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Date of release: July 25 2008

International Merchandise Trade Statistics
National Compilation and Reporting Practices

--- 2006 Survey Results ---

Introduction | Research countries | Research questions | List of UN recommendations

107 of the 173 questions relate to recommendations made in International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions or the Compilers Manual (questions 1.08, 9.02, 9.05, 9.07 and 11.06). The question number and recommendations are listed below.
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1.01.  Is your national methodology of compilation and dissemination of foreign merchandise trade statistics (hereafter called 'trade statistics') based on IMTS, Rev.2 ?YES
1.08.  Does your office have any memorandum of understanding or any similar working agreement with any of the mentioned agencies? YES
2.01.  Are customs declarations the main source of data? If No, please specify your main source of data in the Comments field.YES
3.01.  As a general rule, do you include in trade statistics goods which enter (imports) or leave (exports) your economic territory (except for goods in transit and temporary admissions/ withdrawals) ?YES
3.04.  Do you use date of lodgement of the customs declaration as an approximation for the time when goods enter/leave your territory? If No, please indicate which dates are used for this purpose in the Comments field.YES
4.01.  Does your country use the Kyoto Convention (the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures) as the basis for the definitions of customs procedures ?YES
5.01.  Do you include in your trade statistics goods entering or leaving the following territorial elements: industrial free zones.YES
5.02.  Do you include in your trade statistics goods entering or leaving the following territorial elements: commercial free zones.YES
5.03.  Do you include in your trade statistics goods entering or leaving the following territorial elements: customs warehouses.YES
5.04.  Do you include in your trade statistics goods entering or leaving the following territorial elements: premises designated for inward processing.YES
5.05.  Do you include in your trade statistics goods entering or leaving the following territorial elements: territorial waters, and continental shelf.YES
5.07.  Do you include in your trade statistics goods entering or leaving the following territorial elements: your country's embassies, military bases and other territorial enclaves in other countries.YES
5.10.  Do you disseminate trade statistics only according to the general trade system ?YES
6.01.  Do you use the Harmonized System (HS) as the basis for your detailed commodity trade database? If Yes, please give the number of digits at which you maintain your commodity codes in the Comment field.YES
6.02.  Do you use the Harmonized System for dissemination purposes?YES
6.07.  Do you collect quantity data?YES
6.08.  Do you record or estimate net weight for quantity measurement of all commodities, where applicable?YES
6.09.  Do you record or estimate the World Customs Organizations (WCO) recommended units of quantity for each of the headings of the HS?YES
7.01.  Are you using provisions of the WTO Agreement on Valuation as the basis for calculating the statistical value of goods ?YES
7.02.  Is the statistical value of imported goods a CIF-type value?YES
7.03.  Are data for international freight and insurance associated with the importation of goods available separately?YES
7.05.  Is the statistical value of exported goods an FOB-type value?YES
7.07.  In conversion of foreign currencies into national currency, do you use a rate published by the official authorities of your country?YES
7.08.  If both buying and selling rates are available, do you use for conversion purposes a midpoint between the two?YES
7.09.  Do you use the exchange rate which is in effect at the date of exportation or importation? If No, please indicate which exchange rates are used for this purpose in the Comments field.YES
7.10.  If an exchange rate is not available for the date of exportation or importation, do you use the average rate for the shortest period applicable?YES
8.01.  Do you identify your trade partners on the basis of the definition of the statistical territory as given by your partners themselves?YES
8.02.  Do you compile import statistics by: country of origin?YES
8.04.  Do you compile import statistics by: country of consignment?YES
8.09.  Do you compile export statistics by: country of last known destination?YES
9.02.  If you use a threshold value, do you make estimates of trade below the threshold and include them in your trade statistics ?YES
9.05.  Does the Customs administration of your country conduct seminars to train traders and their agents in the filing of customs declarations ?YES
9.07.  Do you use commodity prices or unit values to assess the credibility of customs records ? If Yes, please specify in the Comments field.YES
9.11.  Since the year 2000, did you conduct bilateral or multilateral reconciliation studies with your trading partners or do you plan to conduct such studies in the near future?YES
10.01.  Do you compile trade statistics by mode of transport.YES
10.02.  If you compile trade statistics by mode of transport, do you identify the following modes: air.YES
10.03.  If you compile trade statistics by mode of transport, do you identify the following modes: sea.YES
10.04.  If you compile trade statistics by mode of transport, do you identify the following modes: inland waterway.YES
10.05.  If you compile trade statistics by mode of transport, do you identify the following modes: railway.YES
10.06.  If you compile trade statistics by mode of transport, do you identify the following modes: road.YES
10.07.  If you compile trade statistics by mode of transport, do you identify the following modes: pipeline.YES
11.04.  Do you make documentation on your sources and methods publicly available ?YES
11.05.  Do you publicly announce scheduled release dates?YES
11.06.  Do you make data available on a Web site?YES
11.07.  Do you regularly revise data (when additional information is available)?YES
11.08.  Do you make your annual data available: according to the Gregorian calendar (January to December) ?YES
11.10.  Do you make aggregate data (by major trading partners or by commodity groups) publicly available on a monthly basis?YES
11.11.  Do you make detailed data by commodity and partner publicly available on a quarterly basis?YES
11.12.  When confidentiality is applied to certain products, do you always report the full trading partner detail at the next higher level of commodity aggregation that adequately protects confidentiality ? If No, please specify how confidentiality is applied in the Comments field.YES
12.01.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: non-monetary gold.YES
12.02.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: unissued banknotes and securities, and coins not in circulation.YES
12.03.  If Yes, do you value unissued banknotes and securities and coins not in circulation on a basis of the transaction value of the printed matter or stamped metal?YES
12.04.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods traded in accordance with barter agreements.YES
12.05.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods traded on government account.YES
12.06.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: food and other humanitarian aid.YES
12.07.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods for military use.YES
12.09.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods acquired by all categories of travellers, including non-resident workers, to a significant scale (i.e., excluding goods for their own use) as defined by national law; for example, so-called Shuttle Trade.YES
12.10.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods on consignment.YES
