Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2007)653 - Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2007)653 - Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2007)653  |
| date | 30-10-2007 |
The purpose of this proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council is to revise the current statistical system of trade in goods with non-member countries (Extrastat) in order to:
- make the legislation clearer, simpler and more transparent;
- adjust the system of extra-Community trade statistics to the changes to be introduced in the procedures regarding the customs declaration through the introduction of Single Authorisations for use of the simplified declaration or the local clearance procedure ias well as through centralised clearance under the modernised Community Customs Code (to replace Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992);
- reduce the Rotterdam effect resulting (a) in an over-representation in external trade statistics of Member States having a high level of customs clearance or export but playing only the role of transit countries to the detriment of the Member States of actual destination or dispatch of the goods and (b) in a double reporting of the same goods in Extrastat as non Community goods and then in Intrastat as Community goods coming from another MS, with a comparable situation at export;
- increase the relevance, accuracy, timeliness and comparability of external trade statistics, and establish a system for quality assessment;
- support the linking of trade statistics with business statistics;
- respond to user needs by compiling additional trade statistics using information available in customs declarations;
- control, in line with the European Statistics Code of Practice, the privileged access to sensitive external trade data.
External trade statistics (Extrastat) record Member States' imports and exports of goods with non-member countries. This information is of essential importance for European economic and trade policies and for analysing market developments for individual commodities. The statistics contain monthly records on imports and exports expressed in value and quantity, broken down by reporting Member State and by partner country, by commodity according to the Combined Nomenclature, by mode of transport and by tariff treatment (in the case of imports).
Apart from certain specific movements, Extrastat is based on data collected from customs declarations. Using the customs declaration as a source of statistical information means that no direct statistical reporting burden is imposed on traders. As the information is of good quality, the continued use of customs declarations for the production of statistics on external trade is highly desirable.
While such statistics aim at giving a picture of the external trade flows of the Community taken as a whole, they should also allow a breakdown of these flows by Member State.
1. However, the development of new methods for the customs clearance of goods throughout the Community (Single Authorisations for use of Simplified Procedures, Centralised Customs Clearance) makes it necessary to adjust the compilation of external trade statistics and, in this context, also to adjust the list of statistical data to be extracted from the customs declaration.Single Authorisation for use of the simplified declaration or the local clearance procedure in the context of release for free circulation, to be introduced in 2008, as well as Centralised Customs Clearance, which will be introduced by the modernized Customs Code, will allow a person to lodge a customs declaration at the place where he is established for goods which are presented at another place. Under these procedures, the lodging of the customs declaration may therefore be dissociated both from the place of entry or exit and examination of the goods and from the place of final destination of imported goods or the place of actual dispatch of goods to be exported. As a result, customs data required for statistics may not be available in the Member State of final destination for imports or the Member State of actual dispatch for exports, but only in the Member State where the declaration is lodged. This is the reason why it is necessary to reconsider the concept of the importing or exporting Member State from a statistical point of view, to define more precisely the customs data source for compiling Community statistics and the data to be reported, and to ensure information exchange between national administrations of the different Member States involved.Adjusting the definition of the importing and exporting Member State will also reduce the Rotterdam effect, which appears when goods, either before leaving the EU or after entry into the EU, move between Member States, but customs formalities are carried out in the Member State of entry in or exit from the EU. As a result, for imports, the trade flows are reported once as non-Community goods in the Extrastat system and a second time as Community goods within the Intrastat system (i.e. statistics relating to the trading of goods between Members States). For exports, the statistics imply that export is from the Member State of exit, rather than that where the actual exporter is established. This makes the interpretation of Community Statistics complicated.
2. Improvements in accuracy and timeliness are feasible; they will make the use of external trade statistics more efficient, as electronic data exchange between Customs administrations (national and EU-wide), and between trade operators and Customs administrations will become more and more standard (under the e-customs initiative). The proposal calls for import and export figures to be continuously updated, taking into account the most recent data available, including changes made at Customs after the declaration was accepted. The prescribed time for transmitting data to Eurostat will be shortened to 40 days after the reference month, with the possibility in the implementing provisions of shortening it even further in the future.
3. The Commission (Eurostat) received additional user requests which have been taken into account in the draft legal framework.
4. The ECB and DG ECFIN need information for monitoring the share of the Euro in international merchandise trade. Therefore, the invoicing currency for exports and imports will be reported at an aggregated level.
5. DG TRADE and DG AGRI need more reliable data on the tariff treatment of goods imported into the EU, including information on quotas.
6. External trade statistics provide data for the Balance of Payments and National Accounts. The characteristics which enable external trade statistics to be adapted for Balance of Payments purposes will be included in the mandatory and standard data set.
7. In order to allocate EU exports and imports to Member States under Centralised Customs Clearance, user need data on the Member State of final destination, for imports, and the Member State of actual export, for exports.
