STATISTICS ON THE TRADING OF GOODS
(c) Eurostat 1998
USER GUIDE
Also see: PDF version: http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat
2002 / 127p (876 KB)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I - METHODOLOGICAL RULES
A. Statistics on trade with non-member countries
A.1. Legal basis
A.2. Coverage
A.3. Party responsible for providing statistical information
A.4. Reference period
A.5. Statistical territory
A.6. Statistical data
A.7. Exclusions
A.8. Specific movements of goods
B. Statistics on trade between Member States
B.1. Legal basis
B.2. Coverage
B.3. Party responsible for providing statistical data
B.4. Statistical thresholds
B.5. Reference period
B.6. Statistical territory
B.7. Statistical data
B.8. Exclusions
B.9. Specific movements of goods
C. Methodological differences
C.1. Differences between Community statistics and the statistics of
non-member
countries
C.2. Differences between Community statistics and national statistics
CHAPTER II - COLLECTION AND COMPILATION OF STATISTICS
A. Data collection and transmission
B. Contents and presentation of the results
B.1. Nature and definition of the data
B.2. Adjusted data
B.3. Confidential data
B.4. Indices
B.5. Seasonally-adjusted data
C. Statistical discrepancies
C.1. Statistical discrepancies relating
to extra-EU trade
C.2. Statistical discrepancies relating
to intra-EU trade
CHAPTER III - DISSEMINATION OF STATISTICS
A. The COMEXT database
B. The NewCronos database
C. The COMEXT CD-ROM
D. Publications in paper form
D.1. Statistical Yearbook
D.2. Monthly bulletin
D.3. Press releases
D.4. Statistics in Focus
D.5. Intrastat Newsletter
D.6. Thematic publications
ANNEXES
1. Community legislation relating to statistics on the
trading of goods
2. Names and addresses of the competent national authorities
3a. The statistical recording of goods on import and arrival
3b.The statistical recording of goods on export and dispatch
4. List of statistical exclusions
5. Amount of Intrastat thresholds
6. List of alphanumeric codes
7. Adjustment of data under Intrastat
8. Foreign trade indices: methodology and sources
The Statistical Office of the European
Communities (Eurostat) compiles
statistics on the trading of goods from data
which are collected, checked,
compiled and transmitted each month by the statistical institutes
of the Member
States.
Within this framework, Eurostat performs numerous tasks:
Ü Firstly, it is responsible for harmonising Community
legislation in the
field of statistics on the trading of goods
and ensuring that the
legislation is applied correctly. The statistics
are therefore based on
precise legal texts, directly applicable in
the Member States, and on
definitions and procedures which have to a
large extent been harmonised
(cf. Annex 1, list of relevant Community legislation).
Ü Eurostat is also responsible for disseminating the
statistics. Its major
concerns in this area are to improve the quality
and topicality of the
statistics transmitted by the Member States
and to diversify the methods of
dissemination: in addition to the monthly
production of a CD-ROM and more
traditional paper publications aimed at the
public, the national and
Community administrations have on-line access
to the 'COMEXT' database
(which contains all the available data on
foreign trade). The main results
can also be accessed via the Internet.
Ü Within the framework of Intrastat (the system for
collecting statistics on
intra-Community trade), Eurostat has developed
a number of measures and
automated tools designed to facilitate the
various stages of production:
completion of the declaration (using electronic
forms and declaration
software), exchange of data between industry
and the national statistical
institutes, data processing at national level,
exchange of data between the
national authorities and Eurostat, processing
by Eurostat and, finally,
dissemination. All these steps are defined
under the EDICOM Programme
(Electronic Data Interchange in Commerce).
Ü Cooperation is a major area of concern for Eurostat.
Foreign trade
statistics are a key indicator of the economic
development of the European
Union's trading partners and cooperation is
a key instrument for improving
the quality and comparability of these statistics.
It must be stressed that most of the action taken by Eurostat
is decided on and
implemented in close cooperation with the Member States,
which are responsible
for collecting and processing the basic information (see Annex
2 for details of
the competent national authorities). Cooperation has
been formalised by the
creation of working parties and management committees.
The usefulness of the statistics on the trading of goods
published by Eurostat
no longer needs to be demonstrated. They are an instrument of primary
importance
for numerous public- and private-sector decision-makers.
For example, they
enable Community authorities to prepare multilateral and bilateral
negotiations
within the framework of the common commercial
p
progress of the Single Market and the integration
of European economies; they
help European companies to do market research
and define their commercial
strategy; and they constitute an essential source of information
for balance of
payments statistics, national accounts and studies
of economic cycles. This
list, which is not exhaustive, demonstrates the diversity of the users
and their
needs.
Eurostat tries to meet these various needs
while adapting to a changing
environment. The system of collecting statistics
on the trading of goods has
undergone major changes in recent years. The
introduction in 1988 of the
Combined Nomenclature (CN) and Single Administrative Document
(SAD) had already
made some important changes to statistics on trade
with non-member countries.
Above all, it was the advent of the Single
Market 1 January 1993, with its
removal of customs formalities (the traditional source
of statistical data)
between Member States which caused the most confusion,
leading to the adoption
of a specially designed collection system, Intrastat, for
statistics on intra-
Community trade.
These changes necessitate greater vigilance on the
part of statistical users
because they obviously affect the nature, quality and coverage
of the data. In
particular, the introduction of Intrastat in 1993
involved a methodological
break with the past and affected the quality
of the statistics. Efforts are
being made to improve the quality of the results,
rationalise the statistical
system and reduce the burden on data providers, while maintaining a
satisfactory
level of information.
Important note
The information contained in this guide does not supersede existing
regulations
governing foreign trade statistics. It therefore
has no legal force and is
intended only as a means of providing users with a simple, basic methodology
and
describing the various Community statistics which
they can access. Eurostat
(Unit C/4, fax: (352) 43 01 34339)
will be pleased to provide further
information.
METHODOLOGICAL RULES
A. Statistics on trade with non-member
countries
A.1. Legal basis
Statistics on the European Union's trade with non-member
countries (hereafter
referred to as 'extra-EU trade statistics') are based on
Council Regulation No
1172/95 of 22 May 1995 (1), which is
supplemented by various Commission
Regulations (1) laying down detailed rules and dealing
with certain specific
aspects, such as product classifications, country codes, etc.
Two features of the Regulation deserve special mention:
Ü In conformity with the concept of 'special trade',
the subject of external
trade statistics and the information which
they contain are defined with
reference to the Regulation and customs procedures,
whereas the collection
of data is based mainly on the Single Administrative
Document (SAD).
Ü In order to meet their specific national needs,
the Member States collect
and process other information which is contained
in the SAD but which is
not required for statistical purposes at Community
level. Similarly,
specific regulations governing certain fields
exist at national level in
the absence of harmonisation at Community
level. This is particularly so in
the case of 'specific' movements (military
goods, postal consignments,
etc.; see A.8.). Some Member States also compile
statistics on transit,
customs warehouses, free zones and free warehouses.
A.2. Coverage
Extra-EU trade statistics record movable property imported
and exported by the
European Union.
The following are regarded as imports in a given Member State:
a) goods which enter the statistical territory of this Member
State from a
non-member country and are:
- placed under the customs
procedure for release into free circulation
(goods intended
to be consumed in the importing Member State or
dispatched to
another Member State), either immediately or after a
period in a
customs warehouse; or
- placed under the customs
procedure for inward processing (3) or
processing under
customs control (usually goods destined to be
processed, transformed
or repaired for subsequent re-export) either
immediately
or after a period in a customs warehouse.
b) boats and aircraft whose ownership is being transferred from
a person
established in a non-member country to a person
established in the Member
State in question.
The following are regarded as exports in a given Member State:
a) goods which leave the statistical territory of this Member
State bound for
a non-member country, having gone through;
- the customs export procedure
(final export, export following inward
processing,
etc.); or
- the customs outward-processing
procedure (usually goods destined to be
processed, transformed
or repaired for subsequent re-import).
b) boats and aircraft whose ownership is being transferred from
a person
resident in the Member State in question to
a person resident in a non-
member country.
Extra-EU trade statistics do not, therefore, record exchanges involving
goods in
transit, placed in a customs warehouse or given temporary
admission (for trade
fairs, temporary exhibitions, tests, etc.).
The field covered by these statistics corresponds to what
is known as 'special
trade'.
This accounting method is quite different from the 'general trade' method,
which
takes into account all goods entering and leaving
the statistical territory,
with the exception of simple transit.
In particular, imports at customs
warehouses and exports which have been in customs warehouses
are included under
general trade.
A diagram of the procedure for the statistical recording of imports
and exports
is given in Annex 3.
A.3. Party responsible
for providing statistical information
As a general rule, the declaring party provides
the statistical information
while completing the customs formalities.
A.4. Reference period
Extra-EU trade statistics are compiled monthly. The
reference period is the
calendar month in which the goods are imported
or exported. In practice,
information is generally assigned to the month in
which the customs authority
accepts the declaration.
A.5. Statistical territory
The statistical territory of the European
Union (and its Member States)
corresponds to its customs territory. However, the French overseas
departements
(Guadeloupe, Guyane, Martinique, Reunion) and the Canary
Islands were regarded
as non-member countries until 31 December 1996.
NB:
On the basis of this definition of statistical territory, Eurostat
publications
contain the results for the Member States, considered individually
as 'declaring
countries', and those for the European Union as a whole.
A.6. Statistical data
The main statistical data published by Eurostat are as follows:
Ü the declaring Member State,
Ü the reference period,
Ü the goods flow,
Ü the product,
Ü the non-member trading partner,
Ü the statistical procedure,
Ü the statistical value,
Ü the net mass (in tonnes),
Ü supplementary units (litres, number of parts, etc.).
Definitions of these data (together with the codes used) are given in II.B.1.
Other data are also available:
Ü TARIC goods codes (for imports only),
Ü preferences (information on any preferential tariff which may apply),
Ü mode of transport,
Ü the nationality of the means of transport at the frontier,
Ü the container.
Transport data are available from the COMEXT database (see III.A.).
Information
on the TARIC code and preferences is also available in
COMEXT, although access
is restricted to public authorities.
A.7. Exclusions
Extra-EU trade statistics do not cover the following imports and exports:
Ü those whose value and net mass are lower than the
statistical threshold
fixed by a Member State within the limit permitted
by Community
legislation. The threshold is fixed so that
any export or import with a net
mass of more than one tonne or a value of
ECU 800 is recorded;
Ü those which are excluded pursuant to special provisions
of Community
legislation (cf. Annex 4).
