A. Introduction
4.1 Price indices are compiled as weighted averages of changes in the prices of goods and services. The weights correspond to and derive from the value aggregate for which the index is designed: in this case, exports and imports of goods and services. Because changes over time in value aggregates for goods or services comprise changes in the sum of prices times quantities across the types of goods and services in the aggregate, the prices forming the price ratios in the associated price index must be representative of the price changes of the value aggregate.
4.2 The properties of the value aggregate that directly translate into properties for the prices and weights associated with the price index are valuation, coverage, and classification of the goods and services making up the aggregate. Coverage, considered in Section B, defines the scope of goods and services contained in the aggregate; valuation, considered in Section C, defines what the prices in the value aggregate of interest include and do not include; and classification, in Section D, divides that aggregate into a standard set of subaggregates.
B. Coverage
B.1 Goods
4.3 In defining the coverage of goods, the concepts followed in this Manual are the same as those required in the 2008 System of National Accounts (2008 SNA)1 and the Balance of Payments Manual, Sixth Edition (BPM6).2 Thus, exports and imports cover, in principle, all goods for which a change of ownership takes place between the residents of a given economy and nonresidents. It therefore encompasses sales, purchases, barter, or other transfers of all goods between resident and nonresidents.
4.4 The main source for data on exports and imports is the international merchandise trade statistics. These data are based on administrative documents and include the physical movement of goods across the borders of a country.3 The nature of resident to nonresident transactions implies that when a change of ownership occurs, the goods usually cross the customs frontier. However, data on merchandise trade as compiled primarily from customs warrants may normally only record goods that are subject to customs controls. The effective coverage of such statistics is therefore determined and limited by the effective coverage of the customs procedures in force for the country.4 As an extreme example, intra-country trade between member countries of the European Union is excluded from customs statistics. Thus, the process of recording trade in goods may not necessarily coincide with the change of ownership because goods may change ownership without having to cross the customs frontier or may cross the customs frontier without changing ownership. Nonetheless, it is important to establish what should be covered in principle in order that the shortcomings of the practice can be identified.
4.5 Because there is a change of ownership of goods between a resident and a nonresident, the BPM6 includes the following cases in the balance of payments definition of general merchandise:
(a) Banknotes and coins not in current circulation and unissued securities;
(b) Electricity, gas, and water;
(c) Products such as noncustomized packaged software (systems and applications), and video and audio recordings on physical media, such as disks and other devices, with a license for perpetual use (i.e., not through end-user or other licenses) are included in general merchandise if provided on disk, CD-ROM, or other magnetic media. These products are included at their full transaction value (i.e., not at the value of the empty disks, or other storage device);
(d) Goods procured in ports by carriers. Goods such as fuels (bunkering), provisions, stores, ballast, dunnage, and so forth procured by nonresident transport operators in ports from resident providers are included in exports of general merchandise. Similarly, goods procured by resident transport operators from nonresident providers are included in imports;
(e) Goods supplied or acquired by carriers away from the territory of residence of the operator. For example, fish and other marine products caught by ships operated by residents of the compiling economy and sold abroad directly should be included. Similarly, oil and minerals retrieved from the ocean floor by resident operators and sold abroad directly should be included. The goods could be acquired or sold in foreign ports or on the high seas to foreign vessels;
(f) Goods under financial leases acquired by the lessor. Because the lessee is the economic owner, a change of ownership between the seller of the goods and the lessee is recorded at the start of the lease. The lessor acquires legal title, but does not acquire economic ownership;
(g) Goods sent abroad without a change of ownership, but later sold. Goods sent abroad on consignment or for storage, repair, exhibition, processing, and so forth without a change of ownership are not recorded at the time they are sent abroad, but if they are later sold to a resident of a different economy from that of the owner, they should be recorded in general merchandise;
(h) Equipment that is sold while outside the territory of residence of its original owner. For example, equipment originally taken out of the territory for temporary purposes, such as construction, exhibition, or fishing, may be subsequently sold or given away;
(i) Illegal goods;
(j) Smuggled goods that are otherwise legal;
(k) Gifts and parcel post where there is a change of ownership;
(l) Goods lost or destroyed after ownership has been acquired by an importer but before the goods have crossed a frontier (however, goods lost or destroyed before ownership has been acquired by an importer are excluded from merchandise trade);
(m) Livestock that changes ownership;
(n) Government sales of goods to and purchases of goods from nonresidents. Acquisitions of military equipment from nonresidents should be included in general merchandise. Goods supplied by governments to their own embassies, military bases, and so forth involve resident-to-resident transactions and so are not covered in the international accounts. Expenditure by embassies and so forth is included under government goods and services n.i.e;
(o) Goods financed by grants or loans;
(p) Humanitarian aid in the form of goods;
(q) Goods transferred to or from a buffer stock organization;
(r) Goods acquired to be processed without passing through the territory of the owner and goods sold after processing without passing through the territory of the owner; and
(s) Any other goods exempted from customs procedures or otherwise excluded from data sources. (Cases that sometimes arise include shuttle trade; acquisition of ships, aircraft, and satellites; trade between free trade zones of an economy and residents of other economies; goods in bonded warehouses in economies that use the special trade system; and amounts below customs thresholds.)
Goods for resale acquired by travelers while on visits (sometimes called shuttle trade) are included in general merchandise. Shuttle trade covers transactions involving the purchase of goods in an economy by travelers (nonresidents) who then transport these goods back to their economy of residence where they are to be sold; goods purchased by travelers in their home country for resale abroad; and goods purchased by travelers abroad in one economy and sold abroad in a second economy. It is sometimes also called informal cross-border trade. Because the intent of this travel is not to acquire goods for personal use—recorded under travel—but to engage in a business and to make a profit, the goods acquired and sold are recorded under general merchandise. Goods for own use or to give away acquired by travelers in excess of customs thresholds are also included in general merchandise. For example, durable goods (such as cars and electronics) and valuables (such as jewelry) may be acquired in this way. This treatment is consistent with international merchandise trade statistics, but care is needed to avoid double counting such goods by including them also under travel.
