International Merchandise Trade Statistics Methodology

The International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Supplement to the Compilers Manual has been prepared with the support of the inter-agency Task Force on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (TFIMTS) as agreed at its 2003 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The primary purpose of the Supplement is to assist United Nations Member States in the implementation of the guidelines adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission and laid out in International Merchandise Trade Statistics : Concepts and Definitions , Revision 2 (IMTS, Rev.2 ) and International Merchandise Trade Statistics : Compilers Manual. The Supplement may also serve as a guide to users who wish to understand better the nature of trade data.

UNSD has prepared a draft correlation table between HS07 and the Classification by Broad Economic Categories (BEC). The correlation tables and a note explaining how they were constructed can be downloaded on the following links.

Correlation table between the Harmonized System (2007 edition) and Classification by Broad Economic Categories

Correlation table between the Classification by Broad Economic Categories and the Harmonized System (2007 edition)

Explanation on construction of the correlation tables between HS07 and BEC

SITC, Revision 4 is now available. The fourth revision of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC, Rev.4) has been produced in view of the accumulated changes in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS).

The methodological work include: drafting recommendations of the UN Statistical Commission; advising countries on implementation of the Commission’s recommendations; preparation of various technical reports on national practices in data compilation; cooperation with other international organizations in development and harmonization of methodological guidelines.

The recent methodological publications in international trade statistics include:

Information regarding application of the IMTS recommendations by individual countries or customs areas is collected and made available in a database called National Compilation and Reporting Practices in International Merchandise Trade Statistics.