This first Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services has been prepared by the Interagency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services authorised by the Statistical Commission of the United Nations to meet the needs of a variety of producers and users of trade data but in particular the needs of the General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS). GATS categorises trade in services according to four modes of supply - cross border, consumption abroad, commercial presence and presence of natural persons.

Accordingly the Manual extends the statistical definition of international trade in services into new areas to reflect the four modes of trade in services as defined by GATS, namely cross border, consumption abroad, commercial presence and presence of natural persons. It does this by building on and maintaining consistency with existing frameworks including the IMF 5th Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5) and the 1993 SNA.

Apart from consideration of modes of supply, the Manual provides a more detailed classification of services delivered through conventional trade between residents and non-residents than is contained in BPM5, includes a treatment of local delivery of services through a foreign commercial presence and takes a first step towards linking these two systems. Links to existing statistical frameworks are described and correspondences provided from the classifications used in the manual (e.g. Extended Balance of Payments Services classification, EBOPS, and the ISIC Categories for Foreign Affiliates, ICFA) to the Central Product Classification (CPC), version 1.0, the International Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 3 and the GATS services negotiating list.