A.8. Specific movements
of goods
Specific movements are movements of goods whose characteristics
are significant
for the interpretation of the information. The characteristics may
relate to the
movement itself, the nature of the goods, the transaction
which gives rise to
the movement, or the exporter or importer of the goods.
Specific movements of goods include mainly movements
of military goods, ships
and aircraft, marine products, domestic and foreign
armed forces, industrial
plant, staggered consignments, ship's provisions, facilities
used on the high
seas, etc.
The collection and processing of information relating
to these operations are
generally covered by special or simplified rules. In the
absence of harmonised
statistical rules at Community level, national provisions apply.
Some of the trade involving specific movements of goods is included
in Eurostat
statistics under alphanumeric codes (see Annex 6).
B. Statistics on trade between
Member States
B.1. Legal basis
Statistics on trade between the Member States of the European
Union (hereafter
referred to as 'intra-EU trade statistics') are based
on Council Regulation
(EEC) No 3330/91 of 7 November 1991 and on the various implementing
Regulations
which lay down or supplement the rules on methodology, thresholds and
forms (cf.
Annex 1 for a complete list of relevant Community legislation).
The Intrastat system, which was created as a
means of collecting information
relating to trade between Member States, came into operation
on 1 January 1993.
Its main features are as follows:
Ü It provides for direct collection of information
from companies, which send
the relevant statistical institute a summary
declaration for the previous
month. In France and Italy, these declarations
also serve statistical and
fiscal purposes.
Ü It is based on a close link with the VAT system
relating to intra-Community
trade. The tax authorities of the Member States
are thus required, at least
once every quarter, to transmit to the statistical
services a list of
operators which have made purchases or sales,
and the value of these
operations, so that the exhaustiveness and
quality of the statistical data
can be checked.
Ü It aims to reduce the burden on companies as far
as possible. For all
companies involved, the advent of Intrastat
resulted in a lighter workload
compared with the previous system. Moreover,
the application of a threshold
system meant that very many operators were
exempted from any formalities or
that the information which they had to provide
was significantly reduced.
Ü Also with a view to simplification, measures to
modernise data capture and
transmission were introduced as part of the
EDICOM programme. Numerous
tools were developed and promoted. They were
intended for both the
information providers (e.g. EDP software packages)
and the statistical
services (improved collection and processing
of statistical data).
B.2. Coverage
Intra-EU trade statistics record the arrival and dispatch
of movable property
recorded by each Member State.
Arrivals in a given Member State include:
a) goods in free circulation which enter the statistical territory
of the
Member State;
b) goods which have been placed under the customs procedure for
inward
processing or processing under customs control
(for processing,
transformation or repair) in another Member
State and which enter the
statistical territory of the Member State
in question;
c) boats and aircraft whose ownership is being transferred from
a person
resident in another Member State to a person
resident in the Member State
in question.
Dispatches in a given Member State include:
a) goods in free circulation which leave the statistical territory
of the
Member State bound for another Member State;
b) goods which have been placed under the customs procedure for
inward
processing or processing under customs control
(for processing,
transformation or repair) in the Member State
and which are destined for
another Member State;
c) boats and aircraft whose ownership is being transferred from
a person
established in this Member State to a person
established in another Member
State.
A diagram of the procedure for the statistical
recording of arrivals and
dispatches is given in Annex 3.
NB:
Ü Intra-EU trade statistics do not record goods in
transit.
Ü Intra-EU trade statistics are not based on either
the general or the
special trade system; these concern customs
procedures. Given its coverage
of transactions, however, Intrastat closely
matches the general trade
system.
B.3. Party responsible
for providing statistical data
In theory, any natural or legal person who engages
in trade between Member
States is obliged to provide statistical data. In practice, those
companies who
are required to make tax (VAT) declarations when trading in goods between
Member
States are responsible for providing statistical information.
B.4. Statistical thresholds
In order to reduce the burden on enterprises, particularly
SMEs, the Intrastat
workload for information providers varies according
to the amount of trade
between Member States in which they are engaged.
Each Member State therefore
applies a threshold system aimed at guaranteing
a satisfactory quality of
statistical data and reducing the workload for companies.
There are various
types of threshold:
Ü an assimilation threshold, below which no statistical
declaration is
required. In certain Member States, all or
part of trade below this
threshold is included, subject to adjustments
(cf. II.B.2.);
Ü a simplification threshold, below which only data
on 'product', 'partner
Member State' and 'value' are required;
Ü a threshold which exempts some information providers
from reporting the
statistical value;
Ü a transaction threshold which allows information
providers to group
together transactions with individual values
of less than ECU 100.
As a guide, the thresholds applied by the Member States
since 1993 are set out
in Annex 5.
B.5. Reference period
Intra-EU trade statistics are compiled monthly. The
reference period is the
calendar month, the information for each arrival or dispatch being
assigned to a
given month on the basis of the date on which Value Added
Tax becomes payable.
In practice, information is generally recorded in the month
in which the goods
were traded or, failing that, the following month.
B.6. Statistical territory
The statistical territory of the Member States corresponds
to their customs
territory.
However, until 31 December 1996, the French overseas departements and
the Canary
Islands did not form part of French and Spanish territory respectively,
but were
regarded as non-member countries.
NB:
On the basis of this definition of statistical territory, Eurostat
publications
contain the results for the Member States, considered individually
as 'declaring
countries', and those of the European Union as a whole.
B.7. Statistical data
The statistical data published by Eurostat are as follows:
Ü the declaring Member State,
Ü the reference period,
Ü the goods flow,
Ü the product, as defined in the Combined Nomenclature,
Ü the partner Member State,
Ü the statistical value,
Ü the net mass (in tonnes),
Ü supplementary units (for example: litres, number of parts),
Ü mode of transport.
The definitions of these data (together with the
codes used) are given in
II.B.1.
B.8. Exclusions
Intra-EU trade statistics do not cover the following arrivals and dispatches:
Ü Those effected by private individuals or small enterprises
which are exempt
from periodic tax declarations.
Ü Those which are excluded pursuant to special provisions
of Community
legislation (the list of exclusions is reproduced
in Annex 4).
B.9. Specific movements
of goods
Specific movements are movements of goods whose characteristics
are significant
for the interpretation of the information. The characteristics may
relate to the
movement itself, the nature of the goods, or the transaction which
gives rise to
the movement, from either the exporter's or importer's point of view.
Specific movements of goods include mainly movements
of military goods, ships
and aircraft, sea products, domestic and foreign armed forces, industrial
plant,
staggered consignments, ship's stones and bunker
supplies, installations sea,
etc.
The collection and processing of information relating
to these operations are
generally covered by special or simplified rules. In the
absence of harmonised
statistical rules at Community level, national provisions apply.
Some of the trade involving specific movements of goods is included
in Eurostat
statistics under alphanumeric codes (see Annex 6).
C. Methodological differences
C.1. Differences between Community statistics and the statistics of non-
member countries
There can be differences in the methods used
by the European Union and those
adopted by its trading partners in the rest
of the world: in terms of trade
coverage, these include the choice
of partner country, the value of
transactions, etc.
Thus, the European Union bases its foreign trade
statistics on the 'special
trade' system, while the USA, Japan and Canada, for example,
apply the 'general
trade' system (cf. I.A.2. for the definition of these systems).
These methodological differences can give rise
to considerable statistical
discrepancies (cf. II.C.). Eurostat regularly performs
a reconciliation of EU
trade statistics and those of its main trading partners
(e.g. USA, Canada and
Japan), in order to measure and explain the discrepancies.
Nevertheless, it should be stressed that considerable efforts
have been made at
international level to improve the harmonisation of methods. In terms
of product
classifications, for example, more than 150
countries use the Harmonised
Commodity Description and Coding System (HS). Also, the United Nations
publishes
a handbook of methodological recommendations
for compiling external trade
statistics(4).
C.2. Differences between Community statistics and national statistics
Community legislation serves as a basis for compiling
the extra- and intra-
Community trade statistics published by Eurostat and the Member States.
However,
as the boxed example below shows, Community statistics, which cover
the European
Union as a whole, and the statistics compiled by
the Member States, which are
concerned with the national dimension, are not always directly comparable.
There
can be methodological differences which make
precise comparison of these
statistics impossible.
The principal differences are as follows:
Ü Breakdown by partner country
For arrivals of goods from other Member States,
certain Member States
record the country of origin as the partner
country, whereas the Member
State of consignment appears in Community
statistics relating to the same
movements.
Ü Treatment of goods in transit
Some Member States, particularly Belgium and
the Netherlands, do not record
goods which they consider to be 'in transit'.
This involves, firstly,
imports from non-member countries which are
cleared in these Member States
before being dispatched to other Member States
and, secondly, goods from
other Member States which are immediately
re-exported to non-member
countries.
These goods are normally recorded under intra-
or extra-EU trade, as
appropriate. This phenomenon is known as the
'Rotterdam effect'.
Ü Other differences
Other methodological differences can cause
discrepancies between national
and Community statistics (examples: classification
at national level as
'general trade' rather than 'special trade',
or not recording repairs on
the grounds that they are services).
Example
Japanese goods are imported into Europe; they are released for
free circulation
in Belgium, then dispatched to France (Member State of consumption).
For such an
operation, the various recordings will be as follows:
Ü For Community statistics, three operations are recorded:
- import of goods originating
in Japan (with Belgium as the declaring
Member State,
since the customs declaration is made there);
- dispatch (intra) from
Belgium to France;
- arrival (intra) in France.
Ü For Belgian national statistics, no trade is recorded,
as the import from
Japan and dispatch to France are regarded
as transit.
Ü For French national statistics, goods originating
in Japan are entered as
imports. France records Japan as the country
of origin, as indicated on the
Intrastat declaration. This information is
considered statistically more
relevant at national level.
(1) Up to 1996, the rules were based on a Council
Regulation dating from 1975
(No 1736/75).
(2) Cf. Annex 1 for a complete list of relevant Community legislation.
Including inward processing in a customs warehouse.
(4) 'International Trade Statistics
- Concepts and Definitions' (latest
edition, 1982). Eurostat is involved in a project,
coordinated by the UN
Statistical Division, to thoroughly revise this document.
COLLECTION AND COMPILATION OF STATISTICS
A. Data collection and transmission
Information on extra-EU trade is generally collected by
the Member States from
the statistical copy of the customs declaration (SAD).
Most Member States use
simplified collection procedures (summary declarations,
electronic media etc.)
which do not affect the nature or exhaustiveness of the information
forwarded to
Eurostat.
Information on intra-EU trade is collected by the Member States
using the media
placed at the disposal of the information providers. These may
be the Intrastat
forms made available pursuant to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3590/92
or other
media (including electronic media) provided for at
national level. France and
Italy also use the form for tax purposes. The declarations
are summary and are
addressed directly to the competent national authorities.