8. Within the new Extrastat framework, Member States' trade data will be broken down by business characteristics such that it is possible to see, for instance, how European companies are operating in the context of globalisation. The link between business and trade statistics can be established by using information on the importer and exporter available in the customs declaration.
Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 of 22 May 1995, on the statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1917/2000 of 7 September 2000 laying down certain provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 as regards statistics on external trade. The proposal and its implementing provisions will replace these Regulations.
Consistent with common trade, customs and macroeconomic policy.
Since autumn 2004, regular discussions on the draft Extrastat Regulation have taken place in a project group comprising experts from Member States, and within the Extrastat Committee.
An Inter-Service Coordination Group was established (participating DGs: ESTAT, AGRI, ENTR, FISH, TAXUD, TRADE, TREN) to comment on the proposal at the various drafting stages.
Several discussions have taken place with the ECB on the invoicing currency.
There has been no need for external expertise.
A number of options for external trade statistics have been identified.
Option A: Maintain the status quo and do not change the existing legislation.
Option B: Wait with any new Extrastat legislation until the modernised Customs Code is implemented, until the filling in of additional data on the customs declaration is made mandatory, and until electronic data exchange between Member States' national administrations is in place.
Option C: Implement in 2009 a new Extrastat system incorporating interim provisions valid until the customs provisions are adapted.
Option C, for a new EP/Council regulation on Community external trade statistics in 2009, is the preferred option for the following reasons:
- Single Authorisation for use of the simplified declaration or the local clearance procedure still has a pilot character and is based on bilateral agreements between Member States. However, the Commission (TAXUD) encourages the use of these simplified procedures and is developing standard procedures and proposing changes in the customs implementing provisions foreseen for January 2008. The use, under Single Authorisation, of the simplified declaration or the local clearance procedure for release for free circulation will, together with centralised clearance under the Modernised Customs Code, dissociate the place where the customs declaration is lodged from the physical location of the goods. The use of these procedures is intended to apply across the Community, which may lead to structural changes in the clearance procedures with significant simplification effects for Community exporters and importers.
- As regards the compilation of external trade statistics, the current provisions are ambiguous, and some Member States have started to collect data directly from trade operators in cases where the goods are located on their territory for import or export, but the customs declaration is made in another Member State. This increases the statistical reporting burden and reduces the quality of Community statistics. Centralised Customs Clearance procedures are intended, in the coming years, to increase the volume in trade declared at the place where the importer/exporter is established, rather than at the place of physical import or export of the goods. There is obvious benefit for the compilation of external trade statistics in this centralization, as the actual importer/exporter and actual Member State of import and export of the goods can more easily be identified. This could be offset, however, if the current provisions and practices for compilation continue; compilation could, in fact, become more and more incoherent, burdensome and inaccurate. New arrangements are essential and the proposal specifies which customs declaration in which Member State shall be used, and does not foresee a direct data collection from exporters or importers. The trend that Member States apply different practices, use different data sources and include/exclude trade transactions according to their individual judgement or capacity, should be reversed in time.
- In order to meet the objectives of this new Regulation, a change to the implementing provisions of the Community Customs Code will be prepared and submitted to the Customs Code Committee in such a way that data on the Member State of final destination and the Member State of actual export are made mandatory to be collected at the Customs. Currently the information is only partially available, and it is up to each Member State to request the data. In addition, data exchange between Member States should be taken into account when Customs are designing the automated import and export system (AIS & AES). This will allow Member States to exchange their import and export figures according to the concept of Member State of final destination / actual export. The proposal introduces specific provisions for the trade statistics to be adapted gradually until the required data are available in all Member States. This approach reduces dependence on the timetable for changing customs provisions, but at the same time encourages Member States to adapt to the new requirements faster. In particular, the progressive collection of data pertaining to the Member State of final destination and of actual export will make it easier to investigate the widening gap between the Member States where the customs declaration is made and the intended importing and exporting Member States. Trade figures will be disseminated by Eurostat according to the Member State where the customs declaration is lodged, but users can already be given partial information on the Member State of destination or actual export.
- A delay in implementing the legislation would have negative effects on all other aspects of the proposal, such as timeliness and new user requirements.
Contents
- LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
- BUDGETARY IMPLICATION
- 1.1. Grounds for and objectives of the proposal
- 1.2. General context
- 1.3. Existing provisions in the area of the proposal
- 1.4. Consistency with other EU policies and objectives
- 2. CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
- 2.1. Consultation of interested parties
- 2.2. Collection and use of expertise
- 2.3. Analysis of effects and consequences
- 3.1. Summary of the proposed action
- 3.2. Legal basis
- 3.3. Subsidiarity principle
- 3.4. Proportionality principle
- 3.5. Choice of instruments
- 5. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- 5.1. Simplification
- 5.2. Repeal of existing legislation
- 5.3. European Economic Area
This proposal provides the legal framework for improving the quality and transparency of Extrastat; it reacts to the changing administrative environment, and will satisfy new user requirements.
