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28 November 2003

2003 quest. - Summary of question 06 responses

Question 06 from the "questions" document: Do you support the creation, change or continued use of each of the divisions shown in the ISIC structure draft? -please comment on the proposed content of divisions if you disagree -please describe any alternate breakdowns of the 22 sections that you would support

Summary of responses to question 06: The summary of the replies to this question has been organized following the order of the proposed sections for ISIC (1-22) and divisions. For each division, only the replies to Q-06 that are not reflected in the S questions replies, will be summarized. Also only the proposals for changes, etc will be summarized below. Whenever there is agreement it will not be mentioned. The reply count for this question is 46. There are three structure documents that should be considered together with Q-05 and Q-06. These documents are: Doc-0260-1-Australia.doc, Doc-2040-1-France.doc, Other-0750-1-Canada.doc and Doc-5920-1-US. Other proposals on structure have been added to the separate S questions. Divisions of section 1 7 countries have given their comments and suggestions, which are listed below: -the size of 1.3 "hunting, trapping and related services" is too limited, therefore such category should not be included at division level; furthermore is suggested to include it in division 1.2 "Forestry, logging and related services" (4 countries) -fishing and aquaculture, being closely related, should be put together in one division and segregated at group level (4 countries) -clear delineation between agriculture and hunting, and between agriculture and forestry (1 country) Divisions of section 2 5 countries have replied saying that they are against creating a separate division for mining support services, suggesting that: -mining support services should be treated as separate groups within each mining division and that doing otherwise, among other consequences, would create problems for countries supplying data; -the size of mining support services is too small and not significant, could be included in other mining divisions or in explanatory notes. Finland has suggested that Mining and Quarrying section should have this detail: 2. Extraction of Natural Resources 2.1 Extraction of energy minerals 2.2 Extraction of other minerals 2.3 Extraction of soil materials (gravel, sand, soil, peat) 2.4 Water collection (water supply) Divisions of section 3 We have 5 replies, 4 countries and Afristat. Below are their comments: -a proposal to create a division for the production of turnkey projects within manufacturing, close to manufacture of machinery. The production of complete plants goes far beyond the construction of buildings and should be better placed within manufacturing (1 country) -previous divisions 17, 18 and 19 (ISIC 3.1) shouldn't be aggregated as they are very different in terms of technical process and production function (1 country) -previous divisions 17 and 18 can be aggregated, but 19 should remain identifiable (1 country) -since publishing and similar content industries will be removed from current division 22, the remainder of division 22 will not have enough volume to justify its treatment as separate; therefore it is suggested to put together the two proposed divisions 3.4 and 3.5. (1 country) -1 country comments that agrees with the new divisions 3.12, 3.14 and 3.15 but fears it will have to face problems in correct allocation of activities now classified in current division 29 to 33. It comments that the criteria for grouping activities has changed from one based in the use of machinery and equipment to another one based in process. -1 country does not agree with the merging of current divisions 34 and 35, arguing that since international comparability is to be assured at 2-digit level, it is worthwhile to maintain a separate division for motor vehicle industries. -Afristat suggests that the number of divisions in Manufacturing could be reduced, what is already made for example in Afristat classifications. On Repair and Maintenance some countries have reiterated their objection. This is already in Q-05 summary and is not repeated here. Divisions of Section 5 3 countries have given their comments as below: -1 country says that is not sure of the weight and relevance of units engaged in 5.3 "Steam and other gas distribution" and therefore whether they should have one division -2 countries suggests to move "transport of gas via pipelines" from 9.1 to section 5, for the sake of consistency, even if that would lead to a break in continuity. Remark: For this section it is important to see the reply to the Divisions of Section 16. Divisions of Section 6 2 countries have replied with the comments below: - 1 country says that "the site preparation" and "the renting of construction equipment with operator" might be an independent division. - Spain observes that the split into 6.1 "Construction of buildings" and 6.2 "Civil engineering", might not be very appropriate. The big companies in different projects and fluctuate their activities from year to year. Divisions of Section 7 5 countries have given their comments and proposals as below: -a separate and unchanged motor trades division should be maintained (current division 50) -1 country has given this proposal for the structure of the section at the two digit level: Trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods Trade, maintenance and repair of motors vehicles and motorcycles and trade of automotive fuel Wholesale trade Retail trade Repair of personal and household goods -Spain asks for one additional category for commission agents Divisions of Section 8 We have reply from 1 country and from World Tourism Organization. The country reply is being quoted: "Not all we do not agree to division 8.2 Food services since we think that it's not appropriate due to the rapid change of food service to become into informal