Functioning of the Statistical Commission
 
 

The Economic and Social Council,

Bearing in mind Economic and Social Council resolutions 8 (I) of 16 February 1946 and 8 (II) of 21 June 1946 concerning the establishment and terms of reference of the Statistical Commission, resolution 1566 (L) of 3 May 1971 in which the Council further refined the terms of reference and resolution 1306 (XLIV) of 31 May 1968, by which the Council established the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination and gave it its initial task,

Welcoming the series of reviews that the Statistical Commission has carried out since 1993 on its role and functioning and that of its Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination,

Taking into account General Assembly resolution 50/227 of 24 May 1996 on the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields,

Recognizing the need to provide for more continuity of the Commission’s decision-making and oversight of the global statistical process,

Recognizing the need for a more flexible and rapid response to emerging and topical developments in international statistics than is possible through the biennial meetings of the Statistical Commission,

Wishing to enable the Statistical Commission to more continuously carry out its role in following up the statistical implications of the major United Nations conferences and summits and the agreed conclusions of the high-level and coordination segments of the Economic and Social Council and of its resolutions, thus providing enhanced support to the Council in carrying out its own responsibilities in this area,

1. Decides that the Commission shall meet annually, beginning in 2000, for a period of four working days in New York, and decides that the small additional cost shall come from existing resources;

2. Also decides that, with immediate effect, the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination shall cease to function.
 
 
 
 

The Economic and Social Council:

(a) Takes note of the report of the Statistical Commission on its thirtieth session;

(b) Decides that the thirty-first session of the Commission shall be held in New York from 29 February to 3 March 2000;^*

(c) Approves the provisional agenda and documentation for the thirty-first session of the Commission as set out below.
 
 

Provisional agenda and documentation for the thirty-first session of the

Statistical Commission
 
 

1. Election of officers.

3. The following decision adopted by the Statistical Commission is brought to the attention of the Council:
 
 

Decision 30/101. Documents considered in connection with the coordination and integration of international statistical programmes
 
 

The Statistical Commission takes note of the following documents:

(a) Report of the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination on its nineteenth session (E/CN.3/1999/20);

(b) Note by the Secretary-General on the report of the ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities on actions and decisions taken at its thirty-first session (E/CN.3/1999/21);

(c) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the ACC Subcommittee on Coordination Subcommittee on Statistical Activities on its thirty-second session (E/CN.3/1999/22);

(d) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the ad hoc group established by the Statistical Commission to explore new approaches to its structure and operation (E/CN.3/1999/23);

(e) Report of the Secretary-General on options for meetings of the Statistical Commission and its Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination (E/CN.3/1999/24);

(f) Report of the Secretary-General on the global integrated presentation of the work plans of the international organizations in statistical methodology (E/CN.3/1999/25);

(g) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Expert Group on Some Best Practices for Official Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/26).

4. The attention of the Council is also drawn to the other decisions and recommendations of the Commission (see paras. 18, 24, 27, 32, 58–60, 70, 77, 92, 96, 97, 106–108, 115, 125–131, 133, 138, 142 and 145).

A. National accounts
 
 
 
 

5. The Commission considered item 3 (a) of its agenda at its 490th and 491st meetings, on 1 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Task Force on National Accounts (E/CN.3/1999/2);

(b) Report of the Secretary-General on the milestone assessment of the implementation of the System of National Accounts, 1993, by member States (E/CN.3/1999/3);

(c) Draft classifications of expenditure according to purpose (PROV/ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/84);

(d) Minutes of the last two meetings (April and September 1998) of the Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA) (background documents).

6. At its 490th meeting, on 1 March, the representative of the World Bank, Convener of ISWGNA, made an introductory statement.

7. At the same meeting, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division also made an introductory statement.

8. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the United States of America, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Japan, the Russian Federation and Romania.

9. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Canada, Hungary and Austria.

10. Also at the same meeting, statements were also made by the observers for the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the Conference of European Statisticians.

11. At the same meeting, statements were also made by the representatives of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

12. Also at the same meeting, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement.

13. At its 491st meeting, on 1 March, the representatives of Pakistan, Australia, India and Côte d’Ivoire made statements.

14. At the same meeting, the observer for Canada made a statement.

15. Also at the same meeting, statements were also made by the observers for the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), ESCAP, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and ECLAC.

16. At the same meeting, statements were also made by the representatives of the Observatoire économique et statistiques d’Afrique subsaharienne (AFRISTAT) and the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific.