For certain specific types of good (boats and
aircraft, for example), the
statistical services may have recourse to other sources of information.
Once the data have been collected, checked and processed
by the Member States,
they are forwarded to Eurostat on electronic media which meet precise
standards.
The transmission deadlines are as follows:
Ü for extra-EU trade: six weeks after the end of the reference month;
Ü for intra-EU trade: eight weeks after the end of
the month to which the
results refer in the case of overall results
(broken down by trading
partner), or 10 weeks in the case of detailed
results.
In the event of error, omission or late transmission
of the data by the
information providers, the Member States must inform Eurostat of the
corrections
to be made for each month. Most Member States
regularly make corrections,
although some transmit them only once a year for an entire 12-month
period.
Corrections are entered in the databases. They
can entail numerous major
modifications to the published results.
B. Contents and presentation of
the results
B.1. Nature and definition
of the data
1. Product Nomenclature
1.1. Combined Nomenclature
The most detailed results, which are published by Eurostat
and can be accessed
by the public, are broken down by sub-headings
of the Combined Nomenclature
(CN). This tariff and statistical classification,
based on the international
classification known as the Harmonised System (HS),
includes more than 10 000
eight-digit codes.
Eurostat also has results broken down in accordance
with TARIC (Integrated
Tariff of the European Communities), which can be
accessed by the competent
authorities. TARIC has been in existence since 1988. It applies
only to imports
and permits the application of Community measures such as quotas or
preferences.
Each TARIC sub-heading comprises 10 digits.
1.2. Standard International Trade Classification
Certain results are presented in accordance with the
Standard International
Trade Classification (SITC), which is managed by the United Nations.
Conversion
tables allow recoding from the Combined Nomenclature to the SITC.
The changeover to the HS in 1988 necessitated a new revision
of the SITC. This
version (Rev. 3) adopts the structure of the HS, so that the smallest
modules of
the SITC are defined by HS sub-headings.
NB:
Ü There are also alphanumeric product codes which
make it possible to process
confidential or adjusted data, and a number
of individual cases for which
it is not always possible to break the results
down at a detailed level of
the classification. These codes are accessible
via the COMEXT(1) database.
A summary list of these codes appears in Annex
6.
Ü Intra- and extra-EU trade statistics are also available
broken down by
product, in line with other classifications,
particularly NACE (Standard
Classification of Economic Activities in the
Community) and the PRODCOM
(Community Production Statistics) list.
Architecture of the classification
(as of 1998)
Example of classification of a product in the Combined Nomenclature:Chapter
10
of the HS: cerealsHeading 10 06 of the HS: rice
Sub-heading 10 06 20 of the HS: husked brown rice
Sub-heading 10 06 20 11 of the CN: Parboiled
round-grain rice, husked, brown
rice.
2. Trading partners
For exports and dispatches, the trading partner is the country (or Member
State)
of final destination of the goods.
For imports (extra-EU trade), the trading partner is the
country of origin. In
general, goods obtained entirely from a given country originate in
that country;
goods produced in two or more countries are deemed to originate
in the country
where the last transformation or substantial processing took place.
In certain cases (returned goods, goods which have
been processed in a non-
member country, works of art), the partner country for imports is the
country of
consignment.
For arrivals (intra-EU trade), the trading partner
is the Member State of
consignment of the goods.
In practice, the country (or Member State) of consignment is the
one from which
the goods were originally dispatched to the Member State
of import/arrival. In
the case of extra-EU trade, it is therefore normally
the country in which the
export formalities were carried out.
Countries are coded according to the classification of countries and
territories
known as the 'geonomenclature', which is managed by the Commission
and published
in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
The coding is numerical,
each country code comprising three digits.
NB:
There is also a breakdown of results by 'economic or geographical
region' which
is done by aggregating the codes of the geonomenclature (ACP countries,
MERCOSUR
countries, Central and Eastern European countries, etc.).
3. Statistical procedure
The statistical procedure makes it possible to classify
imports and exports by
various categories (extra-EU trade only).
The following distinctions are therefore made:
Ü Normal imports and exports: mainly goods exported
definitively and released
into free circulation, either directly or
via a customs warehouse.
Ü Imports for inward processing and exports which
have undergone inward
processing (suspension and drawback system).
Inward processing makes it
possible to import goods temporarily so that
they can be processed
(assembly, transformation, repair, etc.) and
the resulting products
exported, while benefiting from an exemption
from duties, levies and/or
checks carried out under the trade policy
normally applicable to imported
goods.
The 'suspension' system covers non-Community
goods, generally destined for
re-export outside the Community's customs
territory as compensating
products, without the goods being subject
to import duties or trade policy
measures.
The 'drawback system' system covers goods in
free circulation, with a
reimbursement of or rebate on import duties
payable on the goods if they
are exported outside the Community's customs
territory as compensating
products.
Ü Exports for outward processing and imports which
have undergone outward
processing ('tariff' or 'textiles' variant).
Outward processing makes it
possible to export goods temporarily for processing
and to import the
compensating products with a full or partial
exemption from duties and
levies. The 'textiles' variant, introduced
in 1995, concerns only certain
textile products or clothing, whereas the
'tariff' alternative is
applicable to all other products.
The statistical procedures are coded as follows:
Imports
1
normal
3
after outward processing
5
for inward processing, suspension system
6
for inward processing, drawback system
7
after outward processing (textiles)
4 Total imports (procedures
1+3+5+6+7)
Exports
1
normal
3
after outward processing
5
for inward processing, suspension system
6
for inward processing, drawback system
7
for outward processing (textiles)
4 Total exports (procedures
1+3+5+6+7)
NB:
Ü Inward and outward processing procedures are independent
of the nature of
the transaction concerned (purchase/sale,
processing undercontract, etc.).
In fact, part of the flow of goods for processing,
in the economic sense of
the term, is included under normal imports
and exports.
Ü Procedure 4 covers all transmitted results, for
both intra- and extra-EU
trade.
4. Statistical value
The statistical value is the value calculated at national frontiers.
It can be a
FOB value (free on board), for exports/dispatches,
or CIF (cost, insurance,
freight), for imports/arrivals: it therefore includes only
incidental expenses
(freight, insurance) incurred in the part of
the journey located on the
territory of the Member State from which the goods are exported
(in the case of
exports/dispatches) and in the part of the journey located outside
the territory
of the Member State which imports the goods (in the case of imports/arrivals).
The statistic value is generally based on the customs value
(2) in the case of
extra-EU trade, or on taxable value, in the case
of intra-EU trade. Under the
Intrastat system, the statistical value is not provided
systematically by the
information providers; it can be calculated
by the national statistical
institutes from the invoiced amount given in the declaration.
In the case of processing, it is always the total
value of the goods which is
entered, before and after processing, not only the value added.
Values are collected in units of national currency.
In the publications, they
are expressed in thousands of ecus, the currency conversion
being based on the
averages of the daily conversion rates.
5. Net mass
Net mass is the net mass of goods without
packaging. It is recorded in
kilograms.
In the publications, net mass is expressed in tonnes.
Since 1997, the net mass of certain categories of goods for which
it is not the
most suitable unit has not been required for intra-EU trade statistics.
6. Supplementary units
Supplementary units (i.e. other than mass; for example, litre,
number of parts,
square metres) have to be indicated for certain goods.
There can be differences between the units collected and
forwarded to Eurostat
and those appearing in the publications (example: hectolitre instead
of litre).
B.2. Adjusted data
1. Adjustment of values
Statistics on the value of trade
between Member States are subject to
adjustments, mainly for the following reasons:
Ü non-response or late response by information providers,
Ü absence of statistical declarations by companies
falling below the
assimilation threshold.
Some Member States adjust their results to mitigate these difficulties.
The overall results published by Eurostat take into account the adjusted
results
provided by nine Member States, and are available
in a specific file - the
'Intra-Trade Adjusted Data' file, which contains monthly results, broken
down by
trading partner.
In addition, the adjustments made by seven Member
States are included in the
results broken down by product, either at the sub-heading level
of the Combined
Nomenclature (Austria, Denmark(3)) or in Chapter 99 (cf. Annex 6).
2. Adjustment of quantities
Quantities (weight or supplementary units) are
estimated for 'simplified'
declarations (except in Greece) or, sometimes, when value adjustments
are broken
down by product. Member States generally estimate
quantities by applying the
value/volume ratio of trade above the simplification threshold.
Information on the Member States' adjustment practices is given in Annex 7.
B.3. Confidential
data
The criteria determining which statistical data are considered
confidential are
fixed by each Member State in the light of national legislation or
practice. For
foreign trade statistics, Member States generally
apply the principle of
'passive confidentiality', i.e. they take suitable
measures at the request of
importers or exporters who feel that their interests
would be harmed by the
dissemination of the data.
The confidential nature of trade can affect:
Ü imports (arrivals) and/or exports (dispatches);
Ü the added value and/or net mass and/or supplementary units.
Two types of data can be made confidential in connection
with a Member State's
trade: the CN product code and the partner country code.
1. Product confidentiality
A Member State may decide to make all or part of a product code confidential.
In practice, any product code available in COMEXT
containing one or more 'S's
after the chapter (the first two digits), followed by the three-digit
SITC code,
is confidential. Where the SITC code is not known, it is replaced by
999.
If trading in the product is so confidential that the HS chapter
under which it
should be classified is not known, it is included under Chapter 99.
Finally, another camouflage method applied by some Member
States is to include
the trade which is to be made confidential relating to one CN code
under another
code from the same chapter.
Example:
By applying product confidentiality, the results relating
to CN code 17024010
can be included in COMEXT under one of the following codes: 17024090,
17029030,
17SSS061, 17SSS999, 99SSS999.
2. Confidentiality as to the trading partner
If a Member State wishes to conceal the destination or the source
(origin) of a
product, the code of the partner country is
replaced by a 'secret country'
code(4).
The application of 'trading partner confidentiality' does
not preclude product
confidentiality.
Example:
Application by a Member State of 'trading partner
confidentiality' to exports
and dispatches of product 32041500:
Partners
values
declared trade:
004 (Germany)
1000
005 (Italy)
500
732 (Japan)
3000
404 (Canada)
200
published trade:
978
1500
979
3200
B.4. Indices
1. Introduction
The development over time of the value
of trade is determined by price
variations and the quantities sold. Eurostat calculates Fisher
chain-indices to
measure these two factors. The monthly bulletin published
by Eurostat presents
the indices calculated according to the SITC for each Member State
on a strictly
comparable basis. These indices can be consulted in Eurostat databases.