sector oriented". The reply from WTO supports the division breakdown of this section, and gives specific detail for the 3 and 4 digit level. This detail will be summarized at Q-07. Divisions of Section 9 14 countries have given their comments as below: -13 countries object the creation of a division for scenic transportation for the following reasons: -such a division (and data reported on it0 would capture only a part of this transportation (not necessarily its major part), since scenic transportation services are provided by specialized units as well as regular transportation units -scenic transportation is closer to recreational activities -may have some relevance for tourism statistics, but has cons ( against the production principle, mix mode of transport, difficult to implement) -2 countries says that it is better to keep "Travel agents, tour operators and other reservation services" in "Transportation and storage". - related remark: 1 country has suggested to move transportation of gas to gas distribution (5.2) and the other transport via pipelines to 2.2. Therefore the country suggests that with this change it makes no sense to speak of transport by pipeline. Divisions of Section 11 1 country says that the title for "Other financial services" 11.3 should be "Financial support services". Divisions of Section 12 3 countries have given their comments as below: -2 countries are against creating a division level category for leasing of intangible assets, -Portugal has given a proposal for the division level structure of this section and also gives the section itself a different name which reflects its contents: Renting, letting, real estate, scientific, technical and administrative activities, mainly to business Renting Letting and real estate Legal, accounting, book -keeping and auditing activities Architecture and Engineering services Technical testing and analysis Management consultancy activities Research and development Advertising services Leasing of intangible assets (except copyrighted works) Building and industrial cleaning Investigation and security activities, labour recruitment and provision of personal Secretarial and similar office activities Other technical and administrative activities Divisions of Section 13 4 countries have given their comments as below: -1 country says that section 13 is subdivided too much at the division level. The country says that it is true that the service part of a future ISIC should be more disaggregated than today, but that should not be done in an excessive way. The country suggests that 13.1 and 13.2 can be combined, also 13.3 and 13.4. - 2 countries says that division 13.5 should stay in "Information and Communication" with the other activities related to Information. - 1 country says that the boundary between division 13.5 and the divisions of section 10 has to be defined. Divisions of Section 14 1 country has replied saying that this section is too much subdivided at the division level, giving the same reasoning as for the previous section. The country suggests that for example 14.4 should be combined with 14.8. Divisions of Section 15 1 country suggests putting section 22 as a division in section 15. Divisions of Section 16 2 countries have replied as below: - 1 country suggest that within this new section, the content of the present division 37, should be identified as a new division - 1 country suggests including the entire content of section 16 within section 5 "Utilities" which will have the breakdown as follows: Electricity, gas, water supply and environment industries Electric power generation, transmission and distribution Natural gas and other gas distribution Steam and air conditioning supply Water collection and supply; sewage Waste treatment and disposal Remediation activities Divisions of Section 17 5 countries have given their comments as below: - the 5 countries are against a division category for education support activities; one says it is too small, an other is insignificant, an other says that it could be recognized at group level - 1 country proposes for a division category for training Divisions of Section 18 We have 8 replies on this, 7 countries and OECD. The comments are below: -in all replies the split between health and social work at the division level is requested -furthermore OECD supports that there is an analytical argument for making pharmaceuticals a division level category, due to its high-tech status and size. Divisions of Section 19 2 countries have replied, one saying that section 19 is too much subdivided at the division level and the other asking for separation of sporting activities at division level. There are also some general comments given throughout the reply to Q-06 question. The main idea is that the proposed number of divisions (90) is considered too high. Countries recommend that the size of categories should be considered. Germany gives specific comments that are quoted below: "Draft ISIC Rev. 4 has 22 sections and more than 90 divisions. Among them there are some probably covering only a small number of statistical units - not only in Germany. This leads to confidentiality problems. Special problems are resulting from such a limited number of units per division for National Accounts. It is typical of National Accounts that results are calculated by a combination of data from different surveys. Uncertainties concerning the basic data will agglomerate in National Accounts. If it will not be possible to reduce the number of divisions (covering probably a small number of units), we fear that our colleagues in specific statistics will have no other choice than to aggregate some of these divisions - perhaps even unsystematically (divisions from different sections). In this connection the most serious problem will result for National Accounts, for which the division level plays a central role. Such aggregations run counter to the aim of the revision, which is the improvement of international comparability of statistical data."