17. Also at the same meeting, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement.

18. The Commission:

(a) Approved the proposal for an updating mechanism for the System of National Accounts, 1993 (1993 SNA), as described in the report of the Task Force on National Accounts, with one change: the period within which the 24 member countries of the Statistical Commission may approve an amendment of the type "interpretation" or "change" should be extended to 60 days. It was emphasized that all the steps of the amendment process, in particular those calling for review by all national statistical offices, should be strictly observed;

(b) Agreed in principle with the proposed amendment referring to the treatment of financial derivatives. It asked the Intersecretariat Working Group to consider specific comments made by member States, and to circulate the redrafted text to all national statistical offices and thereafter to the members of the Commission, in accordance with the agreed procedure as amended in paragraph 18 (a) above;

(c) Approved the publication of the draft classifications of expenditure according to purpose (PROV/ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/84). The Commission noted the offer made by the representative of Eurostat to cooperate in a pilot study on how to test the implementation of the classification of outlays of producers by purpose;

(d) Noted the proposals for further work in the following areas: gross domestic product volume measures, national accounts and employment, measurement of insurance output, financial intermediation services indirectly measured, asset transfer costs, government accounting, exhaustiveness/measurement of the non-observed economy and dissemination standards;

(e) Recalled that the purpose of the milestone assessment had been to create an instrument to detect progress and/or to identify difficulties encountered by countries or groups of countries in their implementation efforts, as well as to focus technical cooperation activities. Accordingly, the Commission asked the Secretariat to strengthen the analytical portion of future assessment papers, highlighting why progress has or has not been made within or between regions. Individual countries would not be identified in such reporting, which should describe the activities undertaken by the United Nations Statistics Division and the regional commissions as a result of the analysis of the data used to determine the milestones, and should be prepared in close cooperation with the regional commissions;

(f) The Commission asked ISWGNA to determine whether there is a match between its work programme and the needs of countries, particularly those at milestone level 0 or 1. In case of a mismatch, ISWGNA was asked to make the necessary adjustments and eliminate any existing gaps. Furthermore, such assessment should become a regular part of the milestone report in the future;

(g) The Commission welcomed the Statistics Netherlands initiative to host a workshop on gross domestic product (GDP) volume and price measurement, in cooperation with the United Nations Statistics Division.
 
 
 
 

B. International trade statistics
 
 
 
 

19. The Commission considered item 3 (b) of its agenda at its 491st meeting, on 1 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Task Force on International Trade Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/4);

20. At the 491st meeting, on 1 March, the observer for the World Trade Organization (WTO), Convener of the Task Force on International Trade Statistics, made an introductory statement.

21. At the same meeting, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division also made an introductory statement.

22. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of Japan and Australia.

23. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Canada and Nigeria.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

24. The Commission:

(a) Agreed that the treatment of electronic commerce in international trade statistics should be clarified, particularly in terms of defining its coverage and methods of data collection; the Commission took note of the plan of the International Statistical Institute and the Singapore Department of Statistics to hold a meeting on the subject in December 1999;

(b) Endorsed the proposed work on the manual for international trade statistics, emphasized the importance of taking advantage of country experiences and requested the United Nations Statistics Division to give special attention in the manual to the measurement of adjustments to customs statistics for balance-of-payments purposes;

(c) Recognized that there would be a continuing need by users for international trade statistics analysed according to the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC);

(d) Considered that it was important to evaluate the usefulness and applicability of trade statistics according to Central Product Classification (CPC) aggregates for economic analysis, and welcomed the intention of the United Nations Statistics Division to produce a data set of merchandise trade statistics according to the Central Product Classification (goods part) on diskette as an input into reviewing and evaluating that Classification and its use;

(e) Reconfirmed its support for the work of the United Nations Statistics Division on producing the planned publication on the statistical territories of the world for use in international merchandise trade statistics;

(f) Agreed that in the short term, the United Nations Statistics Division should maintain the Commodity Trade Statistics Database as it currently exists but should develop, in consultation with users, a strategic plan for its rationalization, taking account of the continuing need for data according to SITC, as set out in paragraph 24 (c) above, and providing adequate lead time for users to adjust to the rationalization plan;

(g) Emphasized that the United Nations Statistics Division should continue its efforts to make its Commodity Trade Statistics Database comprehensive in country coverage, and encouraged countries to provide their detailed commodity-by-partner trade statistics to the Division for inclusion in the Database;

C. Service statistics
 
 
 
 

25. The Commission considered item 3 (c) of its agenda at its 491st meeting, on 1 March 1999. It had before it the note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services (E/CN.3/1999/5).

26. At the 491st meeting, on 1 March, the observer for OECD, Convener of the Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services, made an introductory statement.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

27. The Commission took note of the completed activities and proposed schedule put forward by the Task Force for the completion of the draft manual on statistics of international trade in services.
 
 
 
 

D. Finance statistics
 
 
 
 

28. The Commission considered item 3 (d) of its agenda at its 491st meeting, on 1 March 1999. It had before it a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Task Force on Finance Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/6).

29. At the 491st meeting, on 1 March, the representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Convener of the Task Force on Finance Statistics, made an introductory statement.

30. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the United States of America and Australia.

31. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Canada and Nigeria.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

32. The Commission recognized the concerns of countries about the complexities and high resource-intensiveness of measuring external debt, particularly for short-term liabilities of the corporate sector, and the need to compile and publish components of external debt based on creditor as well as debtor sources for improved data quality and accuracy. In this context, it also took note of ongoing efforts to compare alternative methods of measuring external debt and to enable the advantages and disadvantages of the available methods to be determined. The Commission noted the work of IMF in developing the Manual on Monetary and Financial Statistics (expected to be available in 1999) and the Manual on Government Finance Statistics, which is expected to be available in late 2000.
 
 
 
 

E. Other economic statistics
 
 
 
 

33. The Commission considered item 3(e) of its agenda at its 491st, 492nd and 493rd meetings, on 1 and 2 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(b) Addendum: note by the Secretary-General transmitting a note prepared by the International Labour Office on the terms of reference and functioning of the Intersecretariat Working Group on Price Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/7/Add.1);

(c) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the consultant on the evaluation of the International Comparison Programme (E/CN.3/1999/8);

(d) Addendum: note by the Secretary-General transmitting the observations of the World Bank on the report (E/CN.3/1999/8/Add.1);

(e) Letter dated 16 May 1997 from the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division to all heads of national statistical agencies (background document);

(f) Background note by the Australian Bureau of Statistics entitled "Future of the International Comparison Programme";

(g) Background note by the Australian Bureau of Statistics entitled "Statistical perspective on the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard";

(h) Background note by IMF entitled "Special Data Dissemination Standard: background for discussion".

34. At the 491st meeting, on 1 March, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division provided a general introduction to the item.

35. At the same meeting, the representative of the United States of America made a statement.

36. At the 492nd meeting, on 2 March, the representative of Australia made an introductory statement on the Canberra Group on Household Income Statistics.

37. At the same meeting, the representative of India made an introductory statement on the Delhi Group on Informal Sector Statistics.

38. Also at the same meeting, the representative of Australia made an introductory statement on the Expert Group on Capital Stock Statistics.

39. At the same meeting, the observer for OECD made an introductory statement on the Expert Group on Intangibles.

40. Also at the same meeting, the observer for Canada made an introductory statement on the Ottawa Group on Price Indexes.

41. At the same meeting, the representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) made an introductory statement on the Intersecretariat Working Group on Price Statistics.

42. Also at the same meeting, the observer for France made an introductory statement on the Paris Group on Labour and Compensation.

43. At the same meeting, the observer for Canada made an introductory statement on the Round Table on Business Survey Frames.

44. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Côte d’Ivoire, Japan, Iceland, the United States of America, India, Australia, Portugal and the Netherlands.

45. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Algeria, France, Canada and Spain.

46. Also at the same meeting, the observer for Palestine made a statement.

48. Also at the same meeting, the observers for ECLAC, AFRISTAT and Eurostat made statements.

49. At the same meeting, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement.

50. At the 493rd meeting, on 2 March, the representative of the World Bank made an introductory statement.

51. At the same meeting, the representative of Australia also made an introductory statement.

52. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of China, Côte d’Ivoire, India, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, the Czech Republic, Australia, Germany and China.

53. At the same meeting, the observers for Nigeria and Canada made statements.

54. Also at the same meeting, the observer for IMF made a statement.

55. At the same meeting, the representative of ESCAP made a statement.

56. Also at the same meeting, the observers for OECD, Eurostat, the ESCAP Committee on Statistics and the Conference of European Statisticians made statements.

57. At the same meeting, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement.
 
 

(a) Welcomed the improved reporting format on the activities of city groups. It also commended the efforts of the city groups and the United Nations Statistics Division to make information on city groups more widely available through Internet Web sites;

(b) Re-emphasized the need for city groups to formulate a clear objective and agenda and make them available to the Commission;

(c) Noted the activities undertaken by the Canberra Group on Household Income Statistics, the Expert Group on Intangibles and the Round Table on Business Survey Frames;

(d) Welcomed the focus of the Expert Group on Capital Stock Statistics leading up to the publication of a manual on this topic;

(e) Noted the various efforts under way in Latin America, Asia, francophone West Africa and Europe to measure activities of the informal sector, and encouraged the Delhi Group on Informal Sector Statistics to draw on relevant information and experiences. The Commission stressed the need to fine-tune the already agreed upon definitions of the concept of "informal sector" and related concepts. Some members of the Commission encouraged the Delhi Group to pursue its work in such areas as quality issues, measurement of value added, measurement of women’s participation and inclusion of the social dimensions of the informal sector;

(f) Encouraged the Paris Group on Labour and Compensation to continue to identify critical issues in labour statistics with a view to making proposals for future revisions of international standards. It was also suggested that the Group take into account the close connection between labour force statistics and national accounting;

(h) The Commission urged ISWGPS to draw upon the expertise of the Ottawa Group on Price Indexes. In particular, ISWGPS was requested to communicate to the Ottawa Group its needs and to encourage the Group to make specific contributions to the manuals on leading edge thinking on theoretical and practical problems.