2. Methods
The data transmitted for intra- and extra-EU trade
statistics are used at the
most detailed level for calculating the indices. The unit-value
indices (values
divided by quantities) are used as
indicators of price variations. The
calculation programs comprise an automatic system
for identifying the extreme
unit values which would suggest implausible price movements.
This system prevents extreme variations due to non-price
factors which would
otherwise involve a distortion of the unit-value index. For products
whose unit
values are rejected, variations are established in the
light of variations for
similar products.
More detailed information on the methods used for calculating the indices
can be
found in Annex 8.
B.5. Seasonally-adjusted
data
Seasonally-adjusted statistics are published in the monthly bulletin.
There are
four series:
Ü Intra-EU trade (in ECU billion),
Ü Extra-EU imports (in ECU billion),
Ü Extra-EU exports (in ECU billion),
Ü Extra-EU trade balance (in ECU billion).
Raw monthly series (intra-EU dispatches, extra-EU exports and
extra-EU imports)
are taken from the COMEXT database from 1986
onwards, and are seasonally
adjusted using the X12/Regarima program. Among other characteristics,
changes in
level (the introduction of the Intrastat system in
1993 and EU enlargement in
1995) are taken into account. Lastly, the seasonally-adjusted
trade balance is
calculated as the difference between the European
Union's seasonally-adjusted
series for exports and for imports.
C. Statistical discrepancies
C.1. Statistical discrepancies
relating to extra-EU trade
A comparison of the EU's own statistics on extra-EU
trade with the figures
published by non-member countries pertaining to the
same trade can reveal
certain discrepancies, most of which can be explained by the following
factors:
Ü methodological differences: trade coverage, partner
country, different
values, etc. (cf. I.C.2.);
Ü time lag: the same operation can be recorded under
a different reference
period because of transport times;
Ü statistical confidentiality: the same operation
cannot be recorded in the
trade of one of the partners because of statistical
confidentiality.
C.2. Statistical discrepancies
relating to intra-EU trade
In theory, there should be few discrepancies if
the Member States' intra-EU
statistics are compared, since:
Ü the data to be compared are drawn up on the basis
of a common methodology
and common definitions;
Ü the problem of the CIF/FAB evaluation generally
plays a negligible role in
view of the geographical context and the structure
of intra-Community trade
in the various Member States;
Ü the distinction between 'general' and 'special'
trade does not feature
here;
Ü given the rules for determining reference periods,
time delays do not have
a major impact - at least on annual results;
Ü the trading partner for arrivals is always the Member
State of consignment,
not the country of origin of the goods.
However, since the system came into operation,
bilateral comparisons have
revealed major and persistent discrepancies in the various Member States'
intra-
Community trade statistics. The main reasons are as follows:
1. Thresholds
Intrastat is based on a system of thresholds
(cf. I.B.4.), which makes it
possible to exempt two-thirds of European operators
(especially SMEs) from
statistical formalities. For a given transaction, therefore
a company might be
required to provide statistical information in one
Member State, whereas its
supplier/customer in another Member State is exempted.
The coverage of trade,
after application of the statistical thresholds, varies
between 93% and 99.8%,
depending on the Member State. The imbalance between transactions
caused by the
thresholds can, however, be reduced at a global level by means of adjustments.
2. Non-response
The phenomenon of non-response by certain companies
is a serious flaw in the
Intrastat system. The non-response rate has decreased
since 1993, but remains
high, with over 10% of the companies required to provide information,
i.e. 3-4%
in terms of value at Community level. There does not appear to
be a significant
downward trend in this rate. Most Member States
try to offset by means of
adjustments (ranging from less than 1% to 14%, depending on the Member
State).
3. Other reasons
Ü Statistical confidentiality: The same operation
cannot be recorded by one
of the partners because of statistical confidentiality.
However, the
application of confidentiality should not
affect the overall results.
Ü Adjustments: Although adjustments (cf. III.B.2.)
are designed to improve
the quality of the statistics while compensating
for the negative effects
of non-response and thresholds, they also
introduce inconsistencies between
the statistics of the various Member States,
because of the lack of
methodological harmonization. Moreover, five
Member States (France, Greece,
Italy, Spain and Portugal) do not adjust the
results forwarded to Eurostat.
Ü Time lag: In theory, with the Intrastat system there
should be no time lag
between the date of registration of a transaction
as a dispatch in one
Member State and the date on which the same
transaction is recorded as an
arrival in another. In practice, the reference
month should be the month in
which the goods are physically moved or, failing
that, the following month.
Misapplication of the rules can have a non
negligible impact on monthly
statistics.
Ü Differences in the classification of goods: Classification
of products
under one of nearly 11 000 sub-headings in
the Combined Nomenclature can be
a problem for businesses - particularly those
which are not computerised
and large companies trading in a broad range
of products. The result can be
errors and discrepancies at the most detailed
level.
Ü Methodological differences: Although intra-Community
trade statistics are
based on a methodology which has been harmonised
to a great extent, there
are still a number of specific movements for
which, in the absence of
common rules, national practices can diverge.
In certain cases,
simplifications may be allowed which make
comparisons at the most detailed
level difficult (cf. I.B.9.).
Ü Triangular trade: Triangular trade exists where
a company in Member State A
sells goods to a company in Member State B,
which in turn sells it to a
company in Member State C, although the goods
are physically moved only
once - from A to C.
In cases such as this, intra-Community trade
statistics should record a
dispatch from A bound for C, and an arrival
in C of goods from A.
There is, however, considerable risk that A
or C will regard Member State
'B' as its trading partner.
Ü The value of transactions: There are various reasons
for discrepancies: one
is the use of different bases for calculating
the statistical value of
dispatches (FOB value) and arrivals (CIF value);
etc.
(1) The alphanumeric codes will soon be available on CD-ROM.
(2) The customs value does not include,
inter alia, import duties or other
Community taxes on the import or sale of goods.
(3) Currently in preparation.
For intra-Community trade: code 978 (975 up to 1993); for extra-Community
trade:
code 979 (976 up to 1993).
Dissemination of statistics
A. The COMEXT database
This database, which is based on the client/server
concept, is Eurostat's
reference base for external trade. It provides access to data from
the EU Member
States and more than 100 other countries, including the United States,
Japan and
the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries.
Thanks to its very considerable flexibility, COMEXT
offers users access to
several types of data from various sources and with different
structures, via a
unique interface. The information, which is available
in English, French and
German, is divided into domains, which in turn are divided
into datasets (i.e.
standardised sets of data classified according to pre-defined
classifications).
More than 200 classifications (codes and headings) are currently accessible.
Currently the domains are as follows:
Ü EEC Special Trade contains monthly, quarterly and
annual data, from 1988
onwards, on the external trade of the EU Member
States in terms of with the
Combined Nomenclature (CN) or TARIC (only
for extra-UE imports). The Comext
aggregation system makes it possible to convert
the data to the other main
product classifications: the General Industrial
Classification of Economic
Activities within the European Union (NACE),
the Standard International
Trade Classification (SITC), the PRODCOM list,
etc. This domain also
contains the Intra-Trade Adjusted Data.
Ü Fric contains annual and quarterly data on the external
trade of the first
12 Member States of the EU, basically broken
down by trading partner,
dating back as far as 1958. The breakdown
by product in accordance with
SITC Rev. 2 is also available for the years
since 1980.
Ü Nimexe trade contains the annual data for the first
12 EU Member States,
broken down by trading partner and product
according to the Nimexe
classification (the EU's external trade classification,
in use until 1987),
for the period from 1976 to 1987.
Ü SITC-REV2 EU trade contains the annual data for
the 12 EU Member States,
broken down by trading partner and product
according to SITC Rev. 2, for
the period from 1977 to 1987.
Ü SITC-REV3 EU trade contains the annual data for
the first 12 EU Member
States, broken down by trading partner and
product according to SITC Rev.
3, for the period since 1988.
Ü EU GSP trade contains the annual data for the EU
Member States, broken down
by trading partner, product and generalised
preference for the period since
1988.
Ü Comtrade is the United Nations database on external
trade. This domain
covers the external trade of most countries
of the world, broken down by
trading partner and product in terms of SITC
Rev. 2 and Rev. 3 and the
Harmonised System (HS), and covers the period
since 1980.
Ü EFTA (SITC3) trade contains monthly and annual data,
in terms of SITC Rev.
3 and for the period since 1995, on the external
trade of the member
countries of the European Free Trade Association
(EFTA) (currently Iceland,
Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).
Ü EFTA trade contains the annual trade data, in terms
of the HS and for the
years since 1988, of countries which were
EFTA members in that year
(Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland and Liechtenstein).
Ü Currency exchange rates contains the exchange rates
of the various European
currencies (including the ecu) since 1988,
for each month and for
cumulative periods.
Ü Indices contains the current contents of the databases
'Trend' (indices of
the Member States' external trade, calculated
on a monthly basis in
accordance with EEC Special Trade - II.B.4.)
and 'Volimex' (indices of non-
member contries' external trade, calculated
on an annual basis in
accordance with Comtrade).
Ü Transport contains quarterly and annual data (since
1989) on the transport
of traded goods (mode of transport, container,
nationality of the means of
transport (2)), in terms of value and quantity,
with a breakdown by product
(in accordance with the simplified NST/R classification)
and by trading
partner.
Comext makes it possible to construct aggregates (groups
of codes), to apply
validity dates and/or weightings to certain codes, to obtain
time series or to
view changes in the codes over time (changes to codes or their
definitions, for
a particular product or country).
There are two ways of retrieving data from COMEXT:
1 an interactive method, which is preferable for small queries;
2 batch retrieval, which is used for larger-scale consultation.
Whichever method is chosen, there are numerous
options for processing the
information:
Ü display and downloading of results (spreadsheet
or word-processing format,
flat format, etc.) onto hard disk, network
disk or diskette;
Ü printout of the results in tabular form, the appearance
of the tables being
defined by the user in advance;
Ü creation of flat files for loading into other databases,
post-processing in
spreadsheet, etc.
Since the purpose of Comext is to set out the entire
corpus of external trade
data, other domains are to be added in the coming
months, including data from
the International Monetary Fund, data on the countries
of Central and Eastern
Europe, and seasonally-adjusted data on the European Union's external
trade.
B. The New Cronos database
New Cronos is a numerical database containing macro-economic time
series. It is
available in three languages (English, French and German) and holds
more than 70
million items of statistical data, divided into 49
domains covering various
themes corresponding to those dealt with by Eurostat publications:
Ü general statistics;
Ü economy and finance;
Ü population and social conditions;
Ü energy and industry;
Ü agriculture, forestry and fishing;
Ü external trade;
Ü distributive trade, services and transport;
Ü environment;
Ü research and development.