4.6 Because there is no change of ownership of goods between a resident and a nonresident, or because the goods have no value, the BPM6 excludes the following cases from general merchandise:
(a) Transit trade. These goods are admitted under special customs procedures that allow the goods to pass through the territory. They are excluded from the general merchandise of the territory of transit;
(b) Migrants’ personal effects. The personal property that accompanies people changing residence is not classified as a transaction because there is no change in ownership;
(c) Goods consigned to embassies, military bases, and so forth from their home authorities and vice versa;
(d) Goods sent to an enterprise’s external operations where those operations are not sufficiently substantial to constitute a branch. A common example is goods sent abroad from the home base for use in a construction project not undertaken by a separate entity; these goods are not included in exports of general merchandise of the territory of the home base;
(e) Goods temporarily exported or imported without a change of ownership. Examples include goods for repair, as part of an operating lease, for storage, and animals or artifacts for participation in exhibitions or competitions (such movements of goods should be tracked, so as to identify cases where the goods are subsequently sold, rather than returned);
(f) Goods for assembly, packing, labeling, or processing by an entity that does not own the goods concerned;
(g) Returned goods. In these cases, the goods were not accepted, or a change of ownership occurred but the parties later agreed to annul the change of ownership. It is recommended that revised entries should be made to exports and imports for the period when the goods were initially recorded, to remove the voided transaction especially for returns of occasional, high-value goods. However, for statistical convenience, deductions from exports and imports may be made in the periods when the goods are returned for minor cases;
(h) Samples of no commercial value;
(i) Trade in goods between free trade zones and residents of the same economy; and
(j) Any other goods that have been included in the data source although there was no change of ownership.
B.1.1 Special cases: Goods sent abroad for processing and goods under merchanting
4.7 The value of goods sent abroad for processing without a change of ownership is excluded from trade in goods. Instead, the value of the work done on the goods by the resident of one economy on behalf of a nonresident would be considered a manufacturing service and classified as manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others. Thus, after processing, the manufacturing service would be recorded as an export of services by the economy undertaking the processing and an import of services by the economy of the unit that owns the goods. Sale of the goods after processing (i.e., including the value of the manufacturing service) would be recorded in the merchandise trade statistics.
4.8 Merchanting is defined in the BPM6 as the purchase of goods by a resident from a nonresident combined with the subsequent resale of the goods to another nonresident without the goods being present in the compiling economy. Thus, the physical possession of the goods by the owner is not necessary for the transaction to take place. The acquisition of the goods by merchants is recorded in the BPM6 as negative exports of the economy of the merchant and the subsequent sale is shown as positive export of the economy of the merchant.
B.2 Services
4.9 The BPM6 defines services as the result of a production process that changes the conditions of consuming units or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. They are generally not separate entities over which ownership rights can be established and cannot generally be separated from their production. However, this definition is not clear-cut, and in practice the distinction between goods and services may be based on other considerations, such as data sources.
4.10 The BPM6 identifies 12 broad groups of services as follows:
Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
Transport
Travel
Telecommunications, computer, and information services
Construction
Insurance and pension services
Financial services
Charges for the use of intellectual property
Other business services
Personal, cultural, and recreational services
Government goods and services n.i.e.
4.11 These broad groupings are based mainly on the type of product and are closely aligned with the Central Product Classification (CPC). However, travel, construction, and government goods and services are based on the type of transactor and are therefore not defined in the CPC. These three groups may cover a wide range of both goods and services, including many of the services classified according to product. For instance, recreational services acquired by a transactor undertaking travel would be classified as travel services. Likewise, goods acquired by these transactors are excluded from trade in goods and included in the service categories. However, not all goods acquired by these transactors would be classified as travel services. It excludes goods for resale (acquired for shuttle trade), the acquisition of consumer durables (motor vehicles and electronic items), and valuables.
4.12 From a resident’s perspective, travel services covers the acquisition of goods and services in an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy and the acquisition of goods and services by residents in other economies during visits abroad. It represents a form of consumption expenditure, but unlike most other forms of consumption expenditure, it takes place away from the economy of the resident. It follows, therefore, that for residents undertaking consumption expenditure abroad the expenditure is classified as imports of travel services, whereas expenditure of nonresidents in the domestic economy is classified as exports of travel services. The residency criteria are critical to determining which transactors would be considered as undertaking travel services, and the price statistician would need to work closely with the national accounts and balance of payments compilers to determine the transactors and expenditure that would fit the criteria.
4.13 For practical purposes, the value of imports of goods, as recorded by customs authorities and in merchandise trade statistics, includes the cost of insurance and freight services. The 2008 SNA and the BPM6, however, adopt an f.o.b. (free on board) valuation principle for both imports and exports (see Section C). This requires, therefore, that insurance and freight be deducted from the value of imports and classified separately as services.
C. Valuation
C.1 Valuation methods
4.14 Three methods of valuation are used in the 2008 SNA. The basic price is the unit price received by the producer from the purchaser, minus any tax payable or subsidy receivable as a result of its production or sale, and excluding any transport charge separately invoiced by the producer. The basic price plus taxes on products resulting from production (including value-added tax (VAT) not deductible by the producer) less subsidies on products resulting from production equals the producer’s price. The producer’s price plus separately invoiced transportation charges, plus wholesale and retail distribution margins, plus VAT not deductible by the purchaser equals the purchaser’s price. The focus here is on basic and purchasers’ prices, and the three factors that need to be considered in converting output and imports from basic prices to purchasers’ prices, and vice versa, are transport margins, trade margins, and taxes less subsidies on products. Thus the basic price is what the supplier receives per unit of a good or service exchanged, and the purchaser’s price is what the purchaser pays. Basic prices thus pertain to the supply of goods and services while purchasers’ prices pertain to the use of goods and services.
4.15 United Nations (1998a and 2004) guidelines define f.o.b. values to include the value of the goods and the value of services performed to deliver goods to the border of the exporting country. C.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) values include the transaction value of the goods and the value of the services performed to deliver the goods from the border of the exporting country to the border of the importing country.5 United Nations (1998a and 2004) recommend that the statistical value of imported goods be c.i.f. and exported goods f.o.b. F.o.b. values can be applied to imports, but they exclude the transport cost of the imported goods to the port or place of importation; the cost of insurance while in international carriage; and the cost of loading, unloading, and handling charges associated with the transport of the imported goods to the port or place of importation.6
4.16 Thus exports at basic prices (from a resident supplier) plus taxes, subsidies, and other margins to get the good to the border of the exporting country equal exports f.o.b. plus costs to get the good to the border of the importing country equal imports c.i.f. plus costs to get the good to the purchaser equal imports at purchasers’ price (by a nonresident user). It may be that our analytical need is for imports at basic prices as a supply by a nonresident supplier and exports at purchasers’ prices as a use by a nonresident user. The national accounts distinguish between accounts for resident institutional units as well as nonresident (rest of the world) ones. In this case, exports at basic prices (from a nonresident supplier) plus taxes, subsidies, and other margins to get the good to the border of the exporting nonresident country equal exports f.o.b. plus costs to get the good to the border of the importing resident country equal imports c.i.f. plus costs to get the good to the purchaser equal imports at purchasers’ price (by a resident user). The link between the valuation principle and supplier/user status therefore has direct implications for the valuation basis appropriate for exports and imports.
