## Terms of Reference — SNA Research Agenda—Joint Globalization Task Team (GZTT)

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Terms of Reference — SNA Research Agenda—Joint Globalization Task Team (GZTT)](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/gztt/gztt.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/gztt/gztt.pdf.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/gztt/gztt.pdf.json)

---

### Background
- The Task Force on the SNA Research Agenda (TF-RA) established dedicated work streams for three priority research areas: globalization, digitalization, and well-being and sustainability.
- On November 2018, the Advisory Expert Group (AEG) reconfirmed the three priority areas and identified specific short‑term issues to be taken forward within those areas.
- The AEG/ISWGNA (the Committee) agreed to launch workstreams under each priority area, preferably led by country members of the Committee, with international agencies providing support.
- In July 2020, the subgroup on globalization was converted into a joint Globalization Task Team (GZTT) to advise the Committee and IMF’s Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPCOM) in updating both the 2008 SNA and BPM6.
- GZTT will work closely with other task teams created by BOPCOM and other Committee task teams to ensure consistency and avoid duplication.

### Overall coordination
- UNSD is responsible for overall coordination between task teams and their work streams.
- UNSD:
  - Facilitates exchange of information between task teams.
  - Participates in coordination meetings of individual task teams.
  - Calls overall coordination meetings involving co-chairs and secretariats of all task teams at strategic points in time, depending on planning and progress.

### Activities — Priority guidance topics
- The task team will produce one or more Guidance Notes on globalization issues identified by the AEG as first priorities:
  - Economic ownership and recording of intellectual property products.
  - Treatment of multinational enterprises and special purpose entities.
  - Intra MNE flows.
  - CIF-FOB valuation of imports/exports.
  - Identifying economic presence and residency.
- Additional issues identified at the 2020 AEG meeting to be addressed for the 2008 SNA update:
  - A typology of global production arrangements
  - Factoryless goods producers and recording of their transactions
  - Merchanting
  - Global value chains and trade in value added
- Note: The joint (BOPCOM/ISWGNA) Intellectual Property Products Task Team (IPTT) is being combined with the Globalization Task Team; all IPTT issues will be addressed under this research issue.

### Guidance Notes — development and review procedure
- Guidance Notes should follow a common structure; a general template suggested by the AEG is provided in the Annex.
- Progress (including completed Guidance Notes, if applicable) will be reported in Committee reports to the UN Statistical Commission.
- Review and consultation process:
  - Drafts discussed by written consultations or videoconferencing within GZTT.
  - Once GZTT reaches a conclusion, the Guidance Note is circulated to other task teams for review where relevant and updated accordingly.
  - The revised Guidance Note is sent to the Committee and BPTT for initial review; feedback is incorporated by GZTT.
  - The revised Guidance Note is submitted for review to the Committee and BOPCOM (the latter through BPTT).
  - Guidance Note is then made publicly available for wider consultation, including national compilers for testing practicality.
  - A second‑round review by the Committee and BPTT (and other task teams) occurs only if significant changes arise from public consultation before presentation for endorsement.
- Key working procedures and review processes are outlined in a life‑cycle flow (Figure 1) and an approval table (Table 1).
- Approval process highlights (steps preserved as listed):
  1. Guidance Note (GN) is drafted, discussed, and agreed by TT.
  2. Circulate preliminary draft GN for consultation with other TTs where relevant.
  3. Update preliminary draft GN to incorporate feedback from other TTs.
  4. Circulate draft GN to Committee and BPTT for review.
  5. Update draft GN to incorporate feedback from BPTT and Committee.
  6. Submit revised GN for review by Committee and by BOPCOM through the BPTT.
  7. Update GN to incorporate feedback from Committee and BOPCOM.
  8. GN circulated for public global consultation and pilot tests.
  9. Update GN based on results of global public consultation and pilot tests.
  10. Final GN sent to Committee and BPTT for review. If significant changes, seek review by other TTs as outlined above (steps 2–6).
  11. Endorsement of Joint TT recommendations reside with the Committee and the BOPCOM (using their respective procedures).
  12. Final endorsement of recommendations on the 2008 SNA Update resides with the UNSC and for the BPM6 Update it resides with BOPCOM; and should, in the absence of agreement between the Committee and BOPCOM, carefully consider retaining the status quo (i.e., no change) and placing the issue on a future research agenda.
- If divergent views emerge, Committee and BOPCOM Chairs request SNA/BPM editors’ views; if editors’ views also diverge, ISWGNA and BOPCOM may consider adopting their respective positions with transparent documentation of departure points.