In the 'external trade' domain,
New Cronos contains numerous series
corresponding to the main statistical indicators
(results by country, partner
regions and products).
C. The COMEXT CD-Rom
The COMEXT CD-ROM contains statistics on the EU Member States' intra-
and extra-
EU trade and on the trade of certain other countries:
Ü Intra- and extra-EU trade (Combined Nomenclature),
monthly data for the
period from 1988;
Ü Intra- and extra-EU trade (Combined Nomenclature),
annual data for the
years from 1988;
Ü Intra- and extra-EU trade (SITC Rev. 3 and NACE
Rev. 1), annual data for
the years from 1988;
Ü External trade of the Member States of the European
Union (Nimexe), annual
data for the period 1976-87;
Ü Trade by non-member countries (Harmonised System),
annual data for the
years from 1988.
A table, which can be accessed from the main menu, shows the availability
of the
data. The CD-ROM is updated once a month, thus
providing access to the most
recent data available.
Various product classifications are used; trading partners are identified
either
at country level, in terms of the geonomenclature, or by geographic
or economic
region (world, intra-EU, extra-EU, ACP, etc.).
The COMEXT CD-ROM runs under MS-DOS and Windows
and offers a wide variety of
functions:
Ü consultation and retrieval of data;
Ü downloading of data in files which can be imported
directly into
conventional spreadsheets;
Ü code search by keywords;
Ü creation of customised aggregates for the periods, countries and products;
Ü alternative methods of retrieval.
A user manual, which gives a complete description
of all the functions, is
available on the CD-ROM in an ASCII file; it can be consulted
directly from the
CD-ROM or printed out.
The COMEXT CD-ROM is therefore very user-friendly,
and especially suited to
operators in the private or public sectors who need to:
Ü obtain information on the external trade of the EU Member States;
Ü follow trends in the trade in particular products;
Ü identify new market openings.
D. Paper publications
D.1. Statistical Yearbook
The Yearbook on external and intra-EU trade is describes
the long-term trends
(since 1958) in trade by the EU and its the Member States.It sets out
changes in
the structure of trade, broken down by major product groups,
between the EU and
its main external trading partners and between the
EU Member States.It is
divided into seven sections:
Ü an analysis of recent trends in the European Union's trade;
Ü the European Union and world trade;
Ü the trading partners of European Union;
Ü goods traded with Extra-EU countries;
Ü goods traded within the European Union;
Ü the Member States and EU trade;
Ü external trade of the Member States.
The Statistical Yearbook is also available in electronic form.
D.2. Monthly Bulletin
The monthly bulletin complements the Yearbook with
short-term data. It is
published by Eurostat as part of the B series (short-term
economic statistics)
and is designed to give as rapidly as possible, the short term
evolution of the
external trade of the EU and its Member States.
It shows trade flows, broken down by major product
groups, between the EU and
its main trading partners and between the Member States.
The monthly bulletin is also available in electronic form.
D.3. Press releases
Press releases enable Eurostat to
disseminate the short-term economic
information available as quickly as possible. These
quarterly press releases
provide additional information on the intra-EU and external trade
of the Member
States and the EU as a whole.
D.4. Statistics in
Focus
For each of the nine statistical themes which Eurostat deals with, the
'Statistics in Focus' collection contains up-to-date summaries of the main
results of surveys, studies and analyses. In the field of external trade,
these studies, which are quarterly, biannual or annual, basically cover the
EU's trade with some of its main trading partners (USA, Japan, Latin
America, CIS, etc.) or trade in certain strategic goods (high technology,
energy, means of transport, etc.).
Each issue is between 8 and 16 pages in length
and contains text and tables
and/or graphs and/or maps.
D.5. Intrastat Newsletter
This biannual publication (June and December) is intended as a source of
information for everyone involved with or interested in the Intrastat
system and the development of the Edicom projects. The Newsletter is not an
official publication and should be regarded as an informal medium conveying
general information for wide dissemination. Eurostat is convinced that the
experiences and opinions of persons belonging to the various institutions
involved could be of great value for everyone, and hopes that this
publication will provide a forum for all
concerned.
D.6. Thematic publications
1. The European Union's external trade with ACP countries and Overseas Countries
and Territories (OCTs)
On 15 December 1989, the European Union and 69 African,
Caribbean and Pacific
countries signed the Fourth Lome Convention.
Lome IV lays down the ground rules for cooperation
in the fields of the
environment, agricultural and industrial development, regional
integration and
financial support provided by the European Union.
The Convention also contains important agreements
designed to increase trade
between the EU and ACP countries. The EU's trade in goods with the
ACP countries
currently represents just over 3% of
its overall trade with non-member
countries.
To provide material for a detailed analysis of trends
in trade between the EU
and the ACP countries, a special publication containing statistical
data on the
main trade flows between the two has been produced jointly
by Eurostat and the
European Commission's Directorate General for Development.
In the second section, statistics on trade with
the Overseas Countries and
Territories are set out in the same way as
trade with the French overseas
departments, with the main imports and exports by product and territory.
2. External trade of the European Union and the CIS
This publication, which is the result of cooperation between the CIS
Statistical
Comittee and Eurostat funded under the TACIS Programme,
sets out the main
external trade data for the 12 CIS States, the 15 EU Member States
and groups of
these countries for the period 1994-96.
(1) The latter two items
of information are available for external trade
only.
Annex 1
COMMUNITY LEGISLATION
RELATING TO STATISTICS ON THE TRADING OF GOODS
(Applicable as at 1 April 1998)
A. Statistics on trade between Member States (Methodology)
A.1. Basic Regulation
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 of 7 November
1991 on the statistics
relating to the trading of goods between Member States
(OJ L 316 of 16 November 1991, p. 1),
amended by:
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92 of 22 October 1992 laying down
provisions
implementing and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91
on the statistics
relating to the trading of goods between Member States
(OJ L 307 of 23 October 1992, p. 27)
A.2. Implementing provisions
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2256/92 of 31 July 1992 on statistical
thresholds
for the statistics on trade between Member States
(OJ L 219 of 4 August 1992, p. 40),
rectified by:
Corrigendum to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2256/92
of 31 July 1992 on
statistical thresholds for the statistics on trade between Member States
(OJ L of 13 July 1993, p. 32)
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92 of 22 October 1992 laying down
provisions
implementing and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91
on the statistics
relating to the trading of goods between Member States
(OJ L 307 of 23 October 1992, p. 27)
amended by:
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2385/96 of 16
December 1996 simplifying the
concept of net mass
(OJ L 326 of 17 December 1996, p. 10)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 860/97 of 14 May 1997 with regard to the
reporting
of the value of goods
(OJ L 123 of 15 May 1997, p. 12)
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3590/92 of 11
December 1992 concerning the
statistical information media for statistics on trade between Member
States
(OJ L 364 of 12 December 1992, p. 32)
Explanatory notes to the Intrastat forms referred to in Article
2 of Commission
Regulation (EEC) Nø 3590/92
(OJ nø C 349, 31.12.1992, p.1)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1125/94 of 17 May
1994 on the deadlines for
forwarding statistics on trade between the Member States
(OJ L 124 of 18 May 1994, p. 1)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2820/94 of 21 November
1994 fixing a threshold
value for individual transactions in the context of statistics relating
to trade
between Member States
(OJ L 299 of 22 November 1994, p. 1)
Commission communication regarding the data required by
the Member States from
parties responsible for providing statistical information, within the
context of
statistics on trade between the Member States, pursuant to Articles
21 and 23 of
Council Regulation
(EEC) No 3330/91 (OJ C 378 of 13 December 1996, p. 2)
B. Statistics on trade with non-member countries (Methodology)
B.1. Basic Regulation
Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 of 22 May 1995 on the statistics
relating to
the trading of goods by the Community and its
Member States with non-member
countries
(OJ L 118 of 25 May 1995, p. 10),
amended by:
Council Regulation (EC) Nø 476/97 of 13 March
1997 amending, with respect to
statistical territory, Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 on the statistics
relating to
the trading of goods by the Community and its
Member States with non-member
countries
(OJ nø L 75, 15.3.1997, p.1)
Council Regulation (EC) Nø 374/98 of 12 February 1998 amending,
Articles 6 and 9
Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 on the statistics relating to the trading
of goods by
the Community and its Member States with non-member countries
(OJ nø L 48, 19.2.1998, p.6)
B.2. Implementing provisions
Commission Regulation (EC) No 840/96 of
7 May 1996 laying down certain
provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1172/95 as
regards statistics on external trade
(OJ L 114 of 8 May 1996, p. 7)
C. Nomenclatures
C.1. Goods classification
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of
23 July 1987 on the tariff and
statistical classification and on the Common Customs Tariff
(OJ L 256 of 7 September 1987, p. 1)
amended by
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3528/89 of 23 November
1989 amending Regulation
(EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical classification
and on the Common
Customs Tariff
(OJ L 347 of 28 November 1989, p. 1)
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of
12 October 1992 establishing the
Community Customs Code - Article 252
(OJ L 302 of 19 October 1992, p. 50)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2086/97 of 4 November
1997 amending Annex I to
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical classification
and on the Common Customs Tariff
(OJ L 312 of 14 November 1997, p. 1)
C.2. Country classification
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2317/97 of 21
November 1997 on the country
classification for the external trade statistics of the Community and
statistics
of trade between Member States
(OJ L 321 of 22 November 1997, p. 19)
D. Edicom
D.1. Basic Decision
Council Decision 96/715/EC of 9 December 1996 on inter-administration
telematic
networks for statistics relating to the trading of goods
between Member States
(Edicom)
(OJ L 327 of 18 December 1996, p. 34).
D.2. Action plan
Commission Decision (E/97/599) of 24 April 1997 approving
29 proposals for
actions likely to benefit from Community financing
under Council Decision
96/715/EC on inter-administration telematic networks for statistics
relating to
the trading of goods between Member States (Edicom)
(not published in the
Official Journal).
Commission Decision (E/97/784) of 20 May 1997 approving 23 proposals
for actions
likely to benefit from Community financing under the Council
Decision 96/715/CE
relating to inter-administration telematic networks for
statistics relating to
the trading of goods between Member States (Edicom)
(not published in the
Official Journal).
