RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/C/W/5
17July1995
ORGANIZATION(95-2057)
Council forTrade inServices
GATS AND STATISTICS ONTRADE INSERVICES1
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Animprovement inthequality ofservices statistics isneeded tofacilitate future
negotiations, tomonitor implementation oftheGATS,2andtoassess thebenefits ofliberalization.3
Atthemeeting oftheCouncil forTrade inServices heldon30March 1995, itwasnoted that"the
problems relating totheavailability andcomparability ofstatistics were themost serious and
required urgent attention."4Accordingly, theSecretariat wasasked toprepare abackground note
onservices statistics andclassification "asabasis forinitiating work inthese twoareas andto
assist delegations intheirconsideration oftheissues involved."
2. TheSecretariat haspreviously prepared three main papers onissues related toservices
statistics. Thefirst, inJune1988, contained information onwork being undertaken invarious
international foraintheareaofservices statistics.5Thesecond, inJuly1989, discussed thenature
of,andtheproblems with, balance ofpayments statistics, theonlysource ofinformation ontrade
inservices available onaglobal basis.6Thethird, inFebruary 1990, described theservices data
basethathadbeencreated within GATT, andillustrated whatwasthenavailable from the
Secretariat inmachine-retrievable form.7
3. Thispaper willdealonlybriefly withthematerial covered intheearlier Secretariat
documents. Thefocus willbeprimarily onissues related tothecreation ofastatistical framework
toserve GATS needs. Inthiscontext, thepaper willdescribe theimportant developments since
thedocuments mentioned above were written. Thus, balance ofpayments statistics pertaining to
services arebeing significantly improved andcooperation between international organizations has
increased, particularly regarding classification issues. Furthermore, WTO participation inseveral
1Thispaper relies onwork done intheStatistics andInformation Systems Division (SISD) oftheWTO. Greater
detail onsome oftheissues discussed istobefound inthepapers prepared bytheDivision which arereferred tointhe
bibliography.
2Definitions ofalltheacronyms used inthispaper aregiven inAnnex 3.
3Itisstipulated inArticle XIX.3 oftheGATS that"theCouncil forTrade inServices shall carry outanassessment
oftrade inservices inoverall terms andonasectoral basis withreference totheobjectives ofthisAgreement" forthe
purpose ofestablishing negotiating guidelines foreach round offuture negotiations. Article XIX.1 states thatthenext
round ofnegotiations shall begin notlaterthanfiveyears from thedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement.
4S/C/M/2, paragraph 29.
5MTN.GNS/W/41.
6MTN.GNS/W/58.
7MTN.GNS/W/94.S/C/W/5
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international forahascreated agreater sensitivity toGATS needs. Thepaper willalsodescribe
theproblems thatremain unresolved andsuggest possible courses ofaction.
4. Therestofthispaper isdivided intofoursections. Thenextsection takes stock ofthe
statistics thatcurrently existandsummarises theunderlying problems. InSection III,there isa
discussion ofhowfarexisting statistics areabletomeetGATS needs. Section IVdescribes what
isbeing doneinvarious international foratoimprove thequality ofservices statistics andSection
Vsuggests areas forfuture work.
II. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE STATISTICS
5. Given theambit ofGATS, statistics arerequired notonlyontrade flows, butalsoon
production, sales, employment, foreign direct investment andtheactivities offoreign affiliates.
Thissection briefly reviews currently available statistics andsummarises thegeneral problems (see
Box1).Thestatistical inadequacies intheGATS context aredealtwithinthenextsection.
(a) Trade data
6. Theonlysource ofinformation ontrade inservices available onaglobal basis arethe
IMFbalance ofpayments (BOP) statistics which arereported bygovernments andreproduced in
theIMFBalance ofPayments Yearbooks. Most dataavailable until1994 were reported according
totheconceptual framework andtheclassification system ofthe4thedition oftheIMFBalance of
Payments Manual (1977) (hereafter referred toasIMF-4) butatransition isnowbeing made to
the5thedition of1993 (referred toasIMF-5 anddescribed below). InIMF-4, there wasno
explicit identification ofwhatconstituted trade inservices. Rather, thecurrent account was
divided between merchandise andnon-merchandise items, thelatter often being referred toas
invisibles .8
7. BoxA1shows thecomponents oftheIMFBOPstatistics which constitute commercial
services asdefined inprevious GATT publications.9Column 2liststheitems thatareusually
available forindividual countries. However, comparability ofcomponents across countries isonly
ensured atthehigher levelofaggregation shown inColumn 1,forreasons thatarediscussed
below. TheOECD disseminates more disaggregated information, asreported bymember
countries, butthefigures arenotcomparable across countries. EUROSTAT currently provides
harmonized series forthemembers oftheEuropean Union andEFTA according tothe
classification given inthethirdcolumn ofBoxA1.
8Theterm invisibles generally referred tothesumofthefollowing categories: shipment ,other transportation ,
travel ,investment income ,other official goods, services andincome ,other private goods, services andincome ,and
(optionally) private andofficial unrequited transfers .
9Thedefinition ofcommercial services inGATT (1989) thusincluded allthecomponents ofinvisibles except
investment income ,other official goods, services andincome ,andprivate andofficial unrequited transfers .Starting
withthe1995 issue oftheAnnual Report, theWTO decided toexclude labour income ,which consists mainly ofwages
andsalaries paidtoseasonal andborder workers, from thedefinition ofcommercial services. Themain reason wasthat
alarge partoflabour income transactions originate outside theservices sector. Itwasalsodecided, intheBudget
Committee oftheWTO, tousetrade incommercial services, according tothenewdefinition, along withshares in
merchandise trade, todetermine Members 'financial contributions totheWTO.S/C/W/5
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Problems
8. TheBOPstatistics suffer from significant problems which havebeendescribed indetail in
MTN.GNS/W/58. Thebasic problem arises because theintangibility ofservices precludes their
registration atthefrontier ashappens inthecaseoftrade ingoods. Transactions areestimated
using either foreign exchange records, orsurveys ofestablishments, oracombination ofthetwo.
Foreign exchange records often giveinsufficient information regarding theprecise form ofthe
service transaction, while thesurvey ofestablishments maynotbecomplete.
9. There arenumerous other problems which affect thecomparability andreliability of
services trade statistics. Firstofall,thedefinitions ofparticular services arenotalways identical
across countries andcoverage isoften inadequate. Forinstance, theexport oftransport services
reported byonecountry mayinclude some ofwhatanother country reports asexpenditure by
travellers .Moreover, some nations donotreport complete information oncertain items, suchas
maritime shipment exports andairtransport services, andmany types ofbusiness services. Annex
1provides amore detailed discussion ofinconsistencies indefinition andcoverage. Secondly,
information ontrade byorigin anddestination isnotavailable onacomparable anddetailed basis,
andonlysome countries report information onthedirection oftrade bygeographic region orby
major trading partner. Thirdly, thedataareonlyavailable onavalue basis. Thelackofvolume
andquality adjusted datamakes itdifficult todetermine theproportion ofgrowth inaparticular
yearduetoinflation asopposed toimprovements inquality. Finally, thelimited disaggregation of
dataontrade inservices andondomestic production andemployment makes itdifficult torelate
thetwosetsofstatistics. Theproblem ofconcordance ismade worse because ofthe
inconsistencies referred toabove andtheexistence intrade statistics ofitems suchasexpenditure
bytravellers which donotappear inthenational accounts.