59. With regard to the International Comparison Programme (ICP), the Commission:

(a) Commended the report on the evaluation of ICP prepared by the consultant Jacob Ryten on behalf of the United Nations, the World Bank and IMF;

(b) Noted that while ICP served several important needs, in its current form it suffered from a number of serious drawbacks, both administrative and financial, that hampered its effectiveness;

(c) Accepted that ICP has significant timeliness and quality problems, and that an agenda to deal with these problems, enhance the transparency of ICP to member countries and support research to deal with unresolved conceptual problems is required. In order to ensure that progress is made, the Commission therefore agreed:
 

(b) The Commission was not satisfied with the existing consultation processes, including those in countries in which national statistical offices are not sufficiently involved. The United Nations Statistics Division, as the secretariat of the Statistical Commission, offered to assist with communications between IMF and statistical agencies. The IMF representative indicated that she would carry these thoughts back to IMF headquarters, and that efforts would be made to further enhance the process of consultation.
 
 

61. The Commission considered item 4 of its agenda at its 494th meeting, on 3 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Report of the Secretary-General on progress in demographic, social and migration statistics (E/CN.3/1999/9);

(b) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Expert Group on Draft Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System (E/CN.3/1999/10);

(c) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Siena Group for Social Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/11);

(d) Draft principles and recommendations for a vital statistics system (PROV/ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/19/Rev.2).

62. At the 494th meeting, on 3 March, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division made an introductory statement.

63. At the same meeting, the representative of Australia made an introductory statement.

64. Also at the same meeting, the representatives of Japan, Jamaica, Australia, Iceland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and China made statements.

65. At the same meeting, the observers for Morocco and France made statements.

66. Also at the same meeting, the observer for Palestine made a statement.

67. At the same meeting, the observers for the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and ESCAP made statements.

68. Also at the same meeting, the observers for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) made statements.

69. At the same meeting, the observer for the Conference of European Statisticians made a statement.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

70. The Commission:

(a) Commended the work of the Expert Group on Draft Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System; expressed its appreciation for the involvement of experts in civil registration and vital statistics from all regions in its review, as well as UNFPA and PAHO; and welcomed the publication of the five related handbooks;

(b) Endorsed the draft principles and recommendations for a vital statistics system (PROV/ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/19/Rev.2), as revised by the Expert Group on Draft Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System in document E/CN.3/1999/10;

(c) Took note of the point raised by the representative of France, namely that the concept of vital statistics in French differed from that in English, and must be clearly defined in the principles and recommendations;

(d) Requested the Secretariat to publish the principles and recommendations for a vital statistics system as quickly as possible in all the official languages of the United Nations;

(f) Requested the Secretariat to resolve the question of the nomenclature related to Palestine contained in the report of the Secretary-General on progress in demographic, social and migration statistics (E/CN.3/1999/9);

(g) Took note of the rescheduling of the next issue of the Compendium of Human Settlements Statistics to the 2000–2001 biennium.
 
 
 
 

71. The Commission considered item 5 of its agenda at its 494th meeting, on 3 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Report of the Secretary-General on environment statistics (E/CN.3/1999/12);

(b) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the London Group on Environmental Accounting (E/CN.3/1999/13).

72. At the 494th meeting, on 3 March, the Officer-in-Charge of the Environment, Energy and Industrial Statistics Branch, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, made an introductory statement.

73. At the same meeting, the observer for Canada made an introductory statement.

74. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the Netherlands, Hungary, Australia, Germany, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Iceland.

75. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Canada and Cape Verde.

76. Also at the same meeting, a statement was made by the observer for Centro di Ricerca e Documentazione Febbraio 74 (CERFE), a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

77. The Commission:

(a) Approved the work programme of the United Nations Statistics Division in the field of environment statistics;

(b) Approved the suggestion made by the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) Subcommittee on Statistical Activities at its thirty-second session that the Task Force on Environment Statistics be discontinued;

(c) Stressed the need for continued coordination in environment statistics, and approved the ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities carrying out such coordination to the extent possible;

(d) Welcomed the continued work of the London Group on Environmental Accounting leading to the revision of the system of integrated environmental-economic accounting (SEEA).
 
 
 
 

78. The Commission considered item 6 of its agenda at its 494th and 495th meetings, on 3 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Report of the Secretary-General on harmonization and rationalization of development indicators in the United Nations system(E/CN.3/1999/14);

(b) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Rio Group on Poverty Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/15);

(c) Draft report on harmonization and rationalization of development indicators to be submitted to the forthcoming informal meeting of the Economic and Social Council on this topic (background document);

(d) A paper entitled "The statistical measurement of poverty", prepared by Simon Schwartzman, President, Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (background document).