ANNEX 2
NAMES AND ADDRESSES
OF THE COMPETENT NATIONAL AUTHORITIES
BELGIUM
Banque Nationale de Belgique
14, bd. de Berlaimont
B-1000 BRUXELLES
Fax: (32) 2 221 31 46
DENMARK
Danmarks Statistik
Sejrøgade 11
DK-2100 KOBENHAVN O
Fax: (45) 31 18 48 01
GERMANY
Statistisches Bundesamt
Postfach 5528
Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 11
D-65180 WIESBADEN
Fax: (49) 611 75 3965
GREECE
National Statistical Service of Greece
14-16, Likourgou
GR - 101 66 ATHENS
Fax: (30) 1 323 75 24
SPAIN
Agencia tributaria
Subdirecci¢n de Planificaci¢n Informática
Aduanera
c/Guzman el Bueno, 137
E - 28003 MADRID
Fax: (34) 1 554 7896
FRANCE
Directorate-General for customs and excise
duties
8, rue de la Tour des Dames
F-75436 PARIS CEDEX 09
Fax: (33) 1 55 07 49 41
IRELAND
The Revenue Commissioners
South Great Georges Street
IRL - DUBLIN 2
Fax: (353) 16 718 297
ITALY
ISTAT - Istituto Nazionale di Statistica
Via Cesare Balbo, 16
I - 00184 ROMA
Fax: (39) 6 4673 2560
LUXEMBOURG
STATEC
Case Postale 667
L - 2016 LUXEMBOURG
Fax: (352) 46 42 89
NETHERLANDS
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS)
Kloosterweg, 1 Postbus 4481
NL - 6401 CZ HEERLEN
Fax: (31) 45 5 72 74 40
AUSTRIA
Österreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt
Hintere Zollamtstrasse 2b
Postfach 4000
A - 1033 WIEN
Fax: (43) 1.715 0748
PORTUGAL
Instituto Nacional de Estatistica
Av. Ant. Jose de Almeida
P - 1000 LISBOA
Fax: (351) 1 8473 966
FINLAND
National Board of Customs - Statistical Unit
P.O.B. 512
FIN - 00101 HELSINKI
Fax: (358) 9614 2813
SWEDEN
Statistics Sweden
Karlavägen, 100
S - 104 51 STOCKHOLM
Fax: (46) 8-783 4571
UNITED KINGDOM
HM Customs & Excise
Tariff and Statistical Office
Portcullis House
27 Victoria Avenue
GB - Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 AL
Fax: (44) 1702 367163
ANNEX 4
LIST OF STATISTICAL EXCLUSIONS
Statistical data are not compiled for the following goods:
a) means of payment which are legal tender, and securities;
b) monetary gold;
c) emergency aid for disaster areas;
d) because of the diplomatic or similar nature of their intended
use:
1. goods benefiting from diplomatic
and consular or similar immunity;
2. gifts offered to a Head of
State or to members of a government or
parliament;
3. items being circulated within
the framework of munual administrative
aid;
e) provided that the exchange is of a temporary nature, within
the framework
of intra-Community(1) trade:
1. goods intended for fairs and
exhibitions;
2. theatrical sets;
3. merry-go-rounds and other fairground
attractions;
4. professional equipment within
the meaning of the International Customs
Convention of
8 June 1968;
5. feature films;
6. experimental appliances and
equipment;
7. animals for competition, breeding,
racing, etc.;
8. commercial samples;
9. means of transport, containers
and ancillary transport equipment;
10. packagings;
11. hired goods;
12. appliances and equipment for
use in civil engineering;
13. goods intended for inspections,
analyses or tests;
f) provided that they are not the subject of a commercial transaction:
1. decorations, honorary distinctions
and prizes, commemorative badges
and medals;
2. travel equipment, provisions
and other items, including sports
equipment, intended
for personal use or consumption which accompany,
precede or follow
the traveller;
3. bridal outfits, items involved
in moving house, or heirlooms;
4. coffins, funerary urns, ornamental
funerary articles and items for the
upkeep of graves
and funeral monuments;
5. printed advertising material,
instructions for use, price lists and
other advertising
items;
6. goods which have become unusable,
or which cannot be used for
industrial purposes;
7. ballast;
8. photographs, exposed and developed
films, drafts, drawings, copies of
plans, manuscripts,
files and records, official printed matter and
printing proofs,
as well as all information media used for an
international
exchange of information;
9. postage stamps;
10. pharmaceutical products used
at international sport events;
g) products used as part of common measures for the protection
of persons or
of the environment;
h) goods which are the subject of non-commercial traffic between
persons
resident in the frontier zones defined by
the Member States (frontier
traffic); products obtained by agricultural
producers on properties located
outside, but adjacent to, the statistical
territory where their holding is
located;
i) goods which, as part of intra-Community trade, leave a determined
statistical territory prior to returning to
it after crossing another
territory, either directly or interrupted
by the type of stops associated
with the transport of goods;
provided that the exchange is of a temporary nature, goods imported
or
exported with a view to repairing means of
transport, containers, ancillary
transport equipment (except goods which are
subject to customs processing
in the framework of extra-Community trade)
and items replaced in the course
of such repairs.
(1) All goods exchanged temporarily within
the framework of extra-Community
trade (under the admission or temporary export procedures) are excluded
from the
statistics.
ANNEX 5
AMOUNT OF INTRASTAT THRESHOLDS
A. Assimilation threshold
Dispatch
EN ECU
1993 1994
1995 1996
1997 1998
Dispatch
Belgique 104 000
104 000 107 000 108 500
107 500 247 500
Danemark 105 500
105 500 107 000 110 000
340 500 335 000
Allemagne 102 000 103
500 104 500 106 500
105 000 102 000
GrŠce 29
000 27 000 37 500
35 500 42 500 42 000
Espagne 28 500
25 000 37 500 37 500
56 500 54 500
France 37 500
38 000 38 000 38 500
38 500 38 000
Irlande 674 000
628 500 631 500 610 000
621 500 672 500
Italie 85 500
79 000 75 500 72 000
75 000 155 500
Luxembourg 104 000 104 000
107 000 107 000 107 500
103 500
Pays-Bas 79 500
81 000 187 000 190 000
235 000 227 000
Autriche
- -
112 000 113 500 112 000
109 000
Portugal 97 000
86 500 86 500 86 500
86 500 86 500
Finlande
- -
112 000 97 500 93 500
94 000
SuŠde
- -
98 500 104 000 105 000
172 000
Royaume-Uni 169 000 185 000
192 500 189 000 235 000
320 000
Arrival
Belgique 104 000
104 000 107 000 108 500
107 500 247 500
Danemark 66 000
66 000 66 500 68 500
204 500 201 000
Allemagne 102 000 103
500 104 500 106 500
105 000 102 000
GrŠce 19
500 18 000 23 500
22 500 26 000 26 000
Espagne 28 500
25 000 37 500 37 500
56 500 54 500
France 37 500
38 000 38 000 38 500
38 500 38 000
Irlande 135 000
125 500 126 500 122 000
124 500 134 500
Italie 85 500
79 000 75 500 72 000
75 000 103 500
Luxembourg 104 000 104 000
107 000 107 000 107 500
103 500
Pays-Bas 79 500
81 000 187 000 190 000
235 000 227 000
Autriche
- -
112 000 113 500 112 000
109 000
Portugal 45 500
61 000 61 000 61 000
61 000 61 000
Finlande
- -
51 500 53 000 51 000
94 000
SuŠde
- -
98 500 104 000 105 000
172 000
Royaume-Uni 169 000 185 000
192 500 189 000 235 000
320 000
B.Simplification threshold
EN ECU
1993 1994
1995 1996
1997 1998
Dispatch
Belgique
- -
- -
- -
Danemark
- -
- -
- -
Allemagne
- -
- -
- -
GrŠce 87
000 81 000 88 000
83 500 94 500 94 000
Espagne 100 000
88 500 99 500 100 000
100 000 96 500
France 209 500
212 000 212 500 216 000
216 000 454 000
Irlande
- -
- -
- -
Italie
- -
- -
- -
Luxembourg 248 000 248 000
254 500 254 500 256 000
370 500
Pays-Bas 181 500
185 000 -
- -
-
Autriche
- -
- -
- -
Portugal
- -
- -
- -
Finlande
- -
- -
- -
SuŠde
- -
- -
- -
Royaume-Uni -
- -
- -
-
Arrival
Belgique
- -
- -
- -
Danemark 105 500
105 500 107 000 110 000
- -
Allemagne
- -
- -
- -
GrŠce 50
000 47 000 84 500
80 500 94 500 94 000
Espagne 100 000
88 500 99 500 100 000
100 000 96 500
France 105 000
106 000 106 500 108 000
108 000 227 000
Irlande
- -
- -
- -
Italie
- -
- -
- -
Luxembourg 248 000 248 000
254 500 254 500 256 000
370 500
Pays-Bas 181 500
185 000 -
- -
-
Autriche
- -
- -
- -
Portugal 68 500
67 500 -
- -
-
Finlande
- -
112 000 97 500 93 500
-
SuŠde
- -
- -
- -
Royaume-Uni -
- -
- -
-
C. (r)Statistical value¯ threshold
ECU This treshold is applicable from 1rst January 1998.
* PSI: Provider of Statistical Information 1998
1998 (ECU)
Dispatch
Belgique
Tous les PSI* exempt‚s
Danemark
Tous les PSI* exempt‚s
Allemagne
10 211 000
GrŠce
2 266 000
Espagne
6 045 000
France
2 270 000
Irlande
40 357 000
Italie
3 627 000
Luxembourg
4 446 000
Pays-Bas
Tous les PSI* exempt‚s
Autriche
3 627 000
Portugal
4 772 000
Finlande
17 091 000
SuŠde
11 464 000
Royaume-Uni Tous les
PSI* exempt‚s
Arrival
Belgique
Tous les PSI* exempt‚s
Danemark
Tous les PSI* exempt‚s
Allemagne
7 658 000
GrŠce
647 000
Espagne
6 045 000
France
2 270 000
Irlande
5 380 000
Italie
1 813 000
Luxembourg
2 470 000
Pays-Bas
Tous les PSI* exempt‚s
Autriche
3 627 000
Portugal
3 096 000
Finlande
6 836 000
SuŠde
6 878 000
Royaume-Uni
Tous les PSI* exempt‚s
Annex 6
LIST OF ALPHANUMERIC CODES
Ü The alphanumeric codes are used in intra- and extra-Community
trade
statistics to identify confidential or adjusted
data and trade for which a
breakdown of the results at a detailed level
of the product classification
is not possible. This usually concerns goods
for which some Member States
allow a simplified declaration to be made.
Ü In principle, the results relating to the alphanumeric
codes are included
under the relevant chapter of the CN (e.g.:
63EEE000 Selections of goods of
Chapter 63). If the chapter cannot be identified,
the results are included
under Chapter 99 (e.g.: 99EEE000 Selections
of goods not specified
elsewhere).
Codes containing the letter A
Intra-Community trade involving transactions
falling below the 'transaction
threshold' (cf. I.B.4.)