(b) Production andemployment
10. Production andemployment statistics arecompiled within theSystem ofNational Accounts
(SNA), inwhich industries areclassified byactivity according totheInternational Standard
Industrial Classification. These statistics arereported bycountries andinternational institutions,
suchastheUN,theWorld Bank andtheOECD. Official National Accounts statistics are
published byUNSTAT, andrelyentirely onwhatisreported bycountries. UNSTAT also
publishes estimated statistics, although atamuch higher levelofaggregation thantheofficial
statistics. Thelatter istheonlysource ofcomprehensive comparable information, including
estimates tofillindatagaps.
Problems
11. Inconsistencies between national activity classifications andISICoften leadtosubstantial
classification differences. Forexample, fortheUS,wholesale andretail trade includes restaurant
services .Even though series aregenerally available inbothcurrent andconstant prices, thelatter
arenotinternationally comparable because countries donotgenerally follow international
guidelines, forinstance, regarding deflation methods. Inother cases, suchasthetransport sector,
thevolume ofoutput ismeasured byquantitative indicators, suchaspassenger-kilometres or
ton-kilometres, some ofwhich donottakeaccount ofqualitative factors. Asaresult, productivity
changes arenotwellreflected. Finally, there islimited sectoral detail inthestatistics reported by
UNSTAT.
12. Employment dataarealsonotcomparable from country tocountry. Twoprojects inthe
ILOhaveattempted toprovide comparable estimates, butthefirstisnowoutofdatewithseries
onlyupto1980 andthesecond includes only23countries (seeILO,1986 and1992).S/C/W/5
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Box1:Problems withCurrently Available Statistics
Trade (BOP) -inconsistencies indefinition andcoverage reduce comparability across
countries;
-lackofpartner datafornon-OECD countries;
-constant price dataisnotavailable;
-lackofsectoral detail, espcially fornon-OECD countries.
Production
and
employment-country deviations from theISIClimitcomparability;
-constant price datasuffers from methodological problems;
-lackofsectoral detail;
Foreign Direct
Investment
(FDI)-unavailability ofdatafornon-OECD countries;
-lackofharmonization between country practices;
-country deviations from theISIC;
-lackofsectoral detail;
Alldomains -problems oflinkage between statistical domains :
(1)problems ofcompatibility between classifications
(2)problems inthelevelofdetail provided.
(c) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
13. Thecapital account oftheIMFBOPStatistics contains information onflows andstocks of
FDI, butnotseparately forservices. Theother sources forFDIstatistics areEUROSTAT and
OECD, which provide sectoral andgeographical information onstocks andflows ofFDI, andthe
UNCTAD Programme onTransnational Corporation, which publishes economic analyses of
transnational corporations. Concepts anddefinitions arefound intheIMFBOPmanual
(IMF,1993), theSNA, andinOECD (1992). Atpresent, OECD andEUROSTAT publications
arebased mainly onnational BOPstatistics.
Problems
14. Thefirstproblem arises because there isnouniform definition ofownership. Forthe
IMFandtheOECD, enterprises areconsidered tobeforeign direct investment ifaresident of
another economy owns 10percent ormore oftheordinary shares orvoting power. Thisrulemay
beapplied flexibly bycountries. Thecorresponding share is50percent intheSNA, although,
again, there isroom forflexibility inthefinaldetermination byindividual countries.
15. Disaggregated statistics forservices sectors areavailable onlyforalimited number of
countries. Country comparability ishindered bydiscrepancies between countries 'classifications
andtheISIC, asinthecaseofnational accounts statistics. Furthermore, depending onacountry 's
practices, thesectoral allocation maybemade onthebasis oftheactivity oftheinvestor, orthe
activity oftheenterprise inwhich theinvestment ismade. Finally, some countries include
reinvested earnings inflows ofFDI, while others donot.
(d) Sectoral statistics
Thefollowing ismeant tobeanillustrative, rather thanexhaustive, listofthesector-specific
statistics thatareavailable.
16. Statistics onairtransport areavailable from theInternational Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO), andtheInternational AirTransport Association (IATA). Their publications includeS/C/W/5
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information onkilometres andhours flown, passengers carried, general typeofactivity of
passengers, passenger-kilometres flown, tonne-kilometres offreight andmail, indications onfleet
composition, aswellasinformation oncompanies, suchasthenumber ofemployees, operating
revenue, expenses andsurplus.
17. UNCTAD reports onmaritime transport, withinformation onfleets, shipbuilding andport
development, freight, containers andmultimodal transport.
18. TheEconomic Commission forEurope publishes information bymodes oftransport
(railways, roads, inland waterway, international rivers, andpipelines) forEuropean countries.
19. TheWorld Tourism Organization publishes information onpassengers and
passenger-kilometres carried, tourists arrivals, payments, nights inhotels, andaccommodation
capacity.
20. Financial statistics arereported bytheBank forInternational Settlements initsAnnual
Reports, andindifferent publications oftheIMF, theWorld Bank andtheOECD.
21. Detailed information onactivities ofinsurance companies isgiven byUNCTAD for
developing countries andOECD formember countries. Inthestatistical appendix ofitsannual
report, theSwiss reinsurance company SIGMA publishes statistics onpremiums inlifeand
non-life insurance, foraselected number ofcountries (63).
22. Professional organizations, suchastheInternational Federation ofAccountants, keep
statistics onmembership ofprofessional bodies onacountry basis.
23. Inthetelecommunications sector, statistics areavailable from SIEMENS, on
telecommunication lines, countries 'capacities, local, longdistance andinternational calls,
subscribers bytype, andinvestments inthesector. TheOECD publishes arange ofinformation
formember countries.
III. GATS NEEDS AND CURRENTLY AVAILABLE STATISTICS
24. IntheGATS context, inaddition toallthestatistical inadequacies described above, we
encounter acrucial problem: theframework ofnegotiated commitments doesnotmatch theexisting
structure oftrade statistics .Thisisforthree related reasons. First, theGATS definition of
trade inservices goesbeyond thetraditional notion ofinternational trade, which refers toproducts
crossing geographical boundaries, ortotransactions between residents andnon-residents. Thus,
trade inservices isdefined asincluding localsalesbyforeign entities whowould beconsidered
"residents" byconventional statistical criteria andforwhose activities adequate statistics donot
exist. Secondly, thescheduled commitments are,inmost part,according totheGNS sectoral
classification10which isbased largely, butnotentirely, ontheUNCentral Product Classification
(CPC).11,12However, theonlyservices trade statistics available onaglobal basis follow theIMF
10MTN.GNS/W/120.
11TheGNS Classification deviates from theCPC classification primarily intelecommunications andfinancial
services andtoalesser extent intransport services .
12TheCPC constitutes acomplete product classification covering goods, services andassets. Itwasdeveloped
primarily toenhance harmonization among various fields ofeconomic related statistics.S/C/W/5
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Balance ofPayments Manual classification which islessclosely linked totheCPC. Thethird
reason, related tothefirst, isthedistinction made inGATS between fourmodes ofsupply: cross
border supply, consumption abroad, commercial presence andpresence ofnatural persons. Inthe
country schedules, commitments ineachservice sector arespecifically defined according toeach
mode ofsupply. Thisisaform ofdisaggregation forwhich onlycrude statistical approximations
exist. These issues arediscussed ingreater detail below.
