Intrastat is the system for collecting information and producing statistics

Statistics

Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....

 on the trade in goods between countries of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 (EU). It began operation on 1 January 1993, when it replaced customs declarations as the source of trade statistics within the EU. The requirements of Intrastat are similar in all member states of the EU.

Motivation

Trade statistics are an essential part of a country's balance of payments

Balance of payments

Balance of payments accounts are an accounting record of all monetary transactions between a country and the rest of the world.These transactions include payments for the country's exports and imports of goods, services, financial capital, and financial transfers...

 account and are regarded as an important economic indicator of the performance of any country. Export

Export

The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...

 data in particular can be used as an indicator of the state of a country's manufacturing industries as a whole. The statistics are used by government departments to help set overall trade policy and generate initiatives on new trade areas. The volume of goods moving is also assessed to allow the planning of future transport infrastructure needs.

The commercial world uses the statistics to assess markets within the country (e.g. to gauge how imports are penetrating the market) and externally (e.g. to establish new markets for their goods).

In addition, the statistics are passed on to European and International bodies such as Eurostat

Eurostat

Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...

 (the Statistical Office of the European Communities), the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 and the International Monetary Fund

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...

.

Intrastat data forms an integral part of these statistics and therefore it is important that the data submitted is of a high quality. The supply of services is excluded from Intrastat.

Specifically concerning the commodity codes according to the Combined Nomenclature (CN), it needs to be acknowledged that although the CN is revised annually and published as a Commission Regulation in the EU Official Journal in October of the preceding year, the Member States have the right to collect more detailed information such as a more detailed commodity code by adding an additional digit to the end of the EU level 8 digit CN code (Article 9(2) of regulation 638/2004).

For the Intrastat system, the customs authorities provide the national authorities with statistics on dispatches and arrivals of goods. The national authorities collect the following data:

• the identification number allocated to the party responsible for providing information;
• the reference period;
• the flow (arrival, dispatch);
• the commodity;
• the value of the goods;
• the quantity of the goods;
• the partner Member State;
• the nature of the transaction.

External links

• UK BusinessLink, Introduction to Intrastat and Guide Lines.
• Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, for the latest version see the amendments
  • CN regulation for CN2010, List of Intrastat Codes
• Unofficial, legally non-binding Intrastat database (DB) versions of CN2010, List of Intrastat Codes
• Unofficial, legally non-binding transposition tables from one year to another, like CN2007-CN2008, Tables