Codes containing the letter B
Catering and bunker supplies intended
for the fuelling of ships and
aircraft, for which a simplified declaration
applies
Codes containing the letter E
Selections of goods, for which a simplified
declaration applies
Codes containing the letter I
Components of industral plant, for which
a simplified declaration applies.
'Industrial plant' in this
context means a combination of machines,
appliances, equipment, instruments
and material coming under various
headings of the HS classification
and contributing to the activity of a
large establishment for purposes of producing
goods or supplying services.
Codes containing the letter M
Intra-Community trade broken down at Chapter
level only (a practice adopted
by some Member States in 1993 and 1994)
Codes containing the letter P
Goods transported by post, for which a simplified
declaration applies
Codes containing the letter R
Returned goods, for which a simplified declaration
applies
Codes containing the letter S
Confidential data (cf. II.B.3.)
Codes containing the letter T
Foodstuffs, drinks and tobacco, for which
a simplified declaration applies
Codes containing the letter V
Motor vehicle components, for which a simplified
declaration applies
Codes containing the letter Y
Adjusted data (cf. II.B.2.)
ANNEX 7
ADJUSTMENT OF DATA UNDER INTRASTAT
- Practices adopted by the Member States -
A. Adjustment of values
Practices and availability of adjusted statistics
BLEU
Belgium and Luxembourg adjust their statistics separately.
Belgium:
To make adjustments for non-response, a variation
rate calculated from the
declarations available for a given month is
applied to the exhaustive data
for the same month of the previous year. The
estimates for trade falling
below the assimilation threshold are based
on VAT data.
Luxembourg:
The estimates for non-response and trade falling
below the assimilation
threshold are based on the VAT data and the
tendencies of the declaring
companies. The estimates for non-response
are forwarded to the National
Bank of Belgium. Estimates for trade falling
below the assimilation
threshold are made for national statistics
only.
Only the adjusted total results (excluding
estimates made by Luxembourg for
trade falling below the assimilation threshold)
are transmitted to
Eurostat.
Denmark
The adjustments for non-response and trade
below the assimilation threshold
are based on VAT data. If no Intrastat
declaration is made, the fiscal
value is used. If the fiscal value is much
higher than the Intrastat value,
the fiscal value is used. Adjustments are
broken down by product. In April
1997, trade falling below the assimilation
threshold was included in
statistics (with a breakdown by product) for
the first time.
Until 1995, only adjusted overall results were
provided. Since 1996,
adjustments have been provided with declared
trade.
Germany
The estimates for non-response and trade falling
below the assimilation
threshold are based on VAT data at the global
level. Between 1993 and 1996,
adjustments for trade falling below the assimilation
threshold were
calculated only for national accounts and
balance of payments purposes.
Adjustments are provided with declared trade.
Greece
No adjustment is made for non-response. Adjustments
for trade falling below
the assimilation threshold are made only at
national level and are not
transmitted to Eurostat.
No adjustment is transmitted to Eurostat.
Spain
No adjustment is made for non-response or for
trade falling below the
assimilation threshold. Trade falling below
the simplification threshold is
included in annual national publications only
and is not transmitted to
Eurostat.
France
No adjustment is made for non-response or for
trade falling below the
assimilation threshold.
Ireland
Estimates for non-response and trade falling
below the assimilation
threshold are based partly on the information
providers' historical data
and partly on tax data. The detail of adjusted
information is a function of
the available historical information. Arrivals
are increased by 1.75%; this
estimate is not broken down by partner country.
Adjustments are transmitted with the data on
declared trade.
Italy
No adjustment is made for non-response or for
trade falling below the
assimilation threshold.
Netherlands
The estimates for non-response and trade falling
below the assimilation
threshold are based on the VAT data for each
'missing' compagny.
Only the adjusted overall results are currently
transmitted to Eurostat.
Austria
Estimates for non-response are given: for each
company, the declarations
available the same month of the previous year
are multiplied by the average
rate of increase for companies in the same
branch and of similar size.
Estimates for trade falling below the assimilation
threshold are made at a
global level and are broken down at the most
detailed level by applying the
structure of transactions above the threshold.
Adjustments are transmitted together with the
data on declared trade.
Portugal
An overall adjustment is calculated (covering
non-response, trade falling
below the assimilation threshold, etc.). It
amounts to 3-4%.
Adjustments are made at national level only
and are not transmitted to
Eurostat.
Finland
No adjustment is made for non-response. Estimates
for trade falling below
the assimilation threshold are based on the
VAT data.
Adjustments are transmitted together with the
data on declared trade.
Sweden
Estimates for non-response are based on the
Intrastat data provided by the
companies of similar size. The estimates for
trade below the assimilation
threshold are based on the VAT data.
Adjustments are transmitted together with the data on declared trade.
United Kingdom
Estimates for non-response are based on the
Intrastat data provided by
companies selling similar products in the
past. The estimates for trade
falling below the assimilation threshold are
based on VAT data and the
structure of transactions by enterprises situated
just above the threshold.
Adjusted overall results are transmitted to
Eurostat. Adjustments are also
provided separately: Eurostat combines them
with declared trade.
B. Adjustment of quantities
Practices and availability of adjusted statistics
BLEU
Only Luxembourg applies a simplification threshold.
Quantities are
estimated but not transmitted to the National
Bank of Belgium or Eurostat.
Denmark
Denmark estimated quantities until it dispensed
with the simplification
threshold in 1997. The estimates are included
in Eurostat's statistics.
Greece
Although it applies a simplification threshold,
Greece does not estimate
quantities.
Spain
No quantities are estimated, since trade falling
below the simplification
threshold is not included in the statistics
transmitted to Eurostat.
France
France began estimating quantities in 1996.
The estimates are now included
in Eurostat statistics.
Ireland
Quantities have been estimated and included
in Eurostat statistics since
1993. The estimates are based on historical
data.
Austria
Quantities have been recorded and included
in Eurostat statistics since
1995.
Finland
Quantities have been estimated and included in
Eurostat statistics only since 1996.
ANNEX 8
FOREIGN TRADE INDICES
- Methodology and sources -
1. Fixed Base Indices versus Chained Indices
1.1.
This introduction sets out how Eurostat's external
trade indices are calculated. The indices
are of the chained Fisher type.
In other words: the base year is revised each
year. The 1989 indices have
1988 as base year, the 1990 indices have 1989
as base year, and so on. Each
index is expressed in terms of 1990 as reference
year (i.e., 1990 = 100) by
chaining all the Links back and up to 1990.
1.2.
Chain indices have several attractive properties.
Firstly, the index weights used to construct
the index will be derived from
recent values and quantities traded, and will
therefore be responsive to
the changing patterns of world trade. To take
a concrete example, suppose
that fuel prices decreased dramatically between
the start of the decade and
last year, but between last year and this
all prices have been static. A
rise in fuel imports and a fall in non-fuel
imports compared with last year
that kept the total value of imports unchanged
would be recorded by a chain
index as no change in Volume or Price, which
seems intuitively reasonable.
A Laspeyres Volume index with a fixed base
year at the start of the decade
would show a rise in Volume between last year
and this year, and the
corresponding Paasche Unit Value index would
register a fall.
1.3.
A second advantage of chain indices is that they
are more robust in the face of an abnormal
event such as a temporary peak
in commodity prices. If this occurs in the
base year, it can distort the
weighting of a fixed base index until it is
rebased.
1.4.
Thirdly, since the CN classification changes each
year due to the subdivision and regrouping
of headings, better quality
comparisons are made by focusing on year to
year changes. The alternative
is to find groupings of products that are
stable over several years, and
these are necessarily defined over a wider
range of products.
1.5.
There was a particular interest in obtaining good
indicators of short-term trends expressed
by users of external trade
indices within the Commission. Few would deny
the superiority of chain
indices for this purpose. This was a major
factor in their favour. Though
there is more controversy about their advantages
as medium- and long-term
indicators, many recent writers on the subject
prefer them.
2. The Choice of Index Formula
2.1.
The Member States use various formulae to
calculate external trade indices. Four countries
use a Fisher formula for
Unit Value indices, four use Paasche and one
uses Laspeyres. Users within
the Commission expressed a preference for
indices of the Fisher type.
Over the longer term, chain Laspeyres and Paasche
indices drift apart.
There does not appear to be any reason to
believe that one gives a 'truer'
result than the other. On the other hand,
the chain Fisher index, a
geometric average of the two, closely approximates
the Tornqvist- Theil
approximation to the Divisia index, which
has a number of advocates.
2.2.
The conventional index formulae are used to
calculate the Links between year, month and
the average of the previous
year. These are:
Laspeyres Unit Value Link:
Paasche Unit Value Link:
Value Link:
Laspeyres Volume Link:
Paasche Volume Link:
Fisher Link:
3. The data sources
3.1.
The primary source of data is the CN trade
statistics supplied to Eurostat by the Member
States. Since 1 January 1993,
the date of abolition of the inner frontiers
of the Union, statistics on
trade between the Member States are no longer
collected via customs
declarations. Instead, monthly and recapitulative
statistical declarations
are transmitted directly by companies to the
relevant national
administrations. The smallest companies, which
are the majority, need not
supply a declaration or only need to supply
a simplified declaration on
which no quantity or supplementary unit information
is indicated. The delay
in transmission of the detailed results to
Eurostat is relatively long and
numerous Member States are confronted with
the problem of companies which
should declare but do not. This change in
collecting the statistical
information is the source of the abnormal
behaviour of the volume index
with the partners Intra-EU and World between
1992 and 1993.
For the following groups of products (defined
in SITC Rev.3), unit values
calculated from trade data give an unsatisfactory
indication of price
performance:
SITC 525 Radioactive and associated materials
SITC 667
Pearls, precious and semi-precious stones,
unworked or worked
SITC 792
Aircraft and associated equipment; spacecraft
(including satellites) and spacecraft launch
vehicles; and parts thereof
SITC 793
Ships, boats (including hovercraft) and floating
structures
SITC 883
Cinematographic film, exposed and developed,
whether or not incorporating sound track or
consisting only of sound track
SITC 896 Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques
SITC 897
Jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares,
etc.
At present the Unit Value Change of each of
these groups is imputed from
other Unit Value Series (in fact with the
Unit Value Changes of the other
non-rejected products belonging to the same
SITC 2-digit code).
3.2.
The raw data are classified by reporter country,
flow, CN 8-digit product code and partner
country. Eurostat's approach is
to work with the data at this detailed level.
Most countries calculate
their indices after the data have been summed
over partner countries. This
has certain apparent advantages. In addition
to reducing the dimensionality
of the data, the number of discontinuities
is also reduced. Trade with a
particular partner may be recorded for only
a few months of the year,
whereas there is trade with some partners
in most months. On the other
hand, even a cursory examination of Unit Value
series broken down by
partner shows that the hypothesis of a common
Unit Value is very often
unrealistic.