4.17 When we take the point of view of a unit that has a center of economic interest in the territory of the economy, we will say we are taking the resident approach to international trade flows, and we value exports of the total economy at basic prices and imports at purchasers’ prices. When we take the point of view of a unit that has a center of economic interest in the rest of the world, we will say we are taking the nonresident approach to international trade flows,7 and we value exports of the total economy at purchasers’ prices and imports at basic prices.
4.18 Exports f.o.b. thus are in practice the same as exports valued at the frontier of the exporting economic territory, say country A. These f.o.b. exports from A may be imports to country B, but if valued at c.i.f., will differ from the f.o.b. export value because they will include transportation, insurance, unloading, and handling charges. However, imports to country B valued at f.o.b. of the exporting country A will exclude such costs and be equal to f.o.b. exports from A. The identities between, respectively, f.o.b. exports and f.o.b. imports of the exporting economic territory and, respectively, imports and exports of the rest of the world make f.o.b. valuation a useful accounting tool. Notwithstanding its c.i.f. recommendation for valuing imports, United Nations (2004) acknowledges that f.o.b. values for imports assist reconciling import data with the corresponding f.o.b. export data from the country of origin and allow world trade at a common valuation to, at least in principle, balance.
4.19 If the source data for the weights and unit values (as proxies for prices) are derived from customs declarations there is a need to identify how closely the c.i.f. and f.o.b. valuations meet analytical needs within and outside of the 2008 SNA. Because trade transactions for balance of payments and national accounts statistics should be recorded on the basis of their value at the time of change in ownership between residents and nonresidents, and because some freight and insurance services are supplied by residents of the importing country, the c.i.f. values need to be separated into their f.o.b. and freight and insurance components. Further, balance of payments and national accounts statistics distinguish between goods and services, and freight and insurance margins have to be shown separately to allow for this.
4.20 Valuation issues relating to the timing of recording, that is, at change of ownership, are considered in Section C.2. There is the need to consider what valuation principles are desirable for analytical purposes. This is undertaken in Section C.3. These valuation principles will be seen to be identified according to basic and purchasers’ prices, and although such principles can be applied when obtaining data from surveys of establishments, there remains a problem if the data source is customs declarations. In Section C.4, the correspondence between the valuation principles used in customs declarations and those required to meet these analytical needs is considered. Issues relating to the treatment of services and the unit of account are outlined in Sections C.5 and C.6.
C.2 Valuation and time of recording
4.21 For any given transaction between residents of different economic territories, a single date of recording in concert with a unique valuation for that date ensures international accounting consistency: The value of the seller’s export is the same as the value of the buyer’s import, and both are recorded or accrued on the same date. The 2008 SNA and the BPM6 recommend that exports and imports of goods be recorded in the accounts of the transacting parties at the market price prevailing when change of ownership occurs. This has implications for international transport charges and goods under merchanting.
C.2.1 International transport charges
4.22 The treatment of transport margins for valuation depends on when the change in ownership occurs. If, for example, the supplier (exporter) delivers the commodity to the importer without an explicit charge for transportation, the transport margin is part of the basic price—change of ownership takes place on delivery. If the purchaser (importer) is responsible for transport, the basic price excludes transportation—change of ownership takes place on leaving the supplier (exporter). However, the issue is complicated if the transportation is subcontracted to a third party, further depending on whether the third party is subcontracted by the exporter or importer and where the third party contractor is resident, especially if it is in a third country. For example, say an enterprise A in one country exports goods to another enterprise B in a different country and employs a subcontracting enterprise C to undertake the transport. If C is resident in A’s country and is contracted by A to provide transport, the transport is a cost to A that is included in the export basic price. Were B to contract with C (resident in A’s country) there would be an export of transport services by C separate from the export of goods by A. If C was resident in B’s country, and contracts with A, there are imports of transport services from B to A, which are then included in exports from A to B. If, however, C (resident in B’s country) contracts with B, the transport charges do not figure in the traded values. To further complicate matters, if C is in a third country and contracts with A, then C is exporting services to A and A includes the value of such services as part of the basic price of the good. Were C to contract with B, there is only an export of services from C to B. Note that the purchasers’ price includes the value of the goods and transport charges in all cases except when B undertakes the transport directly as a secondary activity and where B subcontracts C to undertake the transport. In such cases the change in ownership takes place on leaving the supplier, and transport charges are excluded from exports and imports. These principles follow those given in 2008 SNA, Chapter 14, Section B.5. They are important because the difference between basic and purchasers’ prices depends in part on the inclusion or otherwise of transport charges, which in turn is dictated, at least in principle, by the concept of change in ownership. Section C.4 will consider how the practical implementation of such principles is constrained by data sources.
C.2.2 Recording practice
4.23 The BPM6 notes that goods are considered to change ownership when the parties enter the goods in their books as a real asset. United Nations (1998a and 2004) recommend that the time of recording be based on when the goods enter or leave the economy. For customs-based data-collection systems, the date of lodgment of the customs declarations is used as a useful approximation. In practice, data sources for trade statistics for international goods generally deviate from the valuation and time of recording ideals, and there are generally lags between the time of export and the time of import as the goods are in transit to the destination.
4.24 For high-value capital goods that may take several months or years to complete, the BPM6 notes that when a contract of sale is agreed in advance, progressive change of ownership takes place rather than the change of ownership at completion. Thus, when the contract calls for progress payments, the transaction value may be approximated by the value of stage payments made in each period.
4.25 The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Valuation8 establishes the basis for the customs valuation of international trade. The customs value is based on the transaction value of the imported goods and is equivalent to the market price charged to the importer for the goods at the time of export, plus some adjustments. The adjustments permitted under the agreement cover the following:
(a) Charges that may be incurred by the buyer before the goods are exported, but are not included in the price payable;
(b) Royalties and license fees that must be paid by the buyer as a condition of the sale of the goods; and
(c) The value of goods and services supplied by the buyer and used in the production of the goods.
