unidad institucional, dado que en la metodología actual aparecen los flujos en el sistema una vez que comienzan a usarse como activos económicos; quedan excluidos recursos naturales de la actual clasificación, etc.
La formación de capital humano, forma parte en la actualidad del consumo final ante la imposibilidad hasta la fecha de considerar su apropiación por el individuo como activo. Deberá buscarse una solución para registrarse como activo
Los gastos de I+D, no se consideran activos con excepción de los destinados a la exploración minera, ya descritos. Proponemos que la I+D forme parte de los activos, y que los trabajos de exploración minera se registren independientes del stocks de reservas económicamente explotable.
 12/22/2005Serbia and MontenegroWe agree with the suggested changes.
 12/19/2005KenyaAgreed
 12/14/2005FranceL'INSEE attend la version définitive du texte pour se prononcer.
 12/13/2005CanadaCanada agrees in principal to the treatment of water as an asset and the treatment of mains water as a commodity rather than payment for the service of moving water, especially where volumetric charges apply. Putting a value to the rivers and lakes will be a long term implementation process however. The treatment if access fees will have to be considered carefully in parallel to the treatment for other natural resource access fees.
 12/12/2005Bank of KoreaWe agree to all the recommendations.
 12/9/2005RussiaRosstat largely supports the recommendations on the updating 1993 SNA, made at the July 2005 meeting of the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts.
 12/5/2005Denmark m3Denmark31;
 12/2/2005NetherlandsWe generally support the recommendations of the AEG.
 12/2/2005AustraliaAustralia agrees with the AEG recommendations and supports the need for further consideration of the classification of distributed water. Our view is that it may be too prescriptive to value water "in a manner parallel to the valuation of mineral resources" because water (unlike mineral resources) is a renewable/recyclable resource.
 12/2/2005TurkeyWe agree with the recommendations made at the July 2005 meeting of the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts.
 12/1/2005GermanyWe are pleased to express our agreement with the AEG recommendations.
 12/1/2005NorwayWe agree with AEG's recommendations a) - d).
With respect to recommendation e) we think AEG should give a somewhat more elaborated view on the question whether the water in an artificial reservoir should be seen as produced or not. This question could be seen as an application of the new criteria recommended earlier in the SNA revision for cultivated assets. We think that the condition of human control of growth and/or regeneration of the natural asset cannot be so strict as to requiring full control, that the development of the asset should be totally independent of natural conditions. No doubt the construction of artificial reservoirs is aiming at controlling the water supply from the reservoir. If the reservoir has a reasonable capacity relative to water inflow, the water content of the reservoir could be seen as controlled by the management of the reservoir even though the inflow of water is a natural process.
With respect to recommendation f) we would like to point out the possibility to see such fees as taxes. We think it is unfortunate to regard the fees as property income of Government where the Government does not enforce property rights of the water bodies concerned.
 12/1/2005United KingdomWe agree with recommendations (a) to (e). Recommendations (f) and (g) should still be regarded as work-inprogess with more discussion at the next AEG meeting. It is interesting to note that water is a non-produced asset which can be used tip, unlike land. Therefore the focus should be on the right to access, service charges etc.
 11/30/2005Slovak RepublicSO SR give support to AEG recommendation related to ongoing effort for clarification of issue.
 11/30/2005FinlandA curiosity: are those countries who have shortage of water and who can estimate price of water more wealthy than countries who have plenty of water but no sense to value the free product (like the water of lakes etc.)? E.g. there is no sense to estimate the value of thousands of lakes in Finland though we have good estimates on the amount of water.
 11/30/2005ItalyIstat fully agrees with the recommendations made at the July 2005 meeting of the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts.
 11/30/2005State Bank of PakistanWe have gone through recommendations made by Advisory Expert Group (AEG) and fully agree with them.
 11/30/2005State Bank of VietnamWater is no longer a free resource, so it is necessary to treat the change for water.
It should be treated in a similar way to mineral resources.
Because to have freshwater resources for using. It needs the following expenditures:
- Acquisition of right to exploit water
- Exploratory drilling expenditures of water
- Expenditures of well trenching
- Activities in relation to water extracts and water exploitation
 11/29/2005CambodiaWater is a main resource for people in livings. When it is no longer a free resource it should be treated similarly as mineral resources (should be water exploration and evaluation). All costs related to the exploration of fresh water resources are included.
 11/29/2005People's Bank of ChinaI agree with your improvements and have no other suggestions.
 11/21/2005USAAlthough the extension of the asset boundary to cover water stored in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs is conceptually attractive, in practice it is likely to be difficult or impossible to value these water resources. Furthermore, in many cases the year-to-year fluctuations in water will be determined largely by fluctuations in climate, rather than by the changes in consumption and usage that the economic accounts are generally intended to measure. Therefore, we think these measures of water assets may be of limited usefulness for policy and planning. We suggest that the updated SNA allow for countries to measure water stored in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in cases where information is available to value the water and the measures are important to users, but also note that it is acceptable to omit the value of water in countries where this information is not available or is not of sufficient importance to data users.
 5/6/2005VietnamWater is no longer a free resource, so it is necessary to treat the change for water.
It should be treated in a similar way to mineral resources.
Because, to have fresswater resources for using. It needs the following expenditures:
- Acquisition of right to exploit water
- Exploratory drilling expenditures of water
- Expenditures of well trenching
- Activities in relation to water exctract and water exploitation
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