Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services

particular goods and services. 
(e)  International Merchandise Trade Statistics 
2.37.  The United Nations publication International 
Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions, 
Revision 2
25
 (IMTS, Rev.2) contains the revised 
recommendations of the Statistical Commission 
regarding statistics of international merchandise trade. 
The implementation of these recommendations will 
result in data that better meet the needs of a variety of 
                                                 
24
   Brussels, Customs Cooperation Council, 1984. 
25
   United Nations publication, Sales No. E.98.XVII.16. 
national and international users and that are more 
comparable with other statistics compiled in the 
framework of the 1993 SNA and BPM5. IMTS, Rev.2 
provides a brief description of flows of goods between 
residents and non-residents that are not covered by 
merchandise trade statistics and identifies those services, 
the value of which is included in the value of imported 
and exported goods. 
(f) International migration frameworks and the 
Recommendations on Statistics of International 
Migration 
2.38. The  Recommendations on Statistics of 
International Migration, Revision 1
26
 set out a 
framework for reporting statistical information that 
measures international migration flows and stocks, 
including how population censuses can help gather 
information on foreign persons. The framework builds 
on the taxonomy of traveller inflows and outflows, and it 
gives priority to the identification of internationally 
mobile individuals who satisfy simple general 
definitions of short-term and long-term migrants. The 
recommended period of stay for inclusion among the 
former is three months, and for inclusion among the 
latter a year or more.  Persons staying for periods shorter 
than three months are not included in these 
recommendations. Thus, this use of the term migrant is 
somewhat broader than that in BPM5, where an actual or 
intended stay of a year or more is required. A fuller 
taxonomy of migrants and other travellers, is provided in 
the Recommendations.
27
 An ILO publication
28
 provides 
an extensive discussion on sources of migration 
statistics. 
(g) 
Tourism Satellite Accounts: Recommended 
Methodological Framework 
2.39. Eurostat, the World Tourism Organization, 
OECD and the United Nations have developed the 
Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended 
Methodological Framework,
29
 (TSA), which sets out a 
framework to measure the contribution of tourism to an 
economy in an internationally comparable way. TSA 
respects the definitions and norms of the 1993 SNA, 
                                                 
26
  United Nations publication, Sales No. E.98.XVII.14.
  
27
   Ibid., box 4. 
28 
R.E. Bilsborrow, Graeme Hugo, A.S. Oberai and Hania 
Zlotnik, International Migration Statistics: Guidelines for 
Improving Data Collection Systems (Geneva, International 
Labour Organization, 1997). 
29 
United Nations publication, Sales No. E.01.XVII.9. 

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15 
where relevant. The present Manual and TSA have 
different coverage and the relationship between them is 
described further in annex VII. However, balance of 
payments data on travel, excluding business travel, as 
defined in paragraphs 3.77-3.86 below, are one source of 
data on a part of tourism as defined in TSA. The TSA 
framework allows for a breakdown of visitors’ 
expenditure in a way that may be useful for GATS, for 
example, disaggregating visitors’ expenditure on goods, 
hotels, and food and beverage serving services, or 
disaggregating visitors’ expenditure by resident and non-
resident visitors. TSA also provides lists of tourism-
specific products with CPC links.