The customs value including the adjustments under the agreement is essentially the f.o.b. value in the 2008 SNA.
4.26 For cases where the transaction value cannot be determined, the WTO has established a hierarchical list of alternative methods that could be considered. The two most important alternatives are the transaction value of identical goods or the transaction value of similar goods, respectively. United Nations (1998a and 2004) recommend that countries follow the WTO guidelines in the valuation of goods for statistical purposes. The statistical value differs from the customs value in such a way that compilers make adjustments “to promote the comparability of international merchandise trade statistics” (United Nations, 1998a, paragraph 116, Chapter IV). The data compilers are encouraged to use additional sources to make sure that imported goods are correctly valued at c.i.f. and exported goods are correctly valued at f.o.b.
C.3 Analytical needs for valuing imports and exports
4.27 Having outlined different valuation methods and the principle of timing of recording, it is necessary to determine what valuation method is appropriate, and this will depend on the analytical/users’ needs. Two approaches will be outlined that meet different analytical needs. The first derives from the need for export and import price indices (XMPIs) to be used to deflate the values of exports and imports within the 2008 integrated system of national accounts. The second approach derives directly from the quite specific analytical needs of productivity analysis, the transmission of inflation, and terms of trade (effects) measurement. It is stressed from the outset of this section that although the valuation needs are considered in terms of basic and purchasers’ prices, countries may not have data available valued in these terms, especially if the basis of their data source is customs documentation. Section C.4.2 considers the suitability of customs-based valuation systems to meet the analytical needs outlined below and the nature of their shortcomings.
4.28 The first approach to valuation derives directly from the 2008 SNA (Chapter 14), from the supply and use tables (SUTs) and goods and services account. Exports and imports are nominal value aggregates within the 2008 SNA. As such, an appropriate approach to the valuation of the prices and weights used in the compilation of exports and import price indices is to follow the valuation principles of their counterpart value aggregate. Price deflators are applied to value aggregates at a detailed product level. Exports and imports are given for product groups in the SUTs, but they are not given in isolation. As outlined in Section C.3.1, for each product group they are given along with, and reconciled with, corresponding values of output, consumption, and investment to form commodity balances. Because the 2008 SNA also advises that SUTs be developed in volume terms, the valuation of the price indices for exports and imports to be used as deflators for the detailed product groups of the SUTs to derive the volume estimates should emanate from the valuation required for the SUT in volume terms. In this way the values, price indices, and volume estimates for exports and imports benefit from their reconciliation at detailed product levels with estimates of output, intermediate and final consumption, and capital formation and have a valuation that is designed to enable this. This approach, outlined in Section C.3.1, is appropriate when the primary purpose of the price indices is for use as deflators of export and import value aggregates in the 2008 SNA. The valuation requirements for nominal value aggregates for exports and imports thus carry over to the price indices used as their deflators. For SUTs valued at purchasers’ prices, and the needs of deflators at the product level, Section B.3.1 outlines how the valuation of the supply of imports is at basic prices with taxes and margins added subsequently to raise it to purchasers’ prices, and the value of the use of exports is at purchasers’ prices (2008 SNA, paragraph 14.75). The valuation principles appropriate for export and import price indices used as deflators will be shown to require a perspective from a nonresident producer for whom exports are a use and imports a supply.
4.29 The second approach to valuation principles for export and import price indices is dictated by the analytical needs to analyze the transmission of inflation (including effects on outsourcing), terms of trade measurement, and productivity analysis. Such needs require a resident unit’s perspective from which exports are a supply and imports a use.
4.30 These two approaches to valuation are outlined in Sections C.3.1 and C.3.2, respectively. Also required for valuation are principles for the time of recording in a manner consistent with the 2008 SNA, and these are outlined in Section C.4.
C.3.1 Valuation based on the 2008 SNA
4.31 The 2008 SNA equates, as outlined in Chapter 15, the sum of the value of transactions for goods and services (hereafter, products) supplied to the economy by domestic production (output) and imports with the sum used for intermediate consumption, final consumption, capital formation (including inventories), and exports—that is,
4.32 Because imports are supplied to the domestic economy by the rest of the world and exports produced by the domestic economy and used by the rest of the world, this perspective is referred to in this Manual as the nonresident’s perspective. Because the uses of products are usually valued at purchasers’ prices, but output is valued at basic prices, it is necessary to add taxes less subsidies on products to the supply side so that both sides are at purchasers’ prices and the identity given by equation (4.1) balances. XMPIs are used to deflate exports and imports, and in practice deflation is undertaken not for these aggregates of all products but at a detailed product group level. For the identity to balance at the product group level it is necessary to add trade and transport margins and taxes less subsidies as separate items to the supply at basic prices on the left-hand supply.9 Such commodity balances are used by national accountants to validate data and, where necessary, to estimate missing values as residuals. Supply and use tables consist of a set of such balances covering all products in an economy organized in matrix form with product groups in rows.
4.33 Note that, as explained in Chapter 15 and Chapter 6 of the 2008 SNA, rearranging the above identity yields the goods and services account identity:
where the left-hand side of equation (4.2) is GDP from the production approach and the right-hand side is GDP from the expenditure approach. Again, trade and transport margins are no longer included because the identity given by equation (4.2) is for the economy as a whole, and the commodity balances for the trade and transport industries that supply the margins are included in the aggregates.
4.34 It is reiterated that the use of XMPIs for deflating exports and imports in national accounts is at the product group level. This is primarily because the value aggregates for a product group will include a wider range of products than those sampled for the price indices. The assumption is that the sampled price changes apply to all products in the group and this is likely to be more feasible if applied at the group level than for the aggregate as a whole. In much the same way that exports and imports are identified as part of SUTs at current prices for individual products, so that their estimates can benefit from being reconciled with other components of equation (4.1), the deflation of imports and exports are identified as part of SUTs in volume terms so they too can be reconciled with deflated values of other components of equation (4.1). SUTs in volume terms require that for each product group the deflated values of output, intermediate consumption, final consumption, capital formation, exports, and imports reconcile. The 2008 SNA advises that SUTs are compiled at current prices and in volume terms at the same time so that the volume estimates are consistent with the value estimates, which in turn are all consistent across the supply and use components.10 The deflation of exports and imports should not be a piecemeal activity but undertaken as part of a consistent and integrated system.
