IRDTS 2008 – reasons for revision, revision process and

recommendations of the 39th session of the SC

Workshop for African countries on the Implementation of International Recommendations for Distributive Trade Statistics

27-30 May 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

UNITED NATIONS STATISTICS DIVISION Trade Statistics Branch

Distributive Trade Statistics Section

Background Since 1950s, UN has published international

recommendations to establish a coherent and uniform measurement of distributive trade activity

1956 – 9th session of the UNSC adopted recommendations for statistics of the distributive and related services trade

1974 – 18th session of the UNSC adopted International Recommendations on Statistics of Distributive Trades and Services (ST/ESA/STAT/Ser.M/57)

1977 - UNSD published Organization and Conduct of Distributive-Trade Surveys (ST/ESA/STAT/SER.F/19)

UNSC in 2006 endorsed the UNSD initiative to revise the existing international recommendations for DTS

Need for revision (1) Appearance of new economic developments

in distributive trade sector Integration of distribution chains Growing importance of groups of enterprises Success of such modes of association as franchising Growing role of shopping centres Expansion of electronic commerce Globalization (incl. outsourcing) Persistent importance of informal sector in less

developed countries Harmonization of IRDTS 2008 with:

ISIC, Rev.4, and CPC, Ver.2 System of National Accounts 1993, Rev.1 (1993

SNA, Rev.1) International Recommendations for Industrial

Statistics 2008 (IRIS 2008)

Need for revision (2)

Experience of countries in implementation of integrated approach to compilation of basic economic statistics

Consistency with concepts, definitions and terminology used in statistical publications and regulations of other international organizations

Eurostat - statistical business register and regulations on short-term and structural business statistics

OECD - measurement of non-observed economy, compilation of index of service production, business demography and data and metadata reporting and presentation

ILO - international classification of status in employment, statistics of employment in the informal sector, and working time measurement

Need for revision (3) Provide guidance on the variables for

compilation, data sources and data compilation methods for DTS

Bring into light new practices in data collection and data compilation resulting in improved quality and coverage of statistical information on distributive trade

Ensure uniformity in international reporting in order to create a worldwide database on DTS

Take into account the increased volume and complexity of the interrelationships between distributive trade and other service activities both within and between enterprises

Revision process (1)

UNSD multi-year strategy for updating the IRDTS - endorsed by the 37th session of the UNSC

Initial assessment of country practices in the compilation of distributive trade statistics

Countries frequently use different definitions of the scope of distributive trade and of compiled variables, thus making international comparisons of data quite difficult

40 per cent of the countries were unable to conduct quarterly/monthly surveys and to compile indices of distributive trade and/or performance indicators

Strong confirmation that DTS needs revisiting and careful re-examination

Revision process (2) UN Expert Group on DTS

Established by UNSD in 2005 in order to obtain assistance and guidance during the revision of the existing recommendations

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/Distributive_trade/distributive_trade.htm

Objectives To provide an assessment of old recommendations in view

of the new realities in distributive trade and current country practices in the compilation of the relevant statistics

To contribute to the drafting of revised recommendations and to suggest new approaches in data compilation, including the organization and conduct of distributive trade surveys

To review the provisional draft of the revised international recommendations for DTS

To advise on the preparation of follow-up manuals Africa represented by three countries – Egypt, Ghana

and South Africa

Revision process (3) UN Expert Group on DTS (cont.)

EG meetings First meeting – 22-25 August 2005

Most important conclusions – scope of DTS, set of data items, advanced data collection methods, need for more guidelines on measurement of the activities of small unincorporated enterprises, need for recommendations for compilation of distributive trade indices

Second meeting – 16-19 July 2007 Most important conclusions – review and endorsement of

draft IRDTS, advise on the follow-up manuals, joint sessions with the EG on Industrial Statistics to ensure the coherence between the two sets of recommendations

Discussion forum Password-protected website - created to facilitate

communication among members of the EG-DTS and sharing of relevant materials and draft chapters of the revised IRDTS

Crucial for the future activities in the area of DTS

Revision process (4) Global consultations

In accordance with the recommendation of the SC that the revision process should be carried out in close consultation with NSOs in order to reflect fully the specific needs and circumstances of various groups of countries

October 2006 – draft outline of IRDTS June-July 2007 – provisional draft IRDTS November-December 2007 – draft IRDTS 2008

Undertaken simultaneously with the global consultation of international recommendations for industrial statistics

Overwhelming support by respondents for this initiative as well as for the coordinated manner in which the revision was carried out and for the transparency and involvement of all interested parties in the revision process

Recommendations of the 39th session of the UNSC

The Commission:

Welcomed the report of the Secretary-General on DTS and the background document entitled International Recommendation for Distributive Trade Statistics 2008 (IRDTS 2008)

Adopted IRTDS 2008 as contained in the background document

Agreed to the implementation programme of IRDTS 2008 as outlined in the report including a conduct of regional training workshops, collection of national practices on distributive trade statistics and preparation of:

Distributive Trade Statistics: Compilers Manual Indices of Distributive Trade: A Handbook of Good Practices

Thank You