1. WORKING GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATIONS (GTCI) Meeting of the Expert Group on International Statistical Classifications New York, United States of America 13-15 May 2013

2. Formation of the GTCI Its formation was agreed in the “Regional Seminar on the exchange of experiences on classifications and nomenclatures”, at Santiago de Chile in 2010, organized by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE- Population Division) together with the SCA/ECLAC Census Group, and with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

3. General objective of the GTCI Support the countries of the region in adopting or adapting the new versions of the international classifications, in order to contribute to the development of official statistics in the various statistical programs.

4. Classifications that will be used within the GTCI International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). Central Product Classification (CPC). International Standard Classification on Occupations (ISCO).

5. GTCI Members The Andean Community and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) are represented as well. 17 National Statistical Offices (NSO) : BarbadosGuatemala BoliviaHaiti BrazilHonduras ChileMexico ColombiaPanama Costa RicaPeru Dominican RepublicSaint Lucia EcuadorUruguay El Salvador

6. Steering Committee Subcommittee for the translation of the CPC Ver.2 and the changes to the CPC Ver 2.1. Composed by Chile, Colombia and Peru, it is coordinated by Colombia. Subcommittee for the translation of the ISIC Rev. 4 Implementation Guide. Constituted by Chile and Mexico, and assisted by Argentina, it is coordinated by Chile. Training subcommittee. Composed by Costa Rica and Uruguay, and assisted by Paraguay, it is coordinated by Uruguay. Organization of the GTCI members

7. Benefits of the GTCI for Latin American and Caribbean countries Having a mechanism to raise, discuss, agree and specify classification proposals reflecting their economies and in turn support the update of international classifications. Be timely informed about updates to the international economic and social classifications, in order to foresee the impacts on their own classifications and the resources necessary for the implementation or adaptation of new versions.

8. Benefits of the GTCI for Latin American and Caribbean countries Access to all documents regarding the ISIC, CPC and ISCO classifications. Have a means to strengthen and formalize the horizontal collaborations between members. Strengthening the communication basis not only between the classifications used in the region but between statistics.

9. GTCI Meetings First face-to-face meeting was held in Santiago de Chile in September 2012. A video conference was held in April 2013 to follow up the tasks agreed in the first meeting. Second face-to-face meeting will be held in June 2013 at INEGI headquarters in Aguascalientes, México.

10. Main outcomes Learn the progress and challenges faced by the NSO in the implementation or adoption of the ISIC, CPC and ISCO classifications. Formalize horizontal collaboration regarding the implementation or adoption of the classifications. Obtain direct answers from the UN on difficult classification issues.

11. Horizontal collaboration Findings from the First meeting of the GTCI:  The countries that attended the meeting apply the ISIC.  Countries such as Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay needed priority support to implement the CPC, and  Peru requested advice on the ISCO.

12. The horizontal collaboration that was materialized: Colombia - Uruguay

13. Horizontal collaboration Colombia - Uruguay Uruguay’s Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) and Banco Central de Uruguay (BCU) are developing an adaptation titled Clasificación Central de Productos Ver. 2 Adaptada a Uruguay (CPCAU), and  Requested Colombia’s Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísticas (DANE) to share its experience (Colombia has developed the adaptation process since the CPC 1.0 version).

14. Collaboration work carried out in three phases: I.Colombia reviewed the CPCAU making a series of remarks and comments which were discussed in working groups. II.Colombia exposed the classification’s conceptual framework and the procedure followed up by DANE to develop the adaptation proposal.

15. Collaboration work carried out in three phases: III. Colombia shared: – Explanatory notes of the HS. – A paper on the CPC conceptual framework. – The translation of the CPC numerical index. The final report is being drafted and will be sent to the participants.

16. Challenges faced in the horizontal collaboration Before the CPC, Uruguay used to work with a product classification by activity which had to be migrated to the CPC; there were two different types of classifications conceptually speaking, and even if related, they implied a major methodological change. Considering the close relationship between the ISIC and the CPC, much of the detail in the CPCAU came from what was already found in the ISIC, therefore it was not easy to establish a relationship between the CPC and the CPCAU. The economy of each country is different, thus there are specific elements that must be shown in the adaptation; e.g.: – Bank operation supervision services: Are carried out by Uruguay’s Central Bank It is a service rendered by a separate entity in Colombia.

17. Collaboration’s conclusions Collaboration processes generate a very interesting learning experience not only for the country which receives the cooperation but also for the one which gives it. The need expressed in the first meeting of the GTCI in Santiago de Chile is reiterated: – It is very important that the UN provides the NSO the Spanish translation of the classifications simultaneously with its English versions, since many doubts during the collaboration process were related to the translation used by Uruguay.

18. Electronic Forum You can actively participate in the GTCI through the Electronic Forum, you only need to request your access code at: GTCI.CEPAL@cepal.org

19. THANK YOU Eva Castillo Navarrete Subdirector, Classification of Economic Activities and Products Chair of the GTCI