This is either because identical goods are
priced differently for different
partners or because the CN 8-digit category
covers a number of qualities or
types of product and different partners demand
or supply different
proportions of these individual products.
Therefore unit values calculated
after aggregation over partners may fluctuate
because of the instability of
the partner breakdown of trade. The same arguments
apply to aggregated
versus detailed products. In all events, information
on the partner is a
means of stratifying unit values into more
homogeneous product groups. For
these reasons, Eurostat's Unit Value indices
are calculated from the
original data without aggregation over partners
or products.
3.3.
One exception to the rule of no aggregation is
where there is a change in the CN between
two years. In this case products
are combined to produce an aggregate with
the same definition in both
years. Changes in the geographical definition
of partner countries are much
less frequent and are usually insignificant.
In this case the most
appropriate match between pairs of countries
is made.
3.4.
For most CN codes there is information on value,
weight and sometimes a second, supplementary
quantity unit, such as number
of items. In this case two types of Unit Value
(per tonne and per
supplementary unit) are available. A Unit
Value based on supplementary unit
(for example, value per car) is not necessarily
a better measure of price
than value per tonne. If there are many products
covered by a CN code, and
if their price is perfectly correlated with
their weight, then value per
tonne will be unaffected by fluctuations in
product composition. The
reliability with which weight is measured
compared with the reliability of
supplementary unit data is also a factor.
For European data, evidence from
indirect tests suggests that weight has been
measured more reliably than
supplementary units in the recent past, and
so average value per tonne is
generally used. In the longer term, technical
change can cause substantial
biases in both types of Unit Value.
3.5.
One of the ways in which confidentiality is
treated in the CN data is by allocating trade
in a product to a special
geographic code, in order to disguise the
origin or destination. There are
some products where this is an important factor,
and the proportion of the
declared value of trade to the actual value
for a particular geographic
zone (such as extra-EU) may fluctuate from
month to month. No attempt is
made at present to adjust the Volume indices
to compensate for these
fluctuations.
3.6.
CN data record the value of trade in thousands of
ecus. All Eurostat's Unit Value indices are
expressed in ecus. Conversion
to other currency units is straightforward.
3.7.
The EU data are also broken down by statistical
regime, so that, for example, goods imported
for immediate processing
before re-export to their country of origin,
are distinguished from normal
imports. Only normal trade (statistical regime
1) is used to calculate Unit
Value indices, though total trade is used
for the Value indices from which
the Volume indices are calculated.
3.8.
Any errors in the monthly data are corrected only
months later. Therefore an Annual index based
on the 12 months aggregated
would also contain the errors. However there
are partly corrected annual
figures. These are used for calculating the
annual Volume Links that are
chained back to the reference year. Where
they occur, the errors in the
monthly data may distort the monthly and quarterly
Volume figures. Thus,
for the more detailed indices, there are occasional
discrepancies between
the annual average of the Monthly and Quarterly
Volume indices and the
Annual index.
4. Dealing with extreme values
4.1.
Administrative procedures for validating trade
data vary between Member States. Since the
monthly data used by Eurostat to
calculate indices are the first release of
these data, and substantial
revisions are often made subsequently, extremely
large Unit Value movements
are unfortunately not unusual. In one sample
of data, a Unit Value 700
times greater than that for the previous year
was found. In general, we
would expect underlying prices to move fairly
smoothly. These extremes are
therefore due either to recording errors of
one sort or another or data
inhomogeneity. Whatever the cause, a wide-tailed
distribution of Unit Value
changes can lead to the usual Index formulae
giving unreliable results.
Eurostat's method of dealing with wide-tailed
distributions is to use the
robust regression technique first described
by Hinich and Talwar.
4.2.
The method starts from the observation that,
whereas the level of unit values across partner
countries may differ,
changes in levels are very similar not only
across partner countries but
also across related products, compared with
the background level of noise
in Unit Value data. A study by Eurostat, however,
showed significant
variations across reporting countries (related
to exchange rate
fluctuations, etc.). With this in mind, Eurostat
has divided the raw data
into two parts: the part with intra-EU partners
and the part with non-
member countries. Each part contains some
300 blocks of data for each
reporting country and flow. Each block contains
data for a particular set
of 8-digit CN product codes and for all partner
countries which belong to
that part for these product codes. The assumption
is that within a block,
the Unit Value of every data item behaves
in the same way.
4.3.
Thus the items will be accepted whose Unit Value
change relative to the median Unit Value change
of its block behaves within
certain bounds (for example, plus or minus
10%) and the others will be
provisionally rejected. Provisional rejection
of an item may be because the
month m-1 Unit Value is of doubtful quality,
or is not available. Therefore
these items are tested for a second pair of
months. Normally the change
between months m and m-2 is then used. In
this case the item is accepted if
it passes the second test. These rules were
derived from a simple
probabilistic model for the frequency of high
and low outliers. Though they
weed out unsuitable observations in the current
month, they do not give any
protection against outliers in the base year
unit values. One solution
would be to calculate the annual figure only
from monthly data where the
item was accepted. However for technical reasons
this is not done at
present. Instead an item is also rejected
if the ratio of the Unit Value in
the current month to that of the base year
is outside the range
([0,2:5,0]). This range was set after examination
of the typical price
variations found in seasonal and non-seasonal
goods, and can be changed in
unusual circumstances.
4.4.
The above rejection procedure has the virtue of
identifying a Unit Value ratio as extreme
compared with the general
movement in its class (= block) from month
to month. This is likely to be
more satisfactory than setting an arbitrary
range for absolute
fluctuations. The next step is simply to calculate
Laspeyres and Paasche
Links for the current month (with last year
as base year) using only the
accepted items. These are then used as an
estimation of the Unit Value
change for items whose unit values have been
rejected. The definitions of
the blocks are independent of the final indices
and the data in them may be
used by more than one final Index. For each
Index a record is kept of the
current month value and the base year value
of items with non-zero trade
that are accepted by the above tests. Current
weighted and base period
weighted sample coverage ratios are then calculated
(i.e. accepted value as
a percentage of total value), and a compromise
figure for the sample
coverage is found by taking the geometric
average.
4.5.
The Value Links for indices are calculated using
all items and not just accepted ones. The
implied assumption is that
doubtful unit values are due to errors in
quantities alone. On average,
some 11% of the current value of items is
rejected (this corresponds with a
sample coverage of 89).
4.6.
The exclusion of items with a small value of trade
in the previous year has been found to have
virtually no impact on the
Index Links that are weighted by value. However
there is a considerable
saving in computational effort since there
are large numbers of such items.
Currently items with a base year value of
less than ECU 100 000 or 1% of
its block's base year value, whichever is
the smallest, are not considered
when calculating Unit Value indices. This
results in excluding on average
3% of the total value of trade, but over 70%
of all items by number.
5. Calculation of the monthly Index Links
5.1.
At the start of each year, CN codes for the
previous year and the current year are related
to blocks and to indices.
The cumulative annual data for the previous
year are processed, retaining
items defined by flow/product/partner which
are above the threshold for
each block. Changes in the CN are dealt with
by creating product aggregates
with the same constituents in both years.
There are also a few seasonal CN
codes that are combined to give a product
aggregate which covers the whole
year.
5.2.
Each month, the 'isolated' monthly CN data for
retained items are processed, block by block,
to give Laspeyres and Paasche
numerators and denominators for all the primary
indices that are required.
This information is stored, and used by a
further stage of processing to
produce index Links at a higher level of product
or zone aggregation. In
addition external price information may be
combined with the Unit Value
indices at this stage.
5.3.
Sets of indices are calculated for several product
classifications. Higher levels of product
class (e.g. SITC 1-digit section)
are found by aggregation of the numerators
and denominators of the
constituent indices. Sometimes a constituent
index for a small country is
missing for one month. Either its trade is
zero, or its sample coverage
ratio is judged too low to give a reliable
Unit Value Index. It has been
found that it is not satisfactory to calculate
the larger Index simply by
aggregating those constituent indices that
happen to be available, since if
the missing index has a large weight and has
a level different from the
others, the aggregate index will jump about
as the index comes in and out.
Eurostat's solution is to estimate the level
of the missing Unit Value
index, and (in the case of zero trade) the
index weight for the Paasche
index.
5.4.
Indices for the EU as reporting unit are found by
combining the country indices. Laspeyres Unit
Value and Volume Links for
the EU are calculated by weighting the Laspeyres
Links for each individual
reporting country by the value of trade for
the previous year (before
elimination of items below the threshold).
A EU Value Link is found by
combining the Value Links for individual reporters
with the same weights.
The Paasche Links for the EU are found by
division.
5.5.
CN data are usually not available for new Member
States in the years before they joined the
EU. Therefore the EU index is
calculated without Greece as reporting country
until December 1981, refers
to the EU without Spain and Portugal until
December 1985 and refers to the
EU without Austria, Finland and Sweden until
December 1995. Thus a 1986
Index is calculated by splicing the change
for EUR12 between 1985 and 1986
into the 1985 level of the index for EUR10.
6. Chaining the Links
6.1.
The Monthly Laspeyres and Paasche Volume Links
give an index of Volume for the current month
relative to the average of
the data (isolated) of the previous year.
Quarterly Unit Value and Volume
Links are calculated by summing the Monthly
Links over the quarter and
dividing by three. Annual Unit Value Links
are found by summing the
Quarterly Links and dividing by four. The
Annual Value Link used to
calculate the Volume Index, is calculated
from revised annual data
(cumulative), rather than the original monthly
values. This can cause
differences of greater or lesser size in the
implied Monthly Value index!
The chaining with the Annual Links is the
cause of this phenomenon. Thus
the Quarterly and Annual Unit Value Links
are effectively averages of the
Monthly Unit Value Links weighted by the Monthly
Volume Links. This method
is used, rather than the simple averaging
of the Monthly Unit Value Links,
to preserve the relationship 'Volume x Unit-Value-Change
= Value-Change'
for all periodicities. The annual indices
thus obtained may differ from
those that would be calculated from annual
data directly, partly because of
the elimination of extreme unit values at
the monthly level.
6.2.
Once the Annual Links have been found, the indices
are chained backwards (and upwards) to the
reference year.
Example of the chaining of an index backwards
for month m of year y with
reference year 1990 = 100:
= 100 x (Annual Link for 1991, base 1990)
x (Annual Link for 1992, base 1991)
x ...................
x (Annual Link for year y-1, base y-2)
x (Monthly Link for month m, year y, base y-1).
(c) Eurostat