79. At the 494th meeting, on 3 March, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division made an introductory statement.

80. At the same meeting, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made an introductory statement.

81. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Japan, Portugal and Germany.

82. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Spain, Austria and Nigeria.

83. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for the ECLAC, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNFPA and Habitat.

84. At the 495th meeting, on 3 March, the observer for ECLAC made an introductory statement.

85. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of Mexico, Argentina, India and Côte d’Ivoire.

86. Also at the same meeting, the observer for Canada made a statement.

87. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the observer for the World Bank.

88. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for the ESCAP Committee on Statistics, ESCAP and ECA.

89. At the same meeting, statements were made by the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific, and Eurostat.

90. Also at the same meeting, a statement was made by the observer for CERFE, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.

91. At the same meeting, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement.
 
 

92. The Commission:

(a) Commended the United Nations Statistics Division on the trial compilation of the Minimum National Social Data Set (MNSDS), and the initial work to take stock of indicators being produced and disseminated by the international community. It recognized the inventory of development indicators being compiled by the Division as a tool for a more in-depth analysis of duplications, overlaps and inconsistencies;

(b) Noted that while interest in indicators highlighted the important role of statistics in planning and monitoring development, the large number of indicators requested by different international agencies often overtax the capacity of countries, particularly developing countries;

(c) Urged international agencies to work towards harmonizing and rationalizing the various sets of indicators being used at the international level, including the use of common definitions and methods. It also called on the agencies to improve coordination in collecting information in order not to overburden countries. The Commission welcomed the role that the United Nations Statistics Division has played as an honest broker in the inter-agency working group on indicators for common country assessment in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) process, and reaffirmed the role of countries in the compilation of indicators;

(d) Affirmed that MNSDS is a useful set, that could provide guidance to countries interested in developing a basic social statistics system;

(e) Urged international agencies and bilateral donors to assist countries in building sufficient statistical capacity in order to produce development information routinely, which satisfies the data demand for both national programming and international reporting. It encouraged the United Nations funds and programmes to make statistical capacity-building a priority within UNDAF;

(f) Noted that most international agencies and countries recognize the elimination of poverty as their overriding priority, and that development indicators, specifically poverty indicators, have most value when linked directly or indirectly to policy formulation and administrative operations. It supported the activities carried out by the Rio Group on Poverty Statistics as presented by ECLAC, and requested the Group to continue its activities, paying special attention to the nature of the data required for analysing the causes of poverty, the relation between poverty and social exclusion, and the effect of public services on poverty alleviation. It also noted that progress is being made in national data-collection programmes and regional initiatives to improve data on poverty.
 
 
 
 

93. The Commission considered item 7 at its 495th meeting, on 3 March. It had before it an informal paper prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division (a) summarizing the ministerial communiqué and summary of the President of the Economic and Social Council of the 1998 high-level segment of the Council,¹ the agreed conclusions of the 1998 coordination segment of the Council,² Council resolutions 1998/44 and 1998/46, and Council decision 1998/290, (b) reviewing the implications for the Statistical Commission, and (c) setting out the relevant actions taken by the Statistical Commission.

94. At the 495th meeting, on 3 March, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division made an introductory statement.

95. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

96. The Commission agreed to bring to the attention of the Economic and Social Council the following actions that it had taken consistent with the Council’s requests:

(a) The Commission has reviewed its functioning on a number of occasions and introduced improvements, including a review at its thirtieth session (see chap. IX for details);

(b) The Bureau of the Commission has always played a crucial role, particularly through the functioning of the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination, of which the Bureau comprises the core membership;

(c) For the thirtieth session of the Commission, the Chairman of the twenty-ninth session is serving as a Vice-Chairman to promote continuity, a practice that is expected to continue;

(d) The Bureau of the Commission met with the Bureau of the Economic and Social Council during the Commission’s thirtieth session at the invitation of the President of the Council to try to find ways to improve their interaction;

(e) The government representatives attending the Commission (both members and non-members of the Commission) are almost always heads of national statistical offices;

(f) The Commission has made its documents concise and issue-oriented, and they are largely available in all the official languages of the Commission at the time of Commission sessions;

(g) Issues are referred by the Commission to other functional commissions, as appropriate;

(h) The Commission adopts a decision-oriented report on its sessions;

(j) The regional commissions participate fully in the work of the Commission;

(k) The Commission has reviewed and supported the work of the United Nations Statistics Division on indicators, including the draft report prepared by the Division, which will be considered by the Economic and Social Council at its informal meeting on indicators in May 1999 (see chap. V for details).