12.11.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods used as carriers of information and software developed for general or commercial use (e.g., packaged sets containing CD-ROM or DVD with stored computer software and/or data); Note: this category excludes materials developed "to order".YES
12.12.  If Yes, do you value these goods on a basis of their full transaction value?YES
12.13.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods for processing (i.e., goods sent abroad or brought into your country for processing, including processing under contract and processing under the inward processing procedure).YES
12.14.  If Yes, do you record goods for processing and the goods resulting from such processing on a gross basis before and after processing?YES
12.15.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods which cross borders as a result of transactions between parent corporations and their direct investment enterprises (affiliates/branches).YES
12.16.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: returned goods.YES
12.17.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: electricity and gas.YES
12.18.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: water.YES
12.19.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods dispatched through postal or courier services.YES
12.20.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: migrants' effects.YES
12.21.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods transferred from or to a buffer stock organization.YES
12.22.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods under financial lease (i.e., a lease of one year or more).YES
12.23.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: ships, aircraft and other mobile equipment.YES
12.24.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods delivered from the rest of the world to offshore installations located in the economic territory of your country, and goods dispatched to the rest of the world from offshore installations located in the economic territory of your country.YES
12.25.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: fish catch, minerals from the seabed and salvage landed from foreign vessels in national ports.YES
12.26.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: fish catch, minerals from the seabed and salvage acquired by national vessels on the high seas from foreign vessels.YES
12.27.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: bunkers, stores, ballast and dunnage acquired by national vessels/aircraft from foreign vessels/aircraft in the economic territory of your country.YES
12.28.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: bunkers, stores, ballast and dunnage landed in national ports from foreign vessels/aircraft.YES
12.29.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: bunkers, stores, ballast and dunnage supplied to foreign vessels/aircraft in the economic territory of your country.YES
12.30.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: empty bottles not meant for refilling.YES
12.31.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: waste and scrap, the value of which is positive.YES
12.32.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: local border trade.YES
12.33.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: gifts, if to significant scale as defined by national law.YES
12.34.  Do you INCLUDE in trade statistics the following: goods seized by customs and subsequently resold.YES
13.01.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: monetary gold (i.e., that gold which is exchanged between national or international monetary authorities or authorized banks).YES
13.02.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: issued banknotes and securities and coins in circulation.YES
13.03.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods temporarily admitted or dispatched.YES
13.04.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods in transit.YES
13.05.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods moving between your country and territorial enclaves of your country in other countries (e.g., your embassies, military or other installations).YES
13.06.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: non-financial assets, ownership of which has been transferred from residents to non-residents, without crossing borders.YES
13.07.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods acquired by all categories of travellers, including non-resident workers, for their own use and carried across the border in amounts or values not exceeding those established by national law.YES
13.08.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: newspapers and periodicals sent under direct subscription.YES
13.09.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods purchased by foreign embassies, military or other installations located in your country, for their own use.YES
13.10.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: fish caught on the high seas by national vessels of your country and landed in its economic territory.YES
13.11.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods which are acquired and relinquished within your country, by non-residents, within the same recording period, and which do not cross the frontiers of the country.YES
13.12.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods under operational lease (i.e., a lease of less than one year).YES
13.13.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods which left the economic territory of the exporting country but lost or destroyed before entering the economic territory of your country.YES
13.14.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: empty bottles which are returned to be refilled.YES
13.15.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: any category of used or second-hand goods ? If Yes, please specify in the Comments field.NO
13.16.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: waste and scrap having no positive value.YES
13.17.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: mobile equipment that changes ownership while outside the country of residence of its original owner; if Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES
13.18.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: fish catch, minerals from the seabed and salvage sold from national vessels in foreign ports or from national vessels on the high seas to foreign vessels; if Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES
13.19.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: bunkers, stores, ballast and dunnage that are acquired by national vessels/aircraft outside the economic territory of your country; if Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES
13.20.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: bunkers, stores, ballast and dunnage that are supplied by national vessels/aircraft to foreign vessels/aircraft outside the economic territory of your country or landed in foreign ports from national vessels/aircraft. If Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES
13.21.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods purchased by international organizations located in the economic territory of your country, from your country, for their own use; if Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES
13.22.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods for repair; if Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES
13.23.  If No (so, if you include goods for repair), do you value goods for repair at the value of the repair only?YES
13.24.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods entering or leaving the economic territory of your country illegally; if Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES
13.25.  Do you EXCLUDE from trade statistics the following: goods exported from your country but lost or destroyed after ownership has been acquired by the importer; if Yes, please indicate in Comments whether you record the transaction separately.YES