Definitions andclassification
25. Themost recent IMFBOPYearbook for1994 presents statistics according toIMF-4. The
large difference inlevels ofaggregation between IMF-4 andtheGNS classification, makes the
problems ofconcordance relatively unimportant. TheIMF-5 classification, introduced in1993, is
significantly more disaggregated thanIMF-4, andindicates whatmight reasonably beavailable in
thenearfuture formost countries.13BoxA3presents ajuxtaposition, rather thanaformal
concordance, oftheGNS andtheIMF-5 classifications. Thisreveals thattheinformation
available onaglobal basis inthenearfuture willsuffer from three types ofshortcomings.
26. Perhaps most importantly, thedivergence indefinition ofwhatconstitutes aninternational
transaction inservices creates agapincoverage from theGATS point ofview. Balance of
payments statistics register transactions between residents andnon-residents. According tobalance
ofpayments conventions, iffactors ofproduction move toanother country foraperiod longer
thanoneyear(sometimes flexibly interpreted), achange inresidency hasoccurred. Theoutput
generated bysuchfactors thatissoldinthehostmarket isnolonger recorded astrade inthe
BOP. Thus, transactions involving commercial presence andstayofnatural persons fordurations
ofmore thanoneyeararenotcovered bytheBOPstatistics. Theimplications forstatistical
coverage ofindividual sectors depends ontherelative importance ofthese modes ofsupply ina
particular sector. Sectors likedistribution services andfinancial services arelikely tobeamong
theworst affected.
27. Asimple inspection ofBoxA3reveals that,despite theimprovement incomparison with
IMF-4, IMF-5 stillcontains arelatively limited disaggregation incomparison withtheGNS
classification. Thegreatest number ofsub-divisions intheGNS classification areinbusiness (46),
communication (21), financial (16)andtransport (33)services. IftheIMFsupplementary
information section isexcluded, thenthenumber ofsubdivisions intheIMFclassification for
these sectors willbe2,2,2and9,respectively. Theinclusion ofsupplementary information,
which waspossibly included inresponse toGATS needs, raises thenumber ofbusiness
subdivisions to8.
28. Finally, there istheproblem oflackofconcordance. Forstatistical coverage educational
services andhealth related andsocial services must relyonadisaggregation ofpersonal travel
expenditures provided onlyinthesupplementary information section, andonnon-separated
ingredients ofother personal, cultural andrecreational services .Thelackofaprecise
concordance isalsoamajor problem forcomputer andrelated services ,environmental services ,
tourism andtravel related services ,andrecreational, cultural andsporting services .For
example, intheIMFBOPclassification, computer andinformation services include news agencies
services which arepartofrecreational andcultural services intheGNS classification.
13TheIMFhasformally requested countries tostartreporting according tothenewclassification from 1995
onwards. Afewcountries arealready reporting according totheIMF-5 classification, andafewothers inaformat
close totheIMF-5 classification. Itmaybenoted thatlabour income ,dropped from thenewWTO definition of
commercial services ,isalsonotlisted asaservice inIMF-5.S/C/W/5
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Modes ofsupply
29. Since thecommitments under theGATS arespecified according tothefourmodes of
supply, trade statistics foreachservice sector should ideally alsobeavailable according toeachof
themodes ofsupply. Thus, itwould beuseful toknow theprecise magnitude oftrade between
twocountries in,forinstance, legalservices, thattakes place through cross-border supply,
consumption abroad, commercial presence andpresence ofnatural persons. Thiswould enable an
assessment bothoftherelative importance ofdifferent modes ofsupply inaparticular sector and
oftheimpact ofmeasures affecting eachmode ofsupply .Such information would benecessary
bothtoevaluate theresults oftheimplementation oftheGATS andtosetpriorities infuture
negotiations .
30. Cross-border supply ofaservice implies reliance onamedium oftransport, suchasa
telecommunication linkorpostal services. Furthermore, inmany cases theservice isembodied in
agood, asforinstance, software onacomputer diskette. Thus, cross-border supply statistics
would needtorecord thesaleofsuchaservice, netofthevalue oftransport service andnetofthe
value ofthegood inwhich theservice isembodied.14Statistics onconsumption abroad would
needtoinclude, notonlyitems suchastherepairs ofvessels undertaken abroad, butalsothe
purchase bytourists ofspecific services, ranging from hotels andrestaurants tophotographic
services. Statistics oncommercial presence would cover, firstofall,thecapital flows thatmake
suchpresence possible, and,secondly, thedetails oftheactivities offoreign service suppliers.
Statistics onthepresence ofnatural persons would include, first, those onthemovement perseof
natural persons, and,secondly, details oftheiractivities. These would cover transactions of
independent service suppliers, suchasforeign doctors, andinformation onnatural persons who
areemployed byservice suppliers, suchastheforeign employees offoreign banks.15Inthelatter
case, theservice transaction would beattributed tothecommercial presence mode, butthedata
required would presumably include thenumber offoreign employees andtheirincome.
31. Thelimitations oftheexisting statistical domains inproviding information ontrade by
different modes ofsupply arelisted inBox2.Noclear distinction ismade inBOPstatistics
between themodes thatarecovered, i.e.cross-border supply, consumption abroad, andpresence
ofnatural persons orcommercial presence forlessthanoneyear. Consumption abroad ofa
service could, inprinciple, becovered bytheBOPcategory travel .However, travel consists of
allexpenditures bytravellers abroad, including those ongoods, andisnotsubdivided intothe
different categories ofservices acquired bytravellers. Furthermore, some elements of
consumption abroad which arisewhen theproperty oftheconsumer moves orissituated abroad,
asinshiprepair services, arenotrecorded intravel butinother BOPcategories.
32. Commercial presence could becovered bythree kinds ofstatistics: (i)information on
flows andstocks offoreign investment which make commercial presence possible, andare
currently recorded inFDIstatistics; (ii)information onmarket sizeinservice sectors, which may
beapproximated using production statistics, suchasgross output orvalue added; and(iii)
14Thetransporting service used must, ofcourse, berecorded separately intheappropriate service category -postal,
courier, telecommunication ortransport services.
15TheAnnex onMovement ofNatural Persons Supplying Services Under theAgreement applies to"natural
persons whoareservices suppliers ofaMember andnatural persons ofaMember whoareemployed byaservice
supplier ofaMember, inrespect ofthesupply ofaservice."S/C/W/5
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information ontheactivity offoreign companies indomestic markets, which istoberecorded
under thenewstatistical domain offoreign affiliates trade (FAT) statistics.16
Box2:Inadequacies ofStatistical Domains withregard toModes ofSupply
Mode ofSupply Relevant Statistical Domains Inadequacies
Cross border supply BOPservice statistics
(categories other thantravel )-BOPnotdistributed
between cross border supply
andpresence ofnatural
persons (individuals)
Consumption abroad BOPStatistics (mainly the
travel category)-Travel alsocontains goods,
andnotsubdivided intothe
different categories of
services consumed by
travellers
-Some transactions related
tothismode ofsupply are
alsoinother BOPcategories
Commercial presence Production, FDIandFAT
statistics-Production statistics donot
distinguish between national
andforeign firms
-FDIstatistics donot
provide dataonoutput (or
sales)
-FATbasic concepts and
definitions notyetestablished
Presence ofnatural persons
(individuals)BOPStatistics (mostly
categories other than
transport andtravel )-BOPnotdistributed
between cross border supply
andpresence ofnatural
persons (individuals)
-natural persons whoare
residents arenotcovered
Movement ofnatural persons
(employees)Employment datafrom FAT
statistics-notyetavailable
33. Current dataonFDIdonotmeettheneeds ofGATS inseveral respects. First, the
concept ofownership underlying statistical practices inFDI(10percentofshares orvoting
power) donotcorrespond totheGATS concept ("ownership" ofmore than50percentofthe
equity interest or"control", i.e.thepower toname amajority ofdirectors ortolegally direct
actions). Secondly, variables suchasoutput andsalesarenotincluded inexisting
16Until recently, onlyonecountry, theUnited States, compiled dataonsales ofservices abroad byforeign affiliates
ofresident companies andsales ofservices inthereporting country byresident affiliates offoreign companies. France,
Germany andtheNetherlands have nowalsobegun todoso.S/C/W/5
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questionnaires.17Thirdly, thesectoral breakdown islimited. Production statistics arealsonot
adequate since theydonotdistinguish between national andforeign production. Itisintended that
FATstatistics should remedy some ofthese deficiencies, butwork inthisareaisonlybeginning.