97. The Commission expressed its willingness to take up relevant issues that might be referred to it by other functional commissions to ensure a more integrated approach to issues of concern to the Economic and Social Council.
 
 
 
 

98. The Commission considered item 8 of its agenda at its 495th and 496th meetings, on 3 and 4 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Report of the Secretary-General on evaluation of progress in the implementation of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 3, and the Central Product Classification, Version 1.0 (E/CN.3/1999/16);

(b) Report of the Secretary-General on international economic and social classifications (E/CN.3/1999/17);

(c) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Voorburg Group on Service Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/18);

(d) Background documents entitled "Standard statistical classifications: basic principles", "Preamble: international family of economic and social classifications" and "Proposed future work programme of the Classification Subgroup of the Voorburg Group on the Central Product Classification".

99. At the 495th meeting, on 3 March, the observer for Canada made an introductory statement.

100. At the same meeting, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division made an introductory statement.

101. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of Australia and the United States.

102. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Canada and Austria.

103. Also at the same meeting, the observer for the ESCAP Committee on Statistics made a statement.

104. At the same meeting, the observer for Eurostat made a statement.

105. At the 496th meeting, on 4 March, the representative of Australia made a statement.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

106. The Commission separated the discussion into two parts, the first dealing with the organizational issues of the Voorburg Group on Service Statistics, the second with issues of classifications.
 
 

Issues related to the Voorburg Group

107. The Commission recommended that the future work programme of the Voorburg Group on Service Statistics be focused on problems of service product prices.
 
 

Issues of classifications

108. The Commission:

(a) Endorsed the work programme as defined in the reports on statistical classifications (E/CN.3/1999/16, E/CN.3/1999/17 and the background document on the proposed work programme of the Voorburg Group on Service Statistics), and agreed in principle with the strategies laid out in the reports;

(c) Decided that the United Nations Statistics Division should continue to invite all those agencies and countries who are key players in the development of international and multinational classifications and ensure representation of developing countries;

(d) Noted that the United Nations Statistics Division is prepared to host Expert Group meetings and provide funds for the participation of developing countries;

(e) Recommended that the decision as to whether the CPC sub-group will also be a sub-group of the Expert Group of Economic and Social Classifications be made by the Expert Group at its next meeting.
 
 
 
 

109. The Commission considered item 9 of its agenda at its 496th meeting, on 4 March 1999. It had before it a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Workshop on Improving Technical Cooperation in statistics on some guiding principles for good practices in technical cooperation for statistics (E/CN.3/1999/19).

110. At the 496th meeting, on 4 March, the representative of the Netherlands made an introductory statement.

111. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Mexico and Côte d’Ivoire.

112. At the same meeting, statements were also made by the observers for Algeria and Cape Verde.

113. At the same meeting, the observer for Palestine made a statement.

114. At the same meeting, statements were also made by the observers for ESCAP and ECLAC.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

115. The Commission:

(a) Commended the work done by Statistics Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and endorsed the guiding principles for good practices in technical cooperation for statistics, except that it agreed to rename them "practical guidelines for good practices in technical cooperation for statistics";

(b) Agreed to the wide dissemination of the practical guidelines to national statistical offices, regional and international organizations;

(c) Agreed that the practical guidelines would be reviewed after two or three years, taking into account relevant experience in the field of technical cooperation.
 
 

116. The Commission considered item 10 of its agenda at its 495th, 496th and 497th meetings, on 3, 4 and 5 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Report of the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination on its nineteenth session (E/CN.3/1999/20);

(b) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities on actions and decisions taken at its thirty-first session (E/CN.3/1999/21);

(c) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities on its thirty-second session (E/CN.3/1999/22);

(d) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the ad hoc group established by the Statistical Commission to explore new approaches to its structure and operation (E/CN.3/1999/23);

(e) Report of the Secretary-General on options for meetings of the Statistical Commission and its Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination (E/CN.3/1999/24);

(f) Report of the Secretary-General on the global integrated presentation of the work plans of the international organizations in statistical methodology (E/CN.3/1999/25);

(g) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Expert Group on Some Best Practices for Official Statistics (E/CN.3/1999/26);

(h) Conference room paper containing the report of a working session on best practices in statistics, held in Singapore from 12 to 14 January 1999.

117. At the 496th meeting, on 4 March, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division made an introductory statement.

118. At the same meeting, the representative of the Czech Republic made an introductory statement.

119. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of Japan, Australia, the Netherlands and Côte d’Ivoire.

120. At the same meeting, the observers for France and Singapore made statements.

121. Also at the same meeting, the representative of the World Bank made a statement.

122. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the observer for the Economic Commission for Europe.

123. Also at the same meeting, a statement was made by the observer for the International Statistical Institute.

124. At the same meeting, the Director and a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division made statements.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

126. At the 497th meeting, on 5 March, the Secretary read out a statement on the programme budget implications of draft resolution E/CN.3/1999/L.5, entitled "Functioning of the Statistical Commission".