4.35 Supply and use tables are a powerful tool used to compare and reconcile data from various sources. Their features are outlined in detail in Chapter 15. They can be valued at basic prices but are more commonly valued at purchasers’ prices. The use table is a matrix of products in the rows and details of their uses (intermediate consumption, final consumption, capital formation, and exports) in the columns. The supply table is a matrix that has as its rows the same products as the use matrix, with columns for imports, domestic production at basic prices, and a valuation adjustment necessary to raise their sum, the total supply, to purchasers’ prices. Supply (and imports as a component of it) should thus be measured at purchasers’ prices and uses (and exports as a component of it) at basic prices. Therefore, to derive SUTs at purchasers’ prices it is necessary to raise the supply table from basic to purchasers’ prices. (It also follows that to derive SUTs at basic prices it is necessary to lower the use table from purchasers’ to basic prices.) Chapter 14 of the 2008 SNA stresses the need for a common valuation for supply and use so that the product rows can balance and thus be useful for reconciliation. The 2008 SNA further emphasizes the usefulness of balancing SUTs in volume terms and advises that, for consistency, SUTs in current values and in volume terms be prepared at the same time (paragraphs 14.134 and 15.96). It follows that there is a need for price indices to deflate the components of SUTs at current prices to derive corresponding tables in volume terms. Two of these components are, of course, exports and imports.
4.36 Although it is recognized that the valuation of SUTs in current prices is generally at purchasers’ prices, 2008 SNA notes that there are arguments for (and against) the use of basic prices, as against purchasers’ prices, for valuing SUTs. The principle argument for a valuation at basic prices is that it facilitates the compilation of SUTs in volume terms, a matter that is of interest to this Manual. The case for deflating the components of an SUT at basic prices11 is that producer price indices (PPIs), used at a detailed level for deflating both output and intermediate consumption, are compiled at basic prices and thus are well suited for deflating the rows of a basic price SUT. Further, a use—for example, intermediate consumption of a product—valued at purchasers’ prices can be decomposed into that part of its value at basic prices derived from domestic production, and that derived from imports,12 trade margins, transport margins, taxes, and subsidies on products. This decomposition enables separate deflators to be applied to the constituent elements. This is not to say that—after the removal of trade margins, transport margins, taxes, and subsidies on products and separation of uses of intermediate consumption into that sourced domestically and that sourced from imports—the resulting rows will be sufficiently homogeneous to apply deflators without any concern. But much of the heterogeneity owing to varying margins for trade, transport, taxes, and subsidies will at least be removed from an aggregate otherwise valued at purchasers’ prices. Further, separate deflators can be more appropriately targeted to that part of intermediate consumption, for this example, that is domestically sourced and that part that is foreign sourced. The analysis of changes in the volume of different uses that is outsourced is of much interest in economic analysis.
4.37 The case against valuing the SUT at basic prices is first, as outlined in 2008 SNA, Section D.2, the arduous task of the decomposition of the use table (at purchasers’ prices) into its six constituent components of basic price of domestic production, imports, trade margins, transport margins, taxes, and subsidies. Six matrices must be set up to enable the decomposition of each element of the use table. This is a much more resource-intensive task than setting up the six columns on the supply side to raise supply at basic prices to purchasers’ prices. Second, the deflation of margins and taxes is problematic on conceptual as well as practical grounds. Third, while it has been argued that PPIs are usefully available for deflation at basic prices, it is also the case that the consumer price index (CPI) is suitable for deflating detailed components of household consumption expenditure at purchasers’ prices.
4.38 XMPI compilers are advised to discuss with national accountants their needs in this respect. If national accountants compile, or intend to compile, SUTs in volume terms, XMPI compilers need to find out which valuation system is used, basic or purchasers’ prices. It may, of course, be difficult to tailor XMPIs to such needs. There will be resource considerations, because this will be one of the other analytical needs outlined below. The data available for XMPIs may be customs data and unit value indices with their attendant problems, outlined in Chapter 2, and valuation (imports are valued c.i.f. at the point of entry into the importing country and exports at f.o.b. at the point of exit from the exporting country) that exactly match neither basic nor purchasers’ prices. There are also likely to be problems in valuing goods for processing and merchanted goods, as outlined below, as well as matching at a detailed level products classified in the rows of the SUT by Central Product Classification and those classified for traded goods by the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System or Harmonized System (HS) or Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). However, at least there will be some understanding of the extent to which the XMPIs necessary for the deflation of SUTs are appropriate in valuation terms for such use and, if not, the factors governing discrepancies. It may the case that for product groups of major importance to the economy, adjustments are made for that product group for this purpose so that the valuation is rendered more appropriate to the need.
4.39 The compilation of national accounts may in some countries not benefit from SUTs in volume terms, or even at current prices. In such cases the XMPI compilers, along with the compilers of PPIs and CPIs, need to discuss with national accountants their present and planned needs for deflators. Attention should be directed to the valuation system of imports and exports currently used for the national accounts so that the price indices used are effective in decomposing the change in the value aggregate into its price and volume components. Such valuations, at least for goods, will for the large part derive from the customs source data used.
C.3.2 Valuation based on a resident’s perspective
4.40 The valuation principles appropriate for export and import price indices used to analyze the transmission of inflation (including outsourcing), terms of trade measurement, and productivity analysis require a resident unit’s perspective. For a resident producer, exports are a component of output and imports a component of intermediate consumption, products used by producing units as inputs. Exports may also include existing (transportable) fixed assets, withdrawals from inventories, and valuables. More important, imports also include imported products for final consumption (including that by households and government), as well as imports of transportable assets, additions to inventories, and valuables. What matters for resident suppliers is the value received for supplying products to the export market, and in this respect a valuation of exports is meaningful at basic prices. As will be outlined below, the basic price will include transport and insurance if it is bundled with the price of the good, but not if it is a separately invoiced service, in which case, if supplied by a resident supplier, it will be a separately classified export of a service. What matters for resident purchasers using imports is the price they pay for the imports, and in this respect a valuation of imports is meaningful at purchasers’ prices. This requires a resident’s perspective for which imports are a use and exports a supply.