34. Presence ofnatural persons includes, first, those whoarepresent forlessthanayearin
foreign markets andaretherefore considered non-resident intheBOPcontext. Ifsuchnatural
persons arethemselves service suppliers, thentheirsalesarerecorded under theBOPstatistics,
mostly intheother private services categories. Employees areonlycovered bytheAgreement if
theyareemployed byaservice supplier ofaMember. Theearnings ofsuchnatural persons are
anunidentifiable ingredient oftheBOPcategory labour income ,which records theearnings ofall
natural persons established abroad forlessthanoneyear. There isnorecord intheBOP
statistics oftheactivities ofnatural persons whoareresident forlonger thanoneyear, except that
workers 'remittances andmigrants 'transfers record thetransfers thattheymake. Complementary
statistics onnumbers ofnatural persons maybefound inemployment andmigration statistics.
Employment datafrom FATstatistics (such asnumber ofemployees andcompensation of
employees) would berelevant, when theybecomes available, especially iftheywere broken down
between "national" and"foreign" employees.
IV. WHAT ISBEING DONE?
35. Significant work isbeing doneonconceptual, methodological andclassificatory issues
relating toservices statistics. Thissection firstdescribes thework invarious international fora,
highlighting twosignificant developments from theGATS point ofview: theprogress made in
introducing harmonized classification schemes which tosome extent reflect GATS needs, andin
remedying thestatistical gaprelating tothecommercial presence mode ofsupply. Then the
activities oftheSecretariat arebriefly described.
1. Work ininternational fora
(a) Overview
36. AnInter-Agency Task Force onServices Statistics hasstarted work under theaegis ofthe
UN.18Itischaired bytheOECD andincludes representatives from EUROSTAT, IMF, OECD,
UN,UNCTAD, theWorld Bank andWTO. Itsobjectives include strengthening cooperation
between organizations working intheareas ofservices statistics; topromote thedevelopment of
international standards, systems andclassifications; toimprove theavailability, quality and
international comparability ofservices statistics; andtofacilitate theprovision oftechnical
assistance todeveloping countries. TheTask Force hasgiven priority initswork programme to
thestatistical requirements oftheGATS.
37. Atthethirdmeeting oftheTask Force on30-31 May1995: (i)TheIMFruled out,for
thetimebeing, thepossibility ofcollecting trade-in-services statistics byorigin anddestination but
theOECD agreed toexplore thepossibility ofcollecting suchinformation ontrading partners. (ii)
EUROSTAT agreed todefine anactivity classification forthecollection ofFDIandFATstatistics
17OECD andEUROSTAT have issued anewjointquestionnaire, relating toflows, stocks andinvestment income.
However, itisnotexpected thatallinformation willbereported bycountries. Itisalsonotclear when theinformation
willbepublished. Furthermore, sales arenotcovered bythequestionnaire.
18Itreports totheAdministrative Committee onCo-ordination (ACC) Sub-Committee onStatistical Activities, and
theUNStatistical Commission.S/C/W/5
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tomatch asclosely aspossible theGNS classification. (iii)TheWTO agreed tostartananalysis
ofmodes ofsupply inindividual sectors, inorder toassess thefeasibility ofcollecting statistics by
mode ofsupply. (iv)Some progress wasmade towards arriving atauniform treatment ofFAT
statistics.
38. TheIMFCommittee onBOPStatistics addresses issues related toallactivities measured in
theBOPstatistics including international transactions inservices. TheCommittee hasundertaken
preliminary investigations onthemeasurement ofinternational transactions insectors suchas
financial services andinsurance services. Analysis hasalsobegun ofbilateral asymmetries inthe
dataontransactions involving international travel, communications, construction andinsurance.
TheIMF'sfifthedition oftheBOPManual serves asaninternational standard fortheconceptual
framework underlying BOPstatistics, including those onservices transactions, while the
forthcoming BOPCompilation Guide andBOPTextbook provide extended explanations ofthe
standard. TheIMFalsoprovides direct technical assistance toitsmember countries onallaspects
ofBOPcompilation, andinrecent years hasundertaken onaverage 40-50 suchmissions to
developing countries.
39. TheOECD handles, jointly withEUROSTAT, aGroup ofExperts ofTrade inServices
Statistics whose objectives aretheimprovement andstandardization ofOECD countries 'data.
TheGroup includes national balance ofpayments compilers andrepresentatives ofinternational
institutions. Themain results sofarinclude putting together OECD statistics ofinternational
service transactions andelaboration ofanewjointOECD-EUROSTAT classification.
40. EUROSTAT, inaddition totheactivities mentioned above, alsoaddresses issues relating
totrade inservices statistics initsBalance ofPayments Working Party, andinthree taskforces:
theCurrent Account Task Force, theEstablishment Trade Task Force andtheTravel Task Force.
Theobjectives oftheWorking Party aretheimprovement andtheharmonization ofEuropean
Union BOPstatistics.
41. TheVoorbourg Group onServices Statistics consists ofrepresentatives ofbothnational
andinternational statistical organizations which cooperate informally under theauspices oftheUN
Statistical Office. Itsobjectives include assisting intheimprovement ofservices statistics. The
group hasfocused more ondomestic statistical issues thanontrade issues.
42. TheWorld Bank andUNCTAD havecreated databases based largely onIMFBOP
statistics. TheWorld Bank isconducting research, withpossible statistical by-products, onthe
potential forinternationalization ofservices. Thework programme oftheUNCTAD Standing
Committee onDeveloping Services Sectors includes work related totrade-in-services statistics.
Thiswork willinvolve developing aconceptual framework forthecollection andcompilation of
internationally comparable statistics onallmodes ofdelivery, aswellasadapting theCPC tothe
specific needs ofinternational trade inservices. TheWorld Bank andUNCTAD (Programme on
Transnational Corporations) provide technical assistance through ajointproject onliberalizing
service industries. Statistical issues maywellbeincluded.
(b) Classification
43. Twokeydevelopments haveledtosignificant harmonization intheclassification oftrade
inservices. First, asnoted above, theFifth Edition oftheIMFBalance ofPayments Manual
(1993) (IMF-5) introduced agreater disaggregation intheclassification ofinternational services
transactions thanwascontained intheFourth Edition (IMF-4). Secondly, theOECD and
EUROSTAT agreed onajointtrade-in-services classification, which isclosely linked to,andcan
becharacterised asadisaggregated sub-system of,theIMF-5 classification. Indesigning theS/C/W/5
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OECD/EUROSTAT classification, consideration wasgiven totheneeds expressed intheGNS
classification list.