127. At the same meeting, the Commission agreed that the statement on the programme budget implications should be included in the report. The statement read as follows:
 

129. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the draft resolution (see chap. I, sect. A).

130. The Commission:

(a) Decided to recommend to the Economic and Social Council that the Commission hold annual meetings of four days each, provided that the small additional cost shall come from existing resources. The Commission also decided that should the Commission be able to hold annual meetings, its Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination should cease to function. The Commission noted that while this proposal involved an increase in travel costs it also reduced the costs of the Commission/Working Group’s combined meetings by the cost of one day of conference services;

(b) Decided that in the event that the Commission is not allowed to hold annual sessions, the Chairman of the Commission should consult with the Bureau of the Commission and the Secretariat to determine what steps, if any, could be taken within the authority of the Commission that would meet the objectives of having an annual Commission session, and should then take those steps;

(c) Supported the Working Group’s endorsement (see E/CN.3/1999/20, para. 35(b)) of the recommendations of the ad hoc group to explore new approaches to the operation of the Statistical Commission, as follows:
 

(e) Requested the United Nations Statistics Division to prepare an annotated list of previously adopted statistical standards as a companion document to the integrated presentation;

(f) Welcomed the presentation of the "virtual expert group" meeting that had been presented by the United Nations Statistics Division, and considered that it was consistent with the recommendations set out by the ad hoc group in its report (see E/CN.3/1999/23, paras. 1 (f) and 30–32, and appendix III), and requested the Division to proceed along the lines that the Secretariat had indicated (see E/CN.3/1999/25, para. 7 (d));
 
 

(h) Welcomed the work of the Prague Group on Some Best Practices for Official Statistics and the follow-up working session on best practices in statistics held in Singapore from 12 to 14 January 1999, and (i) endorsed the planned production of a document which would improve the understanding of the fundamental principles of official statistics, promote awareness of them and assist in their implementation, (ii) endorsed the establishment by the United Nations Statistics Division of the framework for a Web site (including an appropriate search engine) that would feature the above document and serve as a referral system for relevant country practices; and (iii) requested the Division to prepare a revision of its handbook on statistical organization;

(i) Endorsed the invitation that the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination had made to countries to inform international organizations of any duplications in statistical data collection observed by countries;

(j) Decided that the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination, at its twentieth session (if that session should be held), should comprise the officers of the Statistical Commission at its thirtieth session, namely G. Charumbira (Botswana — Chairman); M. Cervera Flores (Mexico), V. Dinculescu (Romania), K. Wallman (United States) (Vice-Chairs); and M. D. Asthana (India — Rapporteur); as well as the representatives of the following member States of the Statistical Commission:
 
 

(l) Noted that the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination would hold its twentieth session in New York from 29 February to 3 March 2000 (should the Commission not meet in 2000).
 
 

Documents considered in connection with the coordination and integration of international statistical programmes
 
 

131. At the 497th meeting, on 5 March, on the proposal of the Chairman, the Commission took note of the documents listed in paragraph 116 (a)–(g) above (see chap. I, sect. C, Commission decision 30/101).
 
 

132. The Commission considered item 11 of its agenda at its 496th meeting, on 4 March. It had before it the report of the Secretary-General on draft standards of the United Nations Economic and Social Information System for data structure and metadata in international data exchange and dissemination (E/CN.3/1999/27).
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

133. The Commission took note of the above-mentioned report.
 
 
 
 

134. The Commission considered item 12 of its agenda at its 496th meeting, on 4 March 1999. It had before it a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of UNESCO on the proposed institute for statistics (E/CN.3/1999/28).

135. At the 496th meeting, on 4 March, the representative of UNESCO made an introductory statement.

136. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

137. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the observer for Canada.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

138. The Commission:

(a) Welcomed the establishment of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics;

(b) Welcomed the broad nature of its mandate, including its emphasis on reliable, robust and timely statistics that are policy relevant and its support for the development of statistical and analytical capabilities in countries;

(c) Emphasized that the Institute should work in full collaboration with the existing agencies doing related work, and called upon those agencies to integrate the Institute into their formal and informal collaborative arrangements.
 
 
 
 

139. The Commission considered item 13 of its agenda at its 496th meeting, on 4 March 1999. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Note by the Secretariat containing the draft programme of work of the United Nations Statistics Division for the biennium 2000–2001 (E/CN.3/1999/CRP.1 and Corr.1);

(b) Note by the Secretariat containing the medium-term plan of the United Nations Statistics Division for the period 1998–2001 (E/CN.3/1999/CRP.2;

(c) Report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination on the first part of its thirty-eighth session (A/53/16, part one; relevant extract);

(d) Report of the Secretary-General on programme performance of the United Nations for the biennium 1996–1997 (A/53/122 and Add.1; relevant extract);

(e) Background paper on the implementation plan and timetable for realizing the recommendations of the in-depth review of the statistical programme contained in document E/AC.51/1997/2.