4.41 Consider the uses of goods at purchasers’ prices in the international trade context of this Manual. When taking the resident’s view of imports as an intermediate or final use of goods and services, it is necessary to distinctly consider the import status of separately invoiced items as well as the distribution margins in the same purchase transaction. These separately invoiced “subtransactions” for goods, transport services, insurance services, distribution services, and the like, must be classified as imported or domestically supplied to fully account for the contribution imports make to a given goods and services flow for the purchasers’ values of intermediate uses by product and industrial activity and of final uses by product. GDP estimated from the production approach is based on the value added to the value of goods and services used in the production process (intermediate consumption) to generate the value of output. GDP can be thought of as being equal to the sum of the value added produced by all institutional units resident in the domestic economy. Taxes less subsidies on products need to be added back to value added to ensure that the values of supplies are equal to the values of uses at purchasers’ prices. GDP is defined from the production approach on the left-hand side of equation (4.2); therefore, it is the sum of value added by resident producers plus the value of taxes less subsidies on products. The valuation from the production side is from the resident producer’s perspective: the prices at which they sell and buy. The production approach from a resident’s perspective, in concert with utility maximization approaches for consumption, and investment function approaches for capital formation, would be appropriate for import and export price and volume series used for the analysis of (the resident country’s) productivity change, changes in the terms of trade, and transmission of inflation.
4.42 As outlined in Chapter 15, the resident’s perspective can be phrased within the accounts of the 2008 SNA. The affected accounts are the production account for output and intermediate consumption, the use of income account for consumption, and the capital account for capital formation.
C.4 Practice and data sources
4.43 The valuation used in practice depends on the source data available. Two sources are considered, establishment-based survey data and data derived from customs declarations.
C.4.1 Establishment-based survey data
4.44 Establishment surveys are an important and, for commodities not subject to customs controls,13 necessary data source. Establishment-survey price data have specific advantages above unit value customs-based data, as outlined in Chapter 2, that include enabling the valuation of transactions to be better determined. It is possible in a survey to better define the required price according to the principles underlying the need. For example, for the analysis from a resident producer’s perspective, exports should be valued at basic prices and imports at purchasers’ prices. For the SUTs, imports are valued at basic prices and exports at purchasers’ prices. The prices requested in the survey can be defined according to needs. Information requested will include the transaction price, the transport costs, if separately invoiced, and other salient information on the contracting arrangements for transportation. If transport services are separately invoiced, the basic price excludes them; if not, the basic price includes them. Adjustments for taxes and subsidies can be made depending on whether a basic or purchasers’ price valuation is required. This Manual recommends that priority be given to the use of establishment surveys for exported and imported commodities that account for a large proportion of traded values undertaken by a relatively small number of establishments, such as oil and some basic commodities. Establishment surveys should be used not only to minimize the unit value bias that arises from customs-based data, but also to better adopt the appropriate valuation principle.
C.4.2 Data derived from customs declarations
4.45 For some commodities, information from customs statistics may be used for weights and for unit value changes, as proxies for price changes. Information on imports from customs declarations are valued c.i.f. (i.e., they include the cost of carriage, insurance, and freight) at the point of entry into the importing economy. This valuation is standard, regardless of whether any of the c.i.f. elements are provided by domestic enterprises because import duties are imposed on the c.i.f. valuation. If it is the exporter that contracts the delivery—transport charges are not separately invoiced (whatever the nationality of the carrier)—the inclusion of the cost of transport in the value of the good imported renders the c.i.f. valuation close to a basic price valuation, at least with regard to incorporating transport charges.14 A c.i.f. valuation based on customs declarations excludes the cost of transport from the border of the importing economy to the premises of the importer. Transport for this may be provided by either a resident or nonresident carrier. If a resident enterprise undertakes this element of the transport it will be excluded from the import value of the good, and the basic price plus taxes less subsidies should equal the purchaser’s price.
4.46 If the importer undertakes delivery itself or contracts with a unit resident in the same economy to do so—transport charges are separately invoiced—there is in fact no import of transport services even though it will appear there is when imports of goods are recorded c.i.f. The 2008 SNA (paragraph 14.71) advises that fictional exports of the same amount of transport services are recorded to correct for this. If the importer contracts the delivery and the carrier is not co-resident with the importer—again transport charges are separately invoiced—an import of services takes place and, while its value will be included in c.i.f., the required valuation for the 2008 SNA is to exclude it and separate the c.i.f. value into goods only and transport service elements. Because the required basic price is one that excludes transport costs, an f.o.b. valuation based on customs documentation will better approximate a basic price valuation than a c.i.f. one. An f.o.b. valuation based on customs declarations excludes the cost of transport from the producer to the border of the exporting economy and will therefore differ from a basic price valuation. If the importer undertakes delivery itself or contracts with a unit resident in the same economy to do so, the basic price plus transport costs plus taxes less subsidies payable by the purchaser should equal the purchasers’ prices.
4.47 It may be that resources or information are unavailable to determine the party responsible for transport costs. A c.i.f. valuation of imports would have the transport costs and insurance for transit included in the c.i.f. valuation for imported goods, but the value of transport costs and insurance that is separately invoiced will also be included—in fact, double counted—in the imports of transport and insurance services. A global c.i.f./f.o.b. adjustment is entered in the supply table to adjust for double counting such services.
4.48 Exports are valued f.o.b. (free on board) at the point of exit from the economy of the exporter. The 2008 SNA requires that valuation take place when the change of ownership takes place and the f.o.b. valuation is at the border of the exporting country. As considered above, this will vary with each transaction depending on the nature of the contract for transportation services. The 2008 SNA (paragraph 14.112) notes that an assumption that the change in ownership takes place at the national border may be the only practical assumption given customs data sources.
C.4.3 Valuation practice
4.49 Compilers need to identify a target conceptual basis for valuation. Compilers would need to consult with national accountants to determine the valuation basis used in the accounts for imports and exports at nominal values so that consistent price indices are derived as deflators. Transport costs can be an important element of the value of imports and exports both at purchasers’ prices and, if not separately invoiced, at basic prices. For the weights for XMPIs, compilers need to discuss with national accountants the basis for the valuations used to ensure that the weights are appropriately valued or, at least, they are aware of, and can record in metadata, any shortcomings. It should be noted that for price change measurement if, for example, the transport margin for transporting goods from the border of a country to the establishment is omitted, the price change is in error only if the transport margin, as a percentage, changes over time.
