Presentation on External trade by tariff regime Evangelos Pongas Eurostat - Unit G5 Workshop of "Best practices exchanges"Luxembourg, 25th & 26th January 2010

Outline of the presentation Background information Existing databases and contents Compilation issues Data access and presentation/analytical issues Presentation of Unit G5

Who does what Commission is responsible of the EU commercial policy (external trade issues) Several directorates are involved (TRADE, TAXUD, AGRI etc.) Main activities cover: commercial negotiations at international level, elaboration of legal acts for extra imports and exports, monitoring of trade, antidumping policy etc. National custom authorities are responsible for the implementation and the collection of duties Presentation of Unit G5

Import tariff types Non dutiable trade (tariff is zero). Often called MFN zero Dutiable trade (tariff is not zero). Often called MFN non zero Variations of (dutiable trade) tariffs (reduced or zero) depending on the origin and the products. Two main categories exist: Generalized system of preferences (GSP). Other preferences MFN: Most Favoured Nations Presentation of Unit G5

Existing databases EUROSTAT - COMEXT: Contains extra imports by type of tariff requested during importation (MFN or preferential) TAXUD – TARIC database: Among other contains detailed information about tariffs The Comext dataset “trade by tariff regime” combines the data of both above data sources: TARIC showing the eligibility of importing a product under a specific regime (preferential mainly) Comext showing how and if the facility foreseen by TARIC was used in practice (Import regime). Presentation of Unit G5

Some examples - 0 An import of a specific product from a specific country was GSP eligible (according TARIC reduced or zero duty ) but in practice the import was realized (according COMEXT) under MFN regime. This often happens because some origin certificates are missing or not properly issued. The unknown item in the eligibility dimension refers to product/partner countries for which information in TARIC could not be found The unknown item in the use dimension refers to product/partner country for which a join with TARIC could not be done (confidential codes for example) or to trade that preferential information was wrong or missing Presentation of Unit G5

Some examples - 1 Presentation of Unit G5 import regime eligibility Dimension: DECLARANT - EU - EU MEMBER STATES- EVOLUTIVE (EU15 UNTIL 30/04/2004, EU25 UNTIL 31/12/2006, EU27 SINCE 01/01/2007). Dimension: PARTNER - MY - MALAYSIA. Dimension: PRODUCT - TOTAL - TOTAL. Dimension: STAT_REGIME - all - all. Dimension: PERIOD - 200852 - Jan.-Dec. 2008. Dimension: INDICATOR - - . import regime eligibility MFN ZERO MFN NON ZERO ANY PREFERENCE ZERO ANY PREFERENCE NON ZERO UNKNOWN sum ONLY MFN 11139636772 759939531   11899576303 GSP AND/OR PREFERENCES 134360 1916653652 1871485052 1083231395 150301522 5021805981 601865082 11139771132 2676593183 752166604 17523247366 Presentation of Unit G5

Some examples – 1b Presentation of Unit G5 import regime eligibility Dimension: DECLARANT - EU - EU MEMBER STATES- EVOLUTIVE (EU15 UNTIL 30/04/2004, EU25 UNTIL 31/12/2006, EU27 SINCE 01/01/2007). Dimension: PARTNER - MY - MALAYSIA. Dimension: PRODUCT - TOTAL - TOTAL. Dimension: STAT_REGIME - all - all. Dimension: PERIOD - 200852 - Jan.-Dec. 2008. Dimension: INDICATOR - - . import regime eligibility MFN ZERO MFN NON ZERO ANY PREFERENCE ZERO ANY PREFERENCE NON ZERO UNKNOWN sum ONLY MFN 63.6% 4.3% 67.9% GSP AND/OR PREFERENCES 10.9% 10.7% 6.2% 0.9% 28.7% 3.4% 15.3% 100.0% Presentation of Unit G5

Some examples – 2 Presentation of Unit G5 import regime eligibility Dimension: DECLARANT - EU - EU MEMBER STATES- EVOLUTIVE (EU15 UNTIL 30/04/2004, EU25 UNTIL 31/12/2006, EU27 SINCE 01/01/2007). Dimension: PARTNER - JP - JAPAN. Dimension: PRODUCT - TOTAL - TOTAL. Dimension: STAT_REGIME - all - all. Dimension: PERIOD - 200752 - Jan.-Dec. 2008. Dimension: INDICATOR - - . import regime eligibility MFN ZERO MFN NON ZERO ANY PREFERENCE ZERO ANY PREFERENCE NON ZERO UNKNOWN sum ONLY MFN 45.3% 52.5%   97.9% GSP AND/OR PREFERENCES 2.1% 100.0% Presentation of Unit G5

Some examples – 3 Presentation of Unit G5 import regime eligibility Dimension: DECLARANT - EU - EU MEMBER STATES- EVOLUTIVE (EU15 UNTIL 30/04/2004, EU25 UNTIL 31/12/2006, EU27 SINCE 01/01/2007). Dimension: PARTNER - US - UNITED STATES Dimension: PRODUCT - TOTAL - TOTAL. Dimension: STAT_REGIME - all - all. Dimension: PERIOD - 200752 - Jan.-Dec. 2008. Dimension: INDICATOR - - . import regime eligibility MFN ZERO MFN NON ZERO ANY PREFERENCE ZERO ANY PREFERENCE NON ZERO UNKNOWN sum ONLY MFN 64.9% 28.0%   92.9% GSP AND/OR PREFERENCES 0.0% 7.1% 100.0% Presentation of Unit G5