INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON UPDATED RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE TRADE STATISTICS MANUALS - IMTS 2026 AND MSITS 2026
Organized jointly by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat)
- Muscat, Oman
- 14-16 April 2025
International Trade Statistics are an essential tool for any country striving to achieve sustainable economic development and enhance its position in the global economy. These statistics help to measure the ability of a country/economy to interact with global markets and analyze international trade relations, providing a clear understanding of trade trends between countries. This aids in understanding bilateral and multilateral trade relations, which is crucial in trade negotiations and the establishment of economic cooperation..
International standards and methodologies of International Trade Statistics play a crucial role in the compilation of trade statistics, ensuring accuracy, consistency and comparability of data across countries and regions.
This workshop is aimed at preparing for the implementation of the updated trade statistics manuals (IMTS 2026 and MSITS 2026) and the Handbook on Integrating Business and Trade Statistics (HIBTS). The revised trade manuals are expected to be completed by the end of this year and submitted to the United Nations Statistical Commission for consideration in 2026. A background document for the 56th session of the Commission provides more information on the expected updates to the current standards. The HIBTS has also been submitted to the Commission as a background document for its endorsement (https://unstats.un.org/UNSDWebsite/statcom/56).
The workshop will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation in Arabic.
Monday, 14 April
08:30 – 09:00
REGISTRATION
09:00 – 09:45
OPENING REMARKS
- Welcome address by GCC-Stat
- Remarks by TT-ITS Co-lead
- Remarks by UNSD
09:45 – 10:00
GROUP PHOTO
10:00 – 11:00*
PRE-SESSION - SETTING THE STAGE
11:15 - 15:15*
SESSION I – TOWARDS IMTS CONCEPTUAL CHAPTERS
15:30 - 16:30
Tuesday, 15 April
08:30 - 09:00
SESSION III – CLASSIFICATIONS RELATED TO IMTS
09:00 – 11:00*
SESSION IV – IMTS MEASUREMENT CHAPTERS
11:15 - 15:15*
SESSION V – IMTS DATA COMPILATION
- Introduction by UNSD: Trade flow, and nature of transactions and customs procedure codes;
- Customs procedure codes;
- Customs procedures and the status of customs ports following the establishment of the Customs Union; Presentation by Mr. Abdulmalik bin Abdullah Al-Obaid, GCC Customs Union Authority
- Harmonization of Customs Procedure Codes (CPC) in GCC; Presentation by Mr. Abdullah bin Maslat Al-Subaie, GCC Customs Union Authority, GCC Customs Union Authority
- The difference between the Harmonized System (HS) and the Customs Tariff;
- Missing data;
- Using R and Python for processing trade data at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS);
15:30 - 16:30
SESSION VI – IMTS QUALITY ASSURANCE AND OUTPUTS
Wednesday, 16 April
08:30 – 09:15
SESSION VII – TRADE ASYMMETRIES
- MPIBTS, Vol. 2, Indicators on trade statistics; Presentation by TT Co-lead, Mr. Ouljour;
- Roundtable discussion on indicators on trade statistics (moderated by UNSD)
09:15 – 11:00*
SESSION VIII – LINKING TRADE, BUSINESS, AND OTHER STATISTICS: HIBTS
11:15 - 14:30
CLOSING SESSION
- Briefing by UNSD: Updating of the Manual on Statistics on International Trade in Services (MSITS); Summary of expected changes in MSITS 2026;
- Roundtable discussion: preparations for the implementation of IMTS 2026 and MSITS 2026 and identification of the important issues for the participating countries (moderated by GCC-Stat, UNSD)
- Conclusion and recommendations;