4.50 If the data source is establishment surveys, then the questions on prices can be framed so that the appropriate concept(s) can be used for the measure. If only customs data are available, then the limitations of the valuation system from such data for different analytical purposes can at least be noted in metadata. In the longer run product sectors should be identified that make up significant shares of trade and of which a large part is undertaken by a relatively small number of establishments or, if by a larger number of establishments, ones for which representative samples can be easily surveyed. Such “low-hanging fruit” should be the subject of establishment surveys to be combined with data from customs sources to form, for price measurement, hybrid indices as outlined in Chapter 2.
C.5 Services
4.51 This Manual follows the guidelines of the 2008 SNA and the BPM6 in the valuation of services. Services should be valued at market prices at the time the services are delivered.15 Where a market price is not available, then an equivalent market price based on similar market conditions should be adopted. This may not be the case in transactions between affiliated units, which may not reflect market conditions. These units often use transfer prices, which are assumed accounting values that may have only a loose relationship to the prevailing market prices when the transactions are recorded.16
4.52 Services generally are consumed at the point of production. Therefore, measuring international trade in services does not present the problems of differences in dating transactions presented by trade in goods, at least in principle.17 However, it may be difficult to determine the residency of the units undertaking the transaction. As trade in services usually necessitates direct interaction between the units, there may be no official intermediary (like the customs authority for goods) identifying the economic agents, much less valuing and dating their transactions in services.
4.53 The value of insurance services and some financial services are not directly observable and must be derived from other observable transactions. The total value of insurance and pension services is derived as the margin between the amounts accruing to the insurance company and the amounts accruing to policyholders. The amounts accruing to enterprises would cover premiums or contributions and “premium supplements,” which is the investment income on technical reserves, whereas the amounts accruing to policyholders would be claims or benefits. However, non-life insurance claims are usually subject to wide fluctuations owing to sudden major catastrophes, such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Thus, if the margin is estimated using only the claims payable, then the value of insurance services would fluctuate widely and may even be negative. In this regard, the estimation of insurance service charges for non-life insurance includes an adjustment for claims volatility.
4.54 Depending on the nature of the service, the charges for financial services may be explicit, which are directly observable, or implicit. Explicit charges include commissions, loan application fees, and loan fees. For financial intermediaries receiving interest income, the actual interest includes both an income component and a charge for the services. Thus, following the 2008 SNA, the financial services provided by financial intermediaries in one economic territory to account holders in another, and charged through the interest income, is estimated as the sum of the following:
(1) The difference between a reference rate and the interest rate paid to liability holders times the liabilities outstanding, and
(2) The difference between the rate earned on assets and the reference rate times the assets on account (at market value).
C.6 Unit of account
4.55 The goods and services should be converted from the transactions currency to the unit of account used in the statistics at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the transaction. If this prevailing rate is not available then the average rate, calculated as the midpoint between the selling and buying rates, should be used. This is consistent with the conversion principles recommended by the 2008 SNA and the BPM6. Note that the accrual principle weighs heavily here, because it may provide a date of conversion, and thus an exchange rate that differs significantly from the dates on customs documents.
D. Classifications
4.56 This section describes some of major systems that are used for classifying goods and services. Classifications for merchandise trade statistics have been long established by the United Nations,18 in particular, and accepted internationally for the economic analysis of the movement of goods and for customs purposes. Most countries use the Harmonized System to classify trade in goods, and this is the preferred system for producing XMPIs. Because many countries have historically used the Standard International Trade Classification, they may choose to produce XMPIs on both systems to have a longer history of detailed price indices on the same classification system. In any event, there is a correspondence between the two systems.19 The 2008 SNA recommends use of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) for activities or industries, the CPC for domestic products, and the closely related Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System for exported and imported products. Each country may adapt the international standard to its specific circumstances. If the adaptation amounts to adding further detail, the classification is said to be derived from the international standard. The Nomenclature génerale des Activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes, or the General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities, is an industrial classification derived from the ISIC. If the adaptation reorganizes the way in which detailed categories are grouped compared with the international standard but provides for a cross-classification at some level of detail, it is said to be related. The North American Industrial Classification System being implemented by Canada, Mexico, and the United States is an industrial classification related to the ISIC. The European Union’s PRODCOM classification of industrial products is derived from its Classification of Products by Activity, which, in turn, is related to the international standard CPC through a cross-classification defined at a high level of product detail.
4.57 Classifications of trade in services have only recently gained prominence, primarily owing to the increasing interest in international trade in services. In addition to the current trade classifications, other broad classifications have been developed to identify the details of goods and services that are produced. They are generally linked to the merchandise trade classifications, which serve as useful starting points for coverage of goods.
D.1 The Harmonized System
4.58 The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, or Harmonized System as it is commonly known,20 was introduced in 1988 by the World Customs Organization (WCO), as a replacement for the Standard International Trade Classification as the global standard by which imports and exports are classified. The WCO estimates that over 98 percent of the merchandise in international trade is classified using the HS.
4.59 In the HS, goods are classified primarily according to the component material or the type of product, degree of processing, function, and economic activity. Goods are classified under 21 main sections, which are further subdivided into 97 chapters, 1,241 headings, and 5,113 subheadings. Descriptions are common across all countries down to the six-digit level; however, for statistical or tariff purposes, countries are allowed to include additional digits on a country-specific basis.