44. Theconceptual frameworks underlying theIMF-5 andtheOECD-EUROSTAT systems of
classification areidentical. Theone-digit items oftheOECD-EUROSTAT classification are
identical tothe11main service categories oftheIMF-5 standard components (seeBoxA2). The
two-andthree- digititems arefullycompatible withthese standard components andtheIMF-5
services sub-items. Hence, reporting onthebasis oftheOECD-EUROSTAT Classification
simultaneously satisfies IMFrequirements. However, thetwosystems arelessclosely linked with
theUnited Nations Central Product Classification (CPC) onwhich theGNS isbased.
45. These developments indicate thattheexisting statistical "dualism" isgoing tocontinue -
i.e.fairly disaggregated statistics willbeavailable forOECD countries andrelatively aggregated
statistics fornon-OECD countries. TheOECD-EUROSTAT classification mayalsobeseenasthe
limitofcurrent possibilities forgenerating services statistics onaglobal basis.
(c) Foreign Affiliates Trade
46. Anewstatistical domain isbeing created inresponse totheneedforinformation onthe
activities offoreign affiliates. More countries (including France, Germany andtheNetherlands)
arebeginning tojointheUnited States incollecting foreign affiliates trade (FAT) statistics.
However, theabsence ofinternational guidelines inthisareaimplies thatdifferent concepts are
being used, which willhamper future comparability. Theestablishment ofinternational guidelines
willrequire several issues toberesolved.
47. Firstofall,there istheissue ofastatistically useful definition offoreign companies, orin
GATS terms, supply through commercial presence. TheGATS defines a"juridical person of
another Member", inthecaseofsupply through commercial presence, interms ofeither foreign
ownership (when more than50%oftheequity interest isheldbypersons ofanother Member) or
foreign control (when controlled bypersons ofanother Member).19Most countries findmajority
ownership easier tomeasure thancontrol.20TheGATS definition, however, proves inadequate in
dealing withcompanies inwhich persons ofaMember donotbeneficially ownmore than50per
centoftheequity interest.
48. Asecond problem arises inestablishing thecountry oforigin ofaforeign company. The
United States usestwodefinitions inthisrespect: (i)Theforeign parent ofa"foreign controlled
affiliate" (more than50%ofthevoting stock heldabroad) isthefirstperson outside theU.S.ina
U.Saffiliate 'sownership chain thathasadirect investment interest intheaffiliate; and(ii)the
Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) istheperson, proceeding upaUSaffiliate 'sownership chain,
beginning withandincluding thefirstforeign parent, whoisnotowned more than50percent by
another person. TheU.S.produces FATstatistics based ontheUBO concept.
19Control isdefined asthepower toname themajority ofdirectors (intheboard) orotherwise tolegally direct the
actions ofthecompany.
20Atthesixth Joint OECD/EUROSTAT Meeting ofExperts ofTrade inServices Statistics on1-2June 1995, most
countries indicated thattheywould beabletoreport dataonlyaccording tothemajority ownership criterion. Theonly
country abletoidentify control forstatistical purposes wasCanada. TheOECD initsstatistical work on
"Globalization" alsousesthemajority ownership criterion.S/C/W/5
Page12
49. Itisgenerally accepted thattheUBO concept isthemore economically meaningful ofthe
twobutismuch more difficult toimplement thantheconcept ofthefirstforeign parent. GATS
Article XXVIII (m)and(n)seems todefine thecountry oforigin interms ofthefirstforeign
parent whoisengaged insubstantive business operations intheterritory ofaMember. The
"substantive business operations" requirement isdesigned toavoid theallocation oforigin totax
havens oroffshore financing countries butcreates theneedforaprecise definition ofwhatthe
requirement means.
50. Another question relates towhich statistical variables aretobecollected: production,
sales, employment, exports, imports, orothers also?21,22Arelated problem isthatFATstatistics
would beeasier tocollect according toanactivity classification likeISICthanaproduct
classification likeCPC, which raises concordance problems.23Then there isthequestion ofhow
thestatistical variables (e.g.sales) relating toaforeign company aretobeallocated: entirely to
thecountry oforigin, proportioned according tothepercentage ofvoting stock heldinthecountry
oforigin, proportioned toeachforeign country where persons ownmore thanagiven level(e.g.
10%) ofthevoting stock, orsome other option? Finally, there isaneedtoensure that,with
regard tobasic concepts anddefinitions, there isconsistency between FAT, FDI, production and
other statistics.
2. Work intheWTO
51. TheSecretariat maintains contact withother international organizations through its
participation invarious specialized meetings. Inallsuchcontacts, theSecretariat attempts, tothe
extent possible, topromote anunderstanding oftheGATS andtohaveitsstatistical needs
reflected intheglobal effort toimprove services statistics andtoharmonize economic
classifications. Tothisend,theSecretariat hasattempted, first, toidentify theinconsistencies
between theconcepts anddefinitions embodied intheGATS andthose inmethodological manuals
ofother international organizations andnational practices. Secondly, theSecretariat hassought to
identify statistical needs arising intheGATS context. Theresults ofthese activities havebeen
reviewed intheearlier partofthispaper. Thedevelopments described above suggest thatthese
efforts haveborne some fruit.
52. TheSecretariat isalsoimproving itsaccess torelevant statistics andorganizing the
available data. TheWTO maintains adatabaseoncommercial services usedtocompile tables on
trade incommercial services included intheyearly publication "International Trade", andfor
internal use. Inaddition, thepossibility exists ofaccessing anumber ofprimary datasetsin
machine retrievable form. Details aregiven inAnnex 2.
21Statistics onemployment inforeign companies would beuseful inassessing theimpact offoreign companies on
domestic employment. Inaddition, thiswould beuseful information forthepresence ofnatural persons (employees)
mode ofsupply ifdisaggregated bynationality ofworkers.
22U.S. statistics provide abreakdown ofworldwide sales offoreign companies between: (i)domestic sales; (ii)
sales tothecountry oforigin; and(iii)sales toother countries. Atthesixth Joint OECD/EUROSTAT Meeting of
Experts ofTrade inServices Statistics on1-2June 1995, most countries ruled outcollecting statistics onvariables other
thanturnover andemployment.
23TheEUusestheNACE, amore detailed classification thantheISIC. Aconcordance table oftheNACE andthe
CPC hasalready been prepared.S/C/W/5
Page13
IV. WHAT NEEDS TOBEDONE?
53. Theconclusion ofaprevious Secretariat paper isstillvalid: "Improving services statistics
isalongtermprocess thatdepends primarily onefforts bynational statistical agencies toemploy
theappropriate methodologies andawillingness onthepartofgovernments tomeettheresource
costs involved. Without suchefforts atthenational level, better andmore detailed statistics on
services willnotbecome available, despite thedevelopment ofimproved classification systems
suchastheCPC, therevised ISIC, ortheOECD/EUROSTAT proposal forinternational
transactions."24Nevertheless, national efforts willneedtobecomplemented bywork in
international forainatleastthree areas.
54. Harmonization ofoperational classifications isapriority from theGATS point ofview.
Thedifficulties created byvariations innational classification schemes must notbecompounded
bytheemergence ofdifferent international classifications schemes. Nocountry would finditeasy
tocollect dataaccording todifferent andincompatible international classifications. Furthermore,
given theexisting allocation ofresources forstatistical work, collaboration withother international
organizations would bemuch more fruitful fortheWTO thananattempt tofulfil itsneeds
independently.
