Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. International trade statistics Demarcation, principles and methods, 2 1 Business Statistics and Registers

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be included Non-monetary gold - Monetary gold is excluded from international merchandise trade statistics Unissued banknotes and securities, and coins not in circulation Goods traded in accordance with barter agreements Goods traded on government account 2

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be included (contd) Food and other humanitarian aid Goods for military use are to be included Goods acquired by all categories of travelers, including non-resident workers, to a significant scale as defined by national law Goods on consignment Goods used as carriers of information and software 3

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods for processing. These goods and goods resulting from such processing should be recorded as imports and exports of the respective countries. Goods which cross borders as a result of transactions between parent corporations and their direct investment enterprises (affiliates/branches) Returned goods Electricity, gas and water 4 Goods to be included (contd)

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be included (contd) Goods dispatched through postal or courier services Migrants' effects Goods transferred from or to a buffer stock organization Goods under financial lease 5

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be included (contd) Ships, aircraft and other mobile equipment Goods delivered to or dispatched from offshore installations located in the economic territory of a compiling country Fish catch, minerals from the seabed and salvage landed from foreign vessels in national ports or acquired by national vessels on the high seas from foreign vessels Bunkers, stores, and ballast Empty bottles as a trade commodity Waste and scrap with a positive value 6

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be excluded Monetary gold. The definition of monetary gold is gold is gold that is exchanged between national or international monetary authorities or authorized banks. Issued banknotes and securities and coins in circulation represent evidence of financial claims, and are excluded from international merchandise trade statistics. Goods temporarily admitted or dispatched. 7

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be excluded contd Goods in transit Goods consigned to and from territorial enclaves Non-financial assets, ownership of which has been transferred from residents to non-residents, without crossing borders, e.g. land, structures, equipment and inventories. Such a transfer is considered to be a financial operation. 8

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be excluded contd Goods treated as part of trade in services. This category comprises: (a) Goods acquired by all categories of travelers, including non-resident workers, for their own use; (b) Newspapers and periodicals sent under direct subscription; (c) Goods purchased by foreign Governments through their embassies or their foreign military or other installations located in the economic territory of a host country, from the host country, for their own use. Fish caught on the high seas by national vessels of a country and landed in its economic territory. 9

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Goods to be excluded contd Goods which are acquired and relinquished within the compiling country, by non-residents, within the same recording period, and which do not cross the frontiers of this country Goods under operational lease Goods lost or destroyed after leaving the economic territory of the exporting country but before entering the economic territory of the intended importing country Empty bottles to be refilled Waste and scrap having no positive value 10

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Inclusion of goods not crossing frontiers Goods not crossing frontiers should be included in exports or imports if changes of ownership occur Examples are: - Ships, aircraft, railway rolling stock, gas and oil drilling rigs and production platforms, and other movable equipment - Nonmonetary gold - Goods consumed in resident-owned, offshore installations - Goods salvaged and fish and other marine products caught by ships of the compiling economy and sold directly abroad - Goods purchased in one foreign country by the government of the compiling economy for its own use in a foreign country - Goods lost or destroyed after ownership has been acquired by the importer but before the goods have crossed a frontier 11

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Legal framework The national law usually requires that importers and exporters of goods report particulars of their transactions to customs In many countries, a person who fails to lodge the required declaration is liable for an offence Compiling agencies are generally authorized to collect the documents necessary to compile trade statistics. Information regarding any particular transaction used for statistical purposes is normally confidential Compilers should establish a working arrangement with the organizations keeping records relevant to trade statistics Compilers should also initiate, if necessary, modifications to national legislation in order to establish a solid foundation for enhancing the quality and timeliness of trade statistics 12

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Institutional arrangements Each country has its own set of institutional arrangements The main national organizations involved in the compilation of trade statistics are national statistical offices (statistical offices), customs offices and central banks In some countries, the department of trade or other specialized governmental body may be assigned responsibility 13

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Collection of basic records Collection of basic records includes the extraction of relevant information from customs records and records of other source agencies. When developing or amending their data-collection and data-transmission activities, compilers should follow United Nations rules and recommendations. 14

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Compilation by NSO Compilation by the national statistical office (NSO) is the most common practice In this case, the NSO holds overall responsibility Customs is responsible for collection of the basic records and for supplying the statistical office with those records Normally, customs carry out some editing of records The reliance by the statistical office on data from sources external to itself requires close cooperative relationships with all governmental departments and agencies involved 15

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Compilation by Customs In this case, all compilation activities are the responsibility of Customs The NSO is normally responsible for any additional adjustments necessary to publish data in accordance with the SNA/balance-of-payments requirements Conflicting requirements that customs face are the need to diminish barriers to the flow of trade and increased pressure from users to supply more trade data of increased quality and detail within a shorter time frame 16

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Compilation by Central Bank In a small number of countries, the Central Bank is responsible for compilation and dissemination of trade statistics. Under this arrangement, the Bank receives the customs records on a regular basis Other institutional arrangements based on the administrative structure in a country may exist Any institutional arrangement may result in acceptable trade statistics In all cases the responsible agency should provide a clear description of the organizational arrangements, the concepts and definitions applied and the compilation methods used 17

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Customs Unions The World Customs Organization has defined a customs union as an entity formed by a customs territory replacing two or more territories. Intra-union trade may be exempt from customs control and recording. The special circumstances of each union will dictate specific solutions for the compilation of international trade statistics. The methods adopted in the European Union may be effective. 18