Article 285 of the Treaty provides the legal basis for Community statistics. The Council, acting under the co-decision procedure, adopts measures for the production of statistics needed for the performance of the Community's activities. This article sets out requirements relating to the production of Community statistics and to the requisite standards of impartiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality.
The subsidiarity principle applies insofar as the proposal does not fall within the exclusive competence of the Community.
The objective of the proposed action, namely the production of Community statistics on external trade, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level on the basis of a Community legal act, because only the Commission can coordinate the necessary harmonisation of statistical information at Community level, while the collection of data and compilation of comparable external trade statistics can be organised by the Member States. Consequently, the Community may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty.
The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reasons.
This Regulation confines itself to the minimum required to achieve this objective and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose. The proposal specifies the Community's data requirements on trade in goods with non-member countries, thereby referring as far as possible to information which is declared by importers and exporters for customs purposes (i.e. external trade statistics are based on administrative sources). However, for well justified reasons, a few additional data elements requested on the customs declaration have to be collected for statistical purposes.
To accommodate new user requirements and to keep accurate statistics, the proposal adds new data elements for compiling external trade statistics. Some of the data (identification of the importer and exporter, country of consignment) are requested on the customs declaration and should in the future be used for statistics. This will not involve any additional reporting burden for companies; national administrations will just have to adapt slightly their data transmission and processing systems.
The proposal also asks for the quota ID number for import transactions. Although the information is held by the national Customs administration, compilation for statistics purposes is more complex, because the information is often not directly taken from the customs declaration and may be available only belatedly, after the Commission services have granted the quota.
However, the Member State of final destination/actual export is not yet requested in all Member States on the customs declaration, and this element will lead in the short term to an additional reporting burden for trade operators. Nevertheless, the information is deemed essential in order to cope with Centralised Customs Clearance. The overall statistical reporting obligation will be reduced in the medium term, because the intention is to cease requesting Intrastat declarations on intra-Community movements before or after customs release if the information is in the customs data. By providing a two-digit alphanumeric country code on the customs declaration, two complete Intrastat declarations (one on dispatch and one on arrival) can be avoided.
Furthermore, data on invoicing currency (for exports) and nature of transaction are not fully available in the customs declarations in all Member States. Collecting them will involve some (limited) additional burden in those few Member States which do not collect them at present.
As a result of consulting the users of external trade statistics, the proposal no longer requests the nationality of active means of transport crossing the border. Abolishing this requirement can partly compensate for the above additional information request.
In 2008 it is planned to launch the MEETS (Modernisation of European Enterprise and Trade Statistics) programme. Part of the budget of this programme is earmarked for running the new Extrastat system.
Proposed instrument: an EP/Council Regulation.
Other means would not be appropriate for the following reasons:
- It is generally acknowledged that an EP/Council regulation is appropriate for the majority of statistical activities that require detailed and uniform application throughout the Community.
- A regulation is preferable to a directive as a basic act because, unlike a directive, a regulation lays down the same law throughout the Community, leaving the Member States with no powers to apply it partially or selectively and no choice in the form and methods to be used to attain its objectives.
- Moreover, a regulation is directly applicable, which means that it does not need to be transposed into national law, thus avoiding the delays associated with such transpositions. It also leads to better and faster legislation.
The budget of the MEETS programme can be considered to cover the implementation costs of the new Extrastat system (2010: 335; 2011: 600; 2012: 600; 2013: 600 in '000 EUR are set aside for adjusting external trade statistics).
The proposal has a potential simplification effect which might reduce the reporting burden on companies. The exact size of this effect is at present difficult to forecast. The simplification benefits will be fully realised in the longer term after the new customs rules are put in place, the Member State of final destination / actual export is collected by all Member States, and electronic data exchange of customs information is up and running. From then on, the Community and national figures will be compiled according to the same procedures, and both will be based on administrative data (the customs declaration). In addition, the reporting burden of the Intrastat system will be lightened when trade statistics are disseminated according to the Member State of final destination and actual export, and there is no further need for reporting the related intra-Community movements.
On the other hand, the additional data requested will mean, by their nature, additional burden for national administrations and respondents (see chapter 3.4 on Proportionality). However, keeping the existing system might increase the reporting burden even more drastically and simultaneously reduce the quality of the statistics. It is assumed that, if no legal changes are made national statistical authorities will continue to collect more and more data for external trade statistics directly from companies, because their national Customs authorities cannot provide the required information under Centralised Customs Clearance. What makes the situation worse is that these reporting companies are not even established in the relevant Member State, which means less opportunity to check the completeness and quality of the data (not to mention the language problems).
Unlike the existing legislation, the proposal no longer refers to Community statistics relating to transit, to customs warehouses and free zones and free warehouses, because no need was expressed by Community institutions for those statistics.
The adoption of the proposal will lead to the repeal of existing legislation.
The proposed act is an EEA matter and should therefore extend to the whole European Economic Area.