4.60 The chapters of the HS are grouped as follows:
| 01–05 | Live Animals and Animal Products |
| 06–14 | Vegetable Products |
| 16–24 | Prepared Foodstuffs |
| 25–27 | Mineral Products |
| 28–38 | Products of the Chemical or Allied Industries |
| 39–40 | Plastics and Rubber and Products Thereof |
| 41–43 | Raw Hides and Skins and Products Thereof |
| 44–46 | Wood, Cork and Straw and Articles Thereof |
| 47–49 | Pulp, Paper and Articles Thereof Including Books and Newspapers |
| 50–63 | Textiles and Textile Articles |
| 64–67 | Footwear and Headgear Products |
| 68–70 | Articles of Stone, Ceramics, and Glass |
| 71 | Pearls and Precious and Semi-Precious Stones and Metals |
| 72–83 | Base Metals and Base Metal Articles |
| 84–85 | Machinery and Electrical Equipment |
| 86–89 | Transportation Equipment |
| 90–92 | Optical, Clocks, Musical Instruments |
| 93 | Arms and Amunition |
| 94–96 | Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles |
| 97 | Works of Art, Collectors’ Pieces and Antiques |
| 01–05 | Live Animals and Animal Products |
| 06–14 | Vegetable Products |
| 16–24 | Prepared Foodstuffs |
| 25–27 | Mineral Products |
| 28–38 | Products of the Chemical or Allied Industries |
| 39–40 | Plastics and Rubber and Products Thereof |
| 41–43 | Raw Hides and Skins and Products Thereof |
| 44–46 | Wood, Cork and Straw and Articles Thereof |
| 47–49 | Pulp, Paper and Articles Thereof Including Books and Newspapers |
| 50–63 | Textiles and Textile Articles |
| 64–67 | Footwear and Headgear Products |
| 68–70 | Articles of Stone, Ceramics, and Glass |
| 71 | Pearls and Precious and Semi-Precious Stones and Metals |
| 72–83 | Base Metals and Base Metal Articles |
| 84–85 | Machinery and Electrical Equipment |
| 86–89 | Transportation Equipment |
| 90–92 | Optical, Clocks, Musical Instruments |
| 93 | Arms and Amunition |
| 94–96 | Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles |
| 97 | Works of Art, Collectors’ Pieces and Antiques |
D.2 Standard International Trade Classification
4.61 The Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) has been in use since 1961, and before the advent of the HS it was the only trade classification in use. It covers all goods that enter international trade. It groups goods according to the (1) materials, (2) degree of processing that they have undergone, (3) uses of the product, and (4) the importance of the product in merchandise trade. The classification structure of SITC Rev. 4 consists of five levels comprising 10 sections, 67 divisions, 262 groups, 1,023 subgroups, and 2,970 items at the five-digit level.
D.3 Central Product Classification
4.62 The Central Product Classification (Version 1.1.1)21 is used to classify all goods and services and covers broadly the goods and services that fall within the production boundary of the 2008 SNA. It classifies products according to their physical characteristics, intrinsic nature, and industry of origin.
4.63 The products in the CPC are classified according to the type of production defined in the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) in such a way that there are CPC subclasses corresponding to the principal type of product produced in each four-digit activity of the ISIC. The classification system consists of 10 sections, 70 divisions, 305 groups, 1,167 classes, and 2,098 subclasses. Its critical role in the 2008 SNA is principally to define the product rows of the SNA’s Supply and Use Table. As discussed in Chapter 15, the SUT is, as well, the conceptual framework for the index product weights of the PPI, CPI, and XMPIs.
D.4 International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activity (ISIC)
4.64 The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activity (ISIC) classifies producer units according to their major kind of activity mainly on the principal class of goods produced or services rendered; that is, ISIC classifies principally by an outputtype criterion. The categories of the ISIC at the most detailed level (classes) are delineated according to what is in most countries the customary combination of activities described in statistical units. The groups and divisions, the successively broader levels of classification, combine the statistical units according to the character, technology, organization and financing of production. Wide use has been made of the ISIC, both nationally and internationally, in classifying data according to kind of economic activity. The major categories of the ISIC Revision 4, are shown in Chapter 15, Box 15.2.
D.5 Statistical Classification of Products by Activity in the European Union
4.65 The Statistical Classification of Products by Activity in the European Union (CPA)22 was developed by the European Union for use in member countries. The classification is based on the industrial origin of the products, and it is structurally linked to the Revised Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE). It has six levels made up of 17 sections, 60 divisions, 220 groups, 492 classes, 946 categories, and 2,303 subcategories. The European Union’s PRODCOM classification of industrial products is derived from the CPA.
D.6 Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification
4.66 The Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS) represents an extension to the BPM6 classification of international trade in services and reflects the main categories of the standard components of balance of payments. It is primarily a product-based classification and is therefore described in terms of the CPC. However, as with the BPM6, the EBOPS includes some classes that are not compatible with international product classifications such as the CPC or CPA (see Section B.2).
4.67 The EBOPS also includes various supplementary items and alternative groupings that are intended to provide additional information on the transactions recorded in the system. For example, the EBOPS includes an alternative grouping for travel, which presents a reconfiguration of the travel categories in the BPM6 and presents different travel subgroupings such as goods and accommodation.
Commission of the European Communities and others (2008). The reference to the 2008 SNA used in this Manual is to the final draft of Volume 1 (Chapters 1–17) of the updated System of National Accounts adopted by the 39th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission, February 26–29, 2008, available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/sna1993/draftingphase/ChapterList.asp.
IMF, sixth edition of the IMF’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), available at www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/bop/2007/bopman6.htm. This is an update of BPM5.
As defined in International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions (IMTS) (United Nations, 1998a).
Compilers of international merchandise trade statistics make some adjustments to the basic customs data that are partly in line with what is sought after by the 2008 SNA and the BPM6. The discussion of coverage here is phrased in terms of the needs of coverage of the 2008 SNA and the BPM6 and actuality of data from customs documents—United Nations (2004), for which a draft supplement had been prepared at the time of writing.
Chapter 14 and Annex B of United Nations (2004) outline a number of valuation possibilities and how they differ from a c.i.f. and an f.o.b. valuation.
Under f.o.b. the cost of loading may be divided between buyer and seller and only partially included in the value of the shipment when it should in principle be included in full in the value of exports.
This is discussed further in Dridi and Zieschang (2004).
Agreement of Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994.
The inclusion of trade and transport margins was unnecessary in equation (4.1), whose aggregates are summed over all products, because the margins used canceled with the margins supplied by the industries supplying trade and transport services.
A detailed account and illustration of SUTs in volume terms can also be found in Chapter 9 of Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) (2008).
For more details on the case for valuing SUTs in volume terms at basic prices, see 2008 SNA, Section D.3, and United Nations (1999b).
2008 SNA, paragraph 14.132, advises that for the individual product rows of each use at basic prices, imports are separated from domestic production. In some product groups a use may only be domestically produced or only imported, and in other cases, in the absence of hard data, informed judgment may have to be used to allocate the respective shares.
Examples of commodities that may be excluded from customs statistics are services; goods circulating in customs unions; goods delivered to offshore establishments such as oil platforms; certain types of small-volume but high-value goods carried by persons, such as diamonds; and ships and aircraft whose transit from one country to another may not be readily distinguished from those that are part of trade.
However, describing this as c.i.f. is not helpful in an SNA context because it is a legitimate part of the cost of the imported good and should not be seen as a separate import of transport services.
As a clarification regarding international transportation and insurance services, these would be delivered at the time the goods are loaded onto