90725 International Comparison Program [01.05] Planned Approach to Link the Pacific Islands to the ICP Athol Maritz 7th Technical Advisory Group Meeting September 17-18, 2012 Washington DC Planned Approach to Link the Pacific Islands to the ICP Note from Athol Maritz, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Background In the 2011 round of the global ICP - their first - the Pacific is being treated differently from other regions. The major differences are:  Data is being collected through calendar year 2012.  Only prices are being collected. There is no formal plan at this stage to provide any expenditure data. Without expenditure data, basic headings will all get the same weights. If time and resources permit, we will try to generate basic heading expenditures from available HIES data, but this cannot be guaranteed at this stage.  Only household consumption item prices are being collected.  GCL items do not figure to any meaningful extent in the Pacific Product List. The idea is to rely solely on a regional product list and then link the Pacific to the rest of the world by including Fiji (already in Asia) and New Zealand and Australia (already in the OECD). Organizational Aspects and Coordination The involvement of the Pacific islands is being coordinated by the ABS with funding from AusAID. Countries participating At this point, all 21 Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) are participating in the Pacific ICP. For March and June 2012, 20 of 21 countries provided data with the exception of New Caledonia. However, they have now identified a resource to do the work and have signaled their intention to provide data. Annex 1 lists the participating countries. Activities including meetings and technical assistance missions The main activities are/have been the following:  Initial workshop in November 2011 in Fiji to meet the participants, to provide background on the ICP and finalize the Pacific Product List  Second workshop in March 2012 in Fiji to provide participants with the ICP software and discuss validation of March quarterly data  Third workshop is scheduled for November 2012 in Fiji to discuss the validation of March, June and September quarterly data  Final workshop is planned for March 2013 Other activities have been a series of country visits, including a visit to key regional centers in the Solomon Islands to broaden ICP data collection beyond Honiara. 2 Price Surveys and Item List Price surveys are conducted quarterly using Price Collection Sheets designed for the purpose. The item list is available in Annex 2. Where ICP items are similar to CPI items, countries have agreed to collect ICP prices at all outlets that are currently sampled for the CPI. It is not proven feasible to engage in a broader price collection for this round of the ICP except in a small number of cases such as the Solomon Islands. However, in practice this has not always occurred and "encouraging" countries to expand their sampled outlets is one of the ongoing challenges of the Pacific ICP. A number of countries are also relying heavily on their CPI to provide ICP prices. Price Validation Price validation is being undertaken using the ICP software kit and according to established ICP methodologies. However it is proving difficult to engage in multiple iterations of the data validation due to the slow turnaround of queries. This seems to be a fact of life in the Pacific, but we hope that with the broader effort towards statistical building capacity in the Pacific this will improve over time. Adjustment of Prices and Calculation of Annual Averages With March data not yet finalized and June data in the initial stages of validation, we have not yet given much attention to the adjustment of prices and calculation of annual averages. National Accounts No specific National Accounts activities will be conducted for the Pacific ICP. There may be some opportunity to use existing HIES data for the purpose of compiling consumption data. Calculation of PPPs for Household Consumption Only very preliminary PPPs have been calculated to date, as part of the Quaranta analysis. Linking Approach in Brief Linking of the Pacific to other regions will rely on an overlap of countries rather than an overlap of products. In particular Fiji is participating in both the Pacific ICP and the Asian region ICP, and New Zealand and Australia are participating in both the Pacific ICP and the non-European OECD PPP/ICP. Conclusion The focus for calendar year 2012 is data collection - more particularly on trying to ensure the highest quality data possible under the circumstances. The technical details of how the linking will be carried out have yet to be considered and we will be seeking guidance from the TAG on this matter. 