55. How greater compatibility isachieved between theclassification schemes forcommitments
andfortrade statistics depends ontheanswers totworelated questions: (i)How farshould the
GNS Classification, which emerged primarily asanegotiating list,betreated asimmutable? Even
though anelement ofirreversibility inthechoice ofclassification scheme hasbeenintroduced
because theUruguay Round commitments havebeenscheduled according tothisclassification,
could some changes stillbeconsidered? (ii)How farcanother organizations beexpected to
respond toGATS needs since, given thecurrent resource allocation, dependence onother
organizations willcontinue?
56. Toanextent, OECD andEUROSTAT havetaken intoaccount GATS needs, buttheIMF,
operating under themore severe constraints ofglobal availability, hasdonesoonlytoalimited
extent. Ingeneral, themore economically sensible theclassification, andthemore statistically
amenable thedistinctions, themore likely itisthatGATS needs willbeeventually met. Hence it
isessential todetermine which regulatory distinctions between product categories arenecessary,
especially inthenegotiating context .Once thishasbeendone, itcanbeassessed howfarother
organizations canberelied onandwhether there isaneedfortheGATS tocreate certain
statistical notification requirements tofulfil itsneeds directly.
57. Asecond areaofpriority is,ofcourse, toremedy thecurrent ignorance onmodes of
supply notadequately covered byexisting statistical domains, i.e.commercial presence and
presence ofnatural persons. Inthediscussion onFATstatistics, ithasalready beenindicated that
certain definitional questions, which areimportant notonlyforstatistical reasons, needtobe
addressed soon. Forthemoment, FATstatistics areonlybeing collected byveryfewcountries.
Thequestion ofhowthese efforts canbewidened needs tobeaddressed. Collaboration withthe
UNCTAD (Programme forTransnational Corporations) maybefruitful inthisarea. Similarly,
theILOandIMO mayhelpincreating abetter statistical picture about thepresence ofnatural
persons.
58. Thethirdareaofpriority istobeabletodistinguish between andtoassess therelative
importance ofdifferent modes ofsupply inspecific sectors. Thisneedcanonlybeaddressed by
24Availability ofStatistics onServices, MTN.GNS/W/94.S/C/W/5
Page14
detailed sectoral studies. Datawillneedtobeobtained from national andinternational sources.
TheSecretariat could possibly create andmanage adatabasewithdetailed information on
individual sectors incollaboration withspecialized agencies liketheInternational
Telecommunications Union andtheInternational Civil Aviation Organization.
59. Formost purposes, statistics ontrade inservices willneedtobecomplemented by
information onmeasures affecting trade. Such information would beneeded tofacilitate future
negotiations, tomonitor implementation oftheGATS, andtoassess thebenefits ofliberalization.
While thesubject ofthispaper aretrade statistics, itmaybeuseful tobriefly notetheimportance
ofwork ontrade measures. Nocomprehensive databaseexists anywhere onmeasures affecting
trade inservices indifferent countries.25Work hasalready begun intheSecretariat oncreating a
databaseforthescheduled commitments. Itmayalsobeuseful toobtain andcompile information
onmeasures which affect trade inservices butarenotcontained intheschedules. Once the
appropriate methodology hasbeendeveloped concerning thequantification ofsuchmeasures,
further statistical analysis canbeperformed.
25UNCTAD isintheprocess oftrying tocreate adatabase, butthiswillserve adescriptive rather than
analytical function.S/C/W/5
Page15
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arkell, J.(1995), Services Statistics: TooImportant toIgnore, TheService Economy ,Coalition of
Services Industries.
GATT (1989), GATS andStatistics: Recent Developments, MTN.GNS/W/54, 22May1989.
GATT (1989), Balance ofPayments Statistics onServices, MTN.GNS/W/58, 3July1989.
GATT (1990), Availability ofStatistics onServices, MTN.GNS/W/94, 15February 1990.
GATT (1994b), DataRequirements fortheImplementation oftheGATS, paper prepared forthejoint
OECD-EUROSTAT Meeting ofExperts ofTrade-in-Services Statistics, 19-20 May1994.
Hoekman,B.(1989),StatisticsonServices:UserNeedsEmergingfromtheUruguayRoundNegotiations
onServices, paper presented atthefourth meeting oftheVoorburg Group.
ILO(1986), Economically Active Population: Estimates andProjections ,vols.1to6,ILO,Geneva.
ILO(1992), Bulletin ofLabour Statistics ,(yearly), ILO, Geneva.
IMF(1993), Balance ofPayments Manual ,Fifth Edition, IMF, Washington.
OECD (1992), Detailed Benchmark Definition ofForeign Direct Investment ,Paris.
UNCTAD andWorld Bank (1994), Liberalizing International Transactions inServices :AHandbook ,
UN,NewYork andGeneva.
WTO (1995), Trade inServices asDefined intheGATS: Basis foraStatistical Framework, paper
prepared forthethirdmeeting oftheTask Force onServices Statistics, 30-31 May1995.S/C/W/5
Page16
ANNEX 1
Comparability ofBOP Statistics
Toillustrate thelackofcomparability ofBOPservices series, ananalysis ofspecific country deviations
fromIMFGuidelines instatistics provided intheIMFBalance ofPayments Yearbook hasbeencarried
outbytheSecretariat. Theanalysis covers deviations overthe1980-1993 period affecting credits, debits
orboth, inthefollowing three aggregated service categories: transport (shipment, passenger services
andothertransportation), travel andother private services (other private services andproperty income).
Themostcommon deviation forallservice categories consists oftheinclusion inother private services
oflabourincome.Thisdeviationwasobservedfor26countriesincludingthreeOECDcountries(Canada,
Germany andNewZealand). Thetotalorpartial inclusion ofofficial transactions inother private
services isthesecond mostcommon deviation andisfound in19countries including Australia, Italy,
New Zealand, theUnited States, Switzerland andmost Central andEastern European countries.
Deviations leading toanoverestimation ofother private services include thepartial inclusion ofFDI
income and/or transfers particularly inAfrica, butalsoforFinland, Greece, Sweden andSwitzerland.
Themostcommon deviation fortransport andtravel istheinclusion ofpassenger services transactions
inthetravel component. Thisdeviation isfound inOECD countries suchastheUnited States, Germany,
Canada,Norway,IrelandandAustriaaswellasindevelopingcountriessuchasEthiopia,Haiti,Hungary,
Yugoslavia andSaudi Arabia. Itisalsocommon among countries tofindoneormany transport
components entirely orpartly included inother private services .Thisdeviation applies toOECD
countries suchasCanada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Sweden andSwitzerland aswell
astodeveloping economies suchasAngola, Hungary, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, SriLanka
andZimbabwe. Another deviation leading toanoverestimation oftravel occurs through theinclusion
ofitems suchastransfers inFinland, Sweden, PeruandZimbabwe.
Atamore detailed level, thedeviations fromguidelines, which limitcountry comparability, aremore
serious.S/C/W/5
Page17
ANNEX 2
Listofdataaccessible through electronic media
1) BOPdata(International transactions)
Service BOPdatafrom IMF(monthly tapes). Series maintained inSISD DataBases with
adequate software. Datacorresponding totheIMFBOPYearbook.
Service BOPdatafrom EUROSTAT (yearly). Series maintained inSISD Lotus files. Data
corresponding to"International Trade inServices" publication oftheEUROSTAT.
Service BOPdatafrom OECD (yearly). Series maintained inSISD Lotus files.Data
corresponding to"Services: Statistics onInternational Transactions" publication from OECD.