140. At the 496th meeting, on 4 March, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made an introductory statement.

141. At the same meeting, the representative of Pakistan made a statement.
 
 

Action taken by the Commission
 
 

142. The Commission took note of the above-mentioned reports, and endorsed the proposed programme of work and priorities of the United Nations Statistics Division, including the implementation plan and timetable for realizing the recommendations of the in-depth review of the statistical programme.
 
 
 
 

143. The Commission considered item 14 of its agenda at its 497th meeting, on 5 March 1999. It had before it a note by the Secretariat containing the draft provisional agenda for its thirty-first session (E/CN.3/1999/L.3).

144. At the same meeting, a senior official of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement and circulated an informal note containing amendments to document E/CN.3/1999/L.3.
 
 

(a) Approved the provisional agenda and documentation for the thirty-first session, as amended, subject to review by the Working Group or the Bureau (see chap. I, sect. B);

(b) Recommended that its thirty-first session be held in New York from 29 February to 3 March 2000 (should the Economic and Social Council approve annual sessions of the Commission) or from 5 to 9 March 2001 (should the Council not approve annual sessions) (see chap. I, sect. B).
 
 
 
 

146. At its 497th meeting, on 5 March 1999, the draft report of the Commission on its thirtieth session was introduced by the Rapporteur.

147. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the chapters of the draft report on its thirtieth session contained in documents E/CN.3/1999/L.4 and Add.1–3, as orally revised and amended, and E/CN.3/1999/L.4/Add.4 in an unedited English-only version, as orally revised and amended.

148. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Iceland, Pakistan and Côte d’Ivoire.

149. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for Nigeria, Greece and Canada.

150. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for the International Labour Organization and the World Bank.

151. At the same meeting, statements were made by the observer for the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements.

152. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the observers for the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Economic Commission for Europe, and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

153. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the observer for the ESCAP Committee on Statistics.

154. Also at the same meeting, the Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement.
 
 
 
 

A. Opening and duration of the session
 
 
 
 

155. The Statistical Commission held its thirtieth session at United Nations Headquarters from 1 to 5 March 1999. The Commission held 8 meetings (490th to 497th).

156. The session was opened by the temporary Chairman, Edvard Outrata (Czech Republic).

157. The Director of the United Nations Statistics Division made a statement.
 
 
 
 

B. Attendance
 
 
 
 

158. The session was attended by 24 States members of the Commission. Observers for other States Members of the United Nations and observers for intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations also attended. A list of participants is given in annex I to the present report.
 
 
 
 

C. Election of officers
 
 
 
 

159. At its 490th meeting, on 1 March, the Commission elected the following officers, by acclamation:

Chairman:

Katherine Wallman (United States of America)

Rapporteur:

160. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the provisional agenda contained in document E/CN.3/1999/1, as orally revised. The agenda was as follows:

E. Documentation
 
 
 
 

162. The documents before the Commission at its thirtieth session are listed in annex II to the present report.
 
 

Members
 
 

Botswana G. M. Charumbira, A. N. Majelantle

Bulgaria A. Hadjiyski, V. Peeva, S. Basmadjiev

China Shao Zongming, Fung Hing-Wang, Li Qiang, Feng Nailin

Colombia Alfonso Valdivieso, Rene Verswyvel Villamizar

Côte d’Ivoire Guessan Bi Kouassi, Gérard Chenais

Czech Republic Edvard Outrata, Olga B_tiková

India M. D. Asthana

Jamaica Valerie Nam, Annette McKenzie, David Prendergast

Portugal Tadeu Soares, Catulina Guerreiro, Lídia Barreiros

Romania Victor Dinculescu, Radu Felician Halus, Ovidiu Ierulescu

Algeria, Austria, Belarus, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Zambia
 
 

Non-Member States of the United Nations
 
 

Switzerland
 
 

Entities maintaining permanent observer missions to the United Nations
 
 

Palestine
 
 

United Nations bodies
 
 

United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, United Nations Development Fund for Women, Conference of European Statisticians, Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP Committee on Statistics, Economic Commission for Africa, Economic Commission for Europe, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
 
 

Specialized agencies and related organizations
 
 

International Labour Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, World Trade Organization
 
 

Intergovernmental organizations
 
 

Commonwealth of Independent States, Inter-American Development Bank, League of Arab States, Observatoire économique et statistique d’Afrique subsaharienne, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Pan American Health Organization, Statistical Office of the European Communities, World Customs Organization
 
 

Non-governmental organizations
 
 

Special consultative status

Centro di Ricerca e Documentazione Febbraio 74,

International Statistical Institute
 
 

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