3 Annex 1. Current status of participation in the Pacific ICP COUNTRY/TERRITORY POPULATION PARTICIPATION No of ITEMS PRICED PNG 6,888,297 YES 118 FIJI 851,745 YES 96 SAMOA 183,617 YES 109 TONGA 103,682 YES 112 VANUATU 251,784 YES 100 SOLOMON ISLANDS 553,254 YES 118 FSM 102,360 YES 113 KIRIBATI 102,697 YES 108 MARSHALL ISLANDS 54,999 YES 85 PALAU 20,643 YES 107 COOK ISLANDS 15,576 YES 40 TUVALU 11,206 YES 41 NAURU 10,185 YES 62 NIUE 1,446 YES 82 TOKELAU 1,162 YES 20 GUAM 192,090 YES 107 CNMI 63,517 YES 42 AMERICAN SAMOA 66,692 YES 86 FRENCH POLYNESIA 271,831 YES 72 NEW CALEDONIA 252,331 UNCERTAIN UNCERTAIN WALLIS AND FUTUNA 13,193 YES 100 NEW ZEALAND 4.5 m YES 98 AUSTRALIA 22.5 m YES 87 4 Annex 2. List of Items in the Pacific ICP Product Code Product Name 110111106 MEDIUM GRAIN (CALROSE) RICE 1KG 110111107 MEDIUM GRAIN (CALROSE) 20KG 110111108 JASMINE RICE 1 KG 110111202 WHEAT FLOUR -NOT SELF RAISING 110111207 WHEET-BIX (SANATARIUM) 110111301 BAGUETTES-FRENCH BREAD 110111305 WHITE SLICED BREAD 110111401 OREOS OR SIMILAR CREME BISCUITS 110111402 OREOS SNACK PACK 110111408 NAVY BISCUITS OR SHIPS BISCUITS 110111409 UNSALTED CRACKERS 110111410 BREAKFAST CRACKERS 110111502 SPAGHETTI 110111507 2 MINUTE NOODLES 110111509 RICE VERMECELLI 110111510 BEAN NOODLES Cellophane (Longkou) 110112102 STEAK-BEEF Medium Quality 110112109 BEEF SAUSAGES-FROZEN 110112201 PORK CHOPS-FROZEN 110112302 LAMB CHOPS 110112402 FROZEN CHICKEN WHOLE 110112404 FROZEN CHICKEN LEGS 110112407 TURKEY TAILS 110112504 CORNED BEEF-CANNED 110113104 FRESH TUNA STEAKS- YELLOWFIN 110113109 FRESH WHOLE TUNA- SKIPJACK 110113110 REEF FISH 110113201 TINNED SARDINES 110113202 CANNED TUNA 110113203 CANNED MACKEREL 110114102 UHT MILK 110114201 CONDENSED MILK 110114202 POWDERED MILK 110114301 CHEDDAR CHEESE 110114306 PROCESSED CHEESE-SLICES 110114402 EGGS-MEDIUM SIZED CAGED 10-12 EGGS 110115102 BUTTER SALTED 110115103 MARGARINE 110115306 VEGETABLE OIL 110116101 RED APPLE 110116102 BANANAS-IMPORTED 5 Product Code Product Name 110116103 BANANAS-DOMESTIC (EXCLUDE LADY FINGERS) 110116201 TINNED PINEAPPLE 110117101 CUCUMBER 110117104 ONIONS 110117106 TOMATO 110117107 CABBAGE 110117201 BROWN POTATO 110117202 SWEET POTATO-KUMARA 110117203 CASSAVA 110117204 TARO 110118101 WHITE SUGAR 110118102 RAW SUGAR 110118201 JAM 110118303 CHEWING GUM 110118305 ICE CREAM 110118307 CANDIES-MINT CHEWS 110119102 SALT 110119103 TOMATO SAUCE 110119105 SOY SAUCE 110121102 INSTANT COFFEE 110121105 TEA BAGS 110122102 COCA COLA 110122107 SPRING ARTESIAN WATER 110211101 ABSOLUT VODKA 110211102 JOHNNY WALKER RED 110211103 GORDONS GIN 110211105 BARCARDI 110213103 HEINEKEN BEER BOTTLED -6 PACK 110213104 BEER CANNED IMPORTED 110221102 CIGARETTES 110231101 KAVA 110312105 MENS T-SHIRT 110312109 WOMENS BLOUSE 110312122 PRIAMRY SCHOOL SHIRT 110312129 MENS BRIEFS 110321103 NIKE RUNNING SHOES 110321111 FAKE NIKE SPORTS SHOES 110321112 THONGS,SANDALS,FLIPFLOPS,ZORRIES 110431101 PAINT 110431102 SILICONE 110431103 CEMENT 110431104 TILES 110431105 NAILS 6 Product Code Product Name 110431106 TIMBER 110431107 PVC PIPE 110431108 18MM MARINE PLY 110441101 PIPED WATER 110451104 ELECTRICITY 110452101 GAS BOTTLE REFILL 110453102 KEROSENE 110521103 TOWELS 110531105 REFRIGERATOR 110531108 WASHING MACHINE 110552104 AA BATTERIES 110561101 WASHING POWDER 110561110 ALUMINIUM FOIL 110561111 MOSQUITO COILS 110561112 WOODEN MATCH STICKS- 10 10 BOX PACK 110611101 PARACETAMOL 110711114 CAR-COROLLA 110712101 MOTORBIKE-YAMAHA-HONDA 110722101 UNLEADED GASOLINE-PETROL 110722104 DIESEL 110722106 MOTOR OIL-MULTIGRADE 110723102 TYRES 110723105 CAR BATTERY 110732101 BUS FARE 110732108 TAXI FARE 110733102 INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT 110811103 POSTAL OF A PARCEL DOMESTIC 110811104 POSTAGE OF A PARCEL INTERNATIONAL 110831101 FIXED LINE FEE INCLUDING FREE DOM. CALLS 110831102 TELEPHONE CALL LOCAL EVENING- FIXED LINE 110831104 MOBILE PHONE CALL 110911105 LCD TV 110942103 CINEMA TICKET 110951105 DAILY NEWSPAPER 111111102 FISH MEAL 111211106 HOTEL ACCOMMODATION CAP. CITY 111212103 TOOTHPASTE TUBE 111212108 TOILET SOAP 111212109 NAPPIES/DAIPERS 111212110 TOILET PAPER 7