Service BOPWTO data, created andmaintained inSISD Lotus files, available through
thenetwork. Corresponds toIMFdataplusother sources forcountries which doesnotreport to
theIMF, suchasChinese Taipei andHong Kong.
2) National accounts data
Official datacorresponding tothepublication "National Accounts Statistics :Main Aggregates and
Detailed Tables", UNSD .
Estimated datacorresponding tothepublication "National Accounts Statistics :Analysis of
Main Aggregates", UNSD.
Datacorresponding topublication "National Accounts, Detailed Tables", OECD.
3) FDIdata
TheSecretariat canprocess aggregated series oninflows andoutflows from IMF, andhasasked
theOECD forthediskettes corresponding toInternational Direct Investment Statistics Yearbook.S/C/W/5
Page18
ANNEX 3
Abbreviations andDefinitions
BOP ....Balance ofPayments
CPC ....Central Product Classification
Company .Anybusiness orprofessional establishment, suchascorporations,
representative offices andbranches
EU.....European Union
EUROSTAT Statistical Office oftheEuropean Communities
FAT ....Foreign Affiliates Trade
FDI ....Foreign Direct Investment
GATS ...General Agreement onTrade inServices
ISIC ....International Standard Industrial Classification
SNA ....Sytem ofNational Accounts
Person ...Natural orjuridical persons, asreferred tointheGATS
Products .Output ofaprocess ofproduction, whether agood orservice
Production statistics Refer toNAtables ofproduction activity
NACE Statistical Classification ofEconomic Activities intheEuropean Community
SISD Statistics andInformation Systems Division oftheWTO
UBO Ultimate Beneficial Owner
WTO World Trade OrganizationS/C/W/5
Page19
BoxA1:BOP statistics currently available from theIMFandEurostat
Internationally comparable
aggregates derived from the
IMFAvailable components of
BOPfrom IMF-4Available components of
BOPfrom Eurostat
Transport Shipment1
Other Transportation
Passenger services
Portservices, etc.Seafreight, AirFreight
Seapassenger, Airpassenger
Other Transportation
Travel Travel Travel
Other private goods, services
&income Labour income
Property income
Other private goods, services
&incomeLabour income
Property income
Transport insurance,
Other insurance.,
Banking, Advertising,
Business,
Construction,
Communication, Films-TV,
Trade earnings,
Other services andincome
1Includes transport insurance inIMF, butnotinEurostat
BoxA2:BOP statistics available intheshort-term from theIMF andOECD/Eurostat
IMF-5 components Additional components innewOECD/Eurostat classification
1.Transportation
1.1SeaTransport
1.1.1 Passenger
1.1.2 Freight
1.1.3 Other
1.2AirTransport
1.2.1 Passenger
1.2.2 Freight
1.2.3 Other
1.3Other Transport.
1.3.1 Passenger
1.3.2 Freight
1.3.3 Other1)space; 2)rail3)road 4)internal waterway 5)pipeline
6)other ;with 2)to4)further sub-divided intopassenger,
freight, other
2.Travel
2.1Business
2.2Personal
2.2.1* Health-related
2.2.2* Education-related
2.2.3* Other1)expenditures byseasonal andborder workers 2)other
3.Communication 1)postal andcourier 2)telecommunication.S/C/W/5
Page20
4.Construction 1)abroad 2)inthecompiling economy
5.Insurance services 1)lifeandpension 2)freight 3)other direct insurance
4)reinsurance 5)auxiliary services
6.Financial services
7.Computer andinformation services 1)computer 2)information
8.Royalties andlicence fees
9.Other business services
9.1Merchanting &other trade rel.
9.2Operational leasing
9.3Misc. business, prof. and
technical services
9.3.1* Legal, accounting,
management consulting
andpublic relations
9.3.2* Advertising, market
research, andpublic
opinion polling
9.3.3* Research anddevelopment
9.3.4* Architectural, engineering
andother technical
9.3.5* Agricultural, mining and
on-site processing
9.3.6* Other1)merchanting 2)other trade related
1)legal 2)accounting, auditing, book-keeping andtax
consulting 3)business &management consultancy andpublic
relations
1)waste treatment anddepollution 2)other
1)services between affiliated enterprises, n.i.e. 2)other
10.Personal, cultural andrecreational
10.1 Audiovisual andrelated
10.2 Other
Note: Services sectors denoted byan*arenotstandard components oftheIMF BOP classification, butare
included inselected supplementary information.S/C/W/5
Page21
BoxA3: Comparison oftheGNS andIMF-5 BOP Classifications
GNS Services Sectoral Classification List IMF-5 BOP Standard components
and selected supplementary information
1. BUSINESS SERVICES
A. Professional Services
a. Legal Services
b. Accounting, auditing andbookkeeping
services
c. Taxation Services
d. Architectural services
e. Engineering services
f. Integrated engineering services
g. Urban planning andlandscape
architectural services
h. Medical anddental services
i. Veterinary services
j. Services provided bymidwives, nurses,
physiotherapists andpara-medical
personnel
k. Other(See footnote 1below)
9.3.1 Legal, accounting, management
consulting, andpublic relations2
9.3.4 Architectural, engineering and
other technical services2
B. Computer andRelated Services
a. Consultancy services related tothe
installation ofcomputer hardware
b. Software implementation services
c. Data processing services
d. Data base services
e. Other7. Computer andinformation services
(Excluding: news agency services)
C. Research andDevelopment Services
a. R&Dservices onnatural sciences
b. R&Dservices onsocial sciences and
humanities
c. Interdisciplinary R&Dservices9.3.2 Research anddevelopment2
D. Real Estate Services
a Involving own orleased property
b. Onafeeorcontract basis
E. Rental/Leasing Services without Operators
a. Relating toships
b. Relating toaircraft
c. Relating toother transport equipment
d. Relating toother machinery and
equipment
e. Other9.2 Operational leasing servicesS/C/W/5
Page22
BoxA3: Comparison oftheGNS andIMF-5 BOP Classifications
F. Other Business Services
a. Advertising services
b. Market research andpublic opinion
polling services
c. Management consulting service
d. Services related toman. consulting
e. Technical testing andanalysis services.