### Composition
- Co-chairs:
  - Michael Connolly (Central Statistics Office Ireland)
  - Branko Vitas (Australian Bureau of Statistics) — from November 2020
  - Paul Roberts (Australia) — June 2019–July 2020
  - Roberto Luís Olinto Ramos (Brazil) — April 2019–May 2019
- Secretariat provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Secretariat staff listed include:
  - Mmes. Jennifer Ribarsky, Margarida Martins, and Padma Sandhya Hurree Gobin (IMF STA)
- UNSD will ensure coordination with other Committee task teams for overlapping topics.
- Co-chairs and the secretariat will jointly decide size and composition of the task team, organize work, and establish a detailed programme and timetable considering milestones.
- Membership recruitment considerations:
  - Normally include other Committee members, BOPCOM members, and other experts (national statistical agencies, central banks, national or local governments, research community).
  - Selection guided by necessary expertise, representativeness (range of regions, country sizes, stage of statistical development), and coordination needs with other domains.
  - Co-chairs and members work on a voluntary basis.

### Organization of work
- Co-chairs may attribute different issues to different group members while ensuring consistency between proposed solutions where overlaps exist.
- Work organization should consider current advancement status of issues:
  - Some issues relatively well advanced (e.g., CIF-FOB for an interim solution).
  - Some issues broad and needing better specification (e.g., identifying economic presence and residency) or potentially overlapping.
- Detailed timetable should include involvement points for the Committee, BPTT, relevant technical groups (including other statistical domains), and user consultation.
- Work will mainly be carried out remotely via email and tele/video conferences; a physical meeting could be envisaged in the fourth quarter of 2019.
- ISWGNA organizations handle logistical arrangements.

### Milestones
- Appointment of task team members: by mid-April 2019. Updated task team member list in November 2020.
- Report on advancement of work, including presentation of issue papers at Committee and BOPCOM meetings.
- Preparation of a report on activities, including progress on drafting guidance notes, for the Committee report to the UNSC each year: by end November.
- Preparation of guidance notes: 2020 – March 2022, according to the subject.

### Annex 1 — Guidance Note Outline
1. Introduction to the issue
   - Background to the issue and ‘problem statement.’
   - Quantitative size of the issue if known.
2. Existing material
   - The existing SNA approach described, together with other existing material (Handbooks, technical papers, AEG papers from the past if discussed before).
   - Links to other statistical domains.
3. Options considered
   - A list of options, with advantages and disadvantages considered.
   - Options should distinguish between those requiring change in the central system and those developed out of the central system.
4. Recommended approach—conceptual aspects
   - Summary of the recommended conceptual approach.
   - Detailed impacts across the accounts described in the Annex (including potential impacts on key indicators like GDP, GNI...).
5. Recommended approach—practical aspects
   - Focus on practical feasibility—availability of data sources, their quality and timeliness, need for modelling/assumptions.
   - Identification of further work needed to develop/test the approach.
6. Changes required to the 2008 SNA and other statistical domains
   - If relevant, identification of all paragraphs in the 2008 SNA which would need to be updated (with suggested text) and guidance for other statistical domains to maintain consistency.
- Annex: Elaboration of the Impacts of the Recommended Recording on the Full Sequence of Accounts

### Annex 2 — Globalization Task Team members (as of November 2020)
- Co-chairs:
  - Mr. Michael Connolly (Ireland)
  - Mr. Branko Vitas (Australia, from November 2020)
  - Mr. Paul Roberts (Australia, June 2019–July 2020)
  - Mr. Roberto Luís Olinto Ramos (Brazil, April 2019–May 2019)
- Secretariat:
  - Mmes. Jennifer Ribarsky, Margarida Martins, and Padma Sandhya Hurree Gobin (IMF STA)
- Members by country/organization:
  - Africa (COMESA) Mr. Themba Munalula
  - Australia Ms. Grace Kim
  - Brazil Mr. Roberto Luís Olinto Ramos
  - Canada Ms. Jennifer Withington
  - China Ms. Yang Can
  - Germany Mr. Jens Walter
  - Japan Mr. Satoru Hagino
  - Luxembourg Mr. Paul Feuvrier
  - Malaysia Ms. Norhayati Razi
  - Morocco Ms. Lamia Laabar
  - Netherlands Mr. Dirk van den Bergen
  - Mr. Mischa Schirris
  - Mr. Leo Hiemstra
  - Norway Ms. Ann Lisbet Brathaug
  - Russia Mr. Andrey Tatarinov
  - Ms. Natalia Kuprianova
  - United Kingdom Mr. Sanjiv Mahajan
  - United States Mr. Dylan Rassier
  - Uruguay Ms. María Lourdes Erro Azcarate
- Institutional/agency members:
  - Eurostat Mr. Steinar Todsen
  - Mr. Martim Assuncao
  - Ms. Laura Wahrig
  - Mr. Floris Jansen
  - Mr. Daniel Iscru
  - IMF Mr. Phil Stoke (STA Government Division)
  - IMF Ms. Francien Berry (STA Real Sector Division)
  - OECD Mr. Nadim Ahmad
  - UNECE Ms. Tihomira Dimova Rodde
  - Mr. Rami Peltola
  - UNSD Mr. Herman Smith

---


_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/gztt/gztt.pdf_