f. Services incidental toagriculture,
hunting and forestry
g. Services incidental tofishing
h. Services incidental tomining
i. Services incidental tomanufacturing
j. Services incidental toenergy distribution
k. Placement andsupply services of
Personnel
l. Investigation andsecurity
m. Related scientific andtechnical
consulting services
n. Maintenance andrepair ofequipment
(notincluding maritime vessels, aircraft
orother transport equipment)
o. Building-cleaning services
p. Photographic services
q. Packaging services
r. Printing, publishing
s. Convention services
t. Other9.3.2 Advertising, market research, and
public opinion polling2
9.3.5 Agricultural, mining andon-site
processing2
2. COMMUNICATION SERVICES
A. Postal Services
B. Courier Services
C. Telecommunication Services
a. Voice telephone services
b. Packet-switched data transmission
services
c. Circuit-switched data transmission
services
d. Telex services
e. Telegraph services
f. Facsimile services
g. Private leased circuit services
h. Electronic mail
i. Voice mail
j. On-line information anddata base
retrieval
k. Electronic data interchange (EDI)
l. Enhanced/value-added facsimile services,
incl. store andforward, store and
retrieve
m. Code andprotocol conversion
n. On-line information and/or data
processing (incl.transaction processing)
o. Other3. Communications servicesS/C/W/5
Page23
BoxA3: Comparison oftheGNS andIMF-5 BOP Classifications
D. Audiovisual Services
a. Motion picture andvideo tape
production anddistribution services
b. Motion picture projection service
c. Radio andtelevision services
d. Radio andtelevision transmission
services
e. Sound recording
f. Other10.1 Audiovisual andrelated services
E. Other
3. CONSTRUCTION AND RELATED
ENGINEERING SERVICES
A. General Construction Work forBuildings
B. General Construction Work forCivil Engineering
C. Installation andAssembly Work
D. Building Completion andFinishing Work
E. Other4. Construction services
4. DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
A. Commission Agents 'Services
B. Wholesale trade services
C. Retailing Services
D. Franchising
E. Other9.1 Merchanting andother trade-related services
8. Royalties andlicense fees3
(Part relating to:franchise fees)
5. EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
A. Primary Education Services
B. Secondary Education Services
C. Higher Education Services
D. Adult Education
E. Other Education Services2.2.2 Education-related personal travel
10.2 Other personal, cultural andrecreational
services
(Part relating to:educational services)S/C/W/5
Page24
BoxA3: Comparison oftheGNS andIMF-5 BOP Classifications
6. ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
A. Sewage Services
B. Refuse Disposal Services
C. Sanitation andSimilar Services
D. Other9.3Miscellaneous business, professional and
technical services
(Part relating to: waste treatment anddepollution
services)
7. FINANCIAL SERVICES
A. AllInsurance andInsurance-related Services
a. Life, accident andhealth insurance
services
b. Non-life insurance services
c. Reinsurance andretrocession
d. Services auxiliary toinsurance
(including broking andagency services)5. Insurance services4
B. Banking andOther Financial Services (excl.
insurance)
a. Acceptance ofdeposits andother
repayable funds from thepublic
b. Lending ofalltypes, incl., inter alia,
consumer credit, mortgage credit,
factoring andfinancing ofcommercial
transaction
c. Financial leasing
d. Allpayment andmoney transmission
services
e. Guarantees andcommitments
f. Trading forown account orforaccount
ofcustomers,whether onanexchange, in
anover-the-counter market orotherwise,
thefollowing:
- money market instruments
(cheques, bills, certificate of
deposits, etc.)
- foreign exchange
- derivative products incl., but
notlimited to,futures and
options
- exchange rateandinterest rate
instruments,inclu. products
such asswaps, forward rate
agreements, etc.
- transferable securities6. Financial servicesS/C/W/5
Page25
BoxA3: Comparison oftheGNS andIMF-5 BOP Classifications
- other negotiable instruments
andfinancial assets,
incl.bullion
g. Participation inissues ofallkinds of
securities, incl. under-writing and
placement asagent (whether publicly or
privately) andprovision ofservice
related tosuch issues
h. Money broking
i. Asset management, such ascash or
portfolio management, allforms of
collective investment management,
pension fund management,custodial
depository andtrust services
j. Settlement andclearing services for
financial assets, incl. securities,
derivative products, andother negotiable
instruments
k. Advisory andother auxiliary financial
services onalltheactivities listed in
Article 1BofMTN.TNC/W/50, incl.
credit reference andanalysis, investment
andportfolio research andadvice, advice
onacquisitions andoncorporate
restructuring strategy
l. Provision andtransfer offinancial
information, andfinancial data
processing andrelated software by
providers ofother financial services
turing andstrategy
l. Provision andtransfer offinancial
information, andfinancial data
processing andrelated software by
providers ofother financial services
C. Other
8. HEALTH RELATED AND SOCIAL SERVICES
(other than those listed under 1.A.h-j.)
A. Hospital Services
B. Other Human Health Services
(other than 93191)
C. Social Services
D. Other2.2.1 Health-related personal travel
10.2 Other personal, cultural andrecreational
services
(Part relating to:health services)S/C/W/5
Page26
BoxA3: Comparison oftheGNS andIMF-5 BOP Classifications
9. TOURISM AND TRAVEL RELATED SERVICES
A. Hotels andRestaurants (incl. catering)
B. Travel Agencies andTour Operators Services
C. Tourist Guides Services
D. Other2. TRAVEL5
2.1 Business
2.2 Personal
2.2.2 Other than health-
related andeducation
related
10. RECREATIONAL, CULTURAL AND SPORTING
SERVICES
(other than audiovisual services)
A. Entertainment Services (including theatre, live
bands andcircus services)
B. News Agency Services
C. Libraries, Archives, Museums andOther Cultural
Services
D. Sporting andOther Recreational Services
E. Other10.2 Other personal, cultural andrecreational
services
(Excluding: Health andeducation
services rendered abroad)
7. Computer andinformation services
(Part relating to:News agency
services)
11. TRANSPORT SERVICES
A. Maritime Transport Services
a. Passenger transportation
b. Freight transportation
c. Rental ofvessels with crew
d. Maintenance andrepair ofvessels
e. Pushing andtowing services
f. Supporting services formaritime
transport1. TRANSPORTATION6and7
1.1 SeaTransport
1.1.1 Passenger
1.1.2 Freight
1.1.3 Other
B. Internal Waterways Transport
a. Passenger transportation
b. Freight transportation
c. Rental ofvessels with crew
d. Maintenance andrepair ofvessels
e. Pushing andtowing services
f. Supporting services forinternal
waterway transport
C. AirTransport Services
a. Passenger transportation
b. Freight transportation
c. Rental ofaircraft with crew
d. Maintenance andrepair ofaircraft
e. Supporting services forairtransport1.2 Airtransport
1.2.1 Passenger
1.2.2 Freight
1.2.3 OtherS/C/W/5
Page27
BoxA3: Comparison oftheGNS andIMF-5 BOP Classifications
D. Space Transport
E. Rail Transport Services
a. Passenger transportation
b. Freight transportation
c. Pushing andtowing services
d. Maintenance andrepair ofrailtransport
equipment
e. Supporting services forrailtransport
services
F. Road Transport Services
a. Passenger transportation
b. Freight transportation
c. Rental ofcommercial vehicles with
operator
d. Maintenance andrepair ofroad transport
equipment
e. Supporting services forroad transport
services
G. Pipeline Transport
a. Transportation offuels
b. Transportation ofother goods
H. Services auxiliary toallmodes oftransport
a. Cargo-handling services
b. Storage andwarehouse services
c. Freight transport agency services
d. Other
I. Other Transport Services
12. OTHER SERVICES NOT INCLUDED
ELSEWHERE
Notes:
1.Business services notexplicitly mentioned areincluded intheIMF BOP classification under other miscellaneous
business, professional andtechnical services .
2.Notastandard component oftheIMF BOP classification butincluded inselected supplementary information.
3.According toIMF-5, "Inclusion ofroyalties andlicense feesunder services ,rather than under income ,isin
accordance with theSNA treatment ofsuch items aspayments forproduction ofservices forintermediate consumption or
receipts from sales ofoutput used asintermediate inputs." IntheGNS sectoral list,distribution services include
franchising butnoother sector explicitly includes sub-sectors oractivities related toroyalties orlicense fees.
4.IntheIMF BOP classification, insurance services areincluded separately andnotasasubdivision offinancial
services asintheGNS classification.
5.Travel may include expenditure bytravellers ongoods andservices other than tourism andtravel related services .
6.Transport services notexplicitly mentioned areincluded intheIMF BOP classification under other transport.
7.IntheIMF BOP classification, maintenance andrepair oftransport equipment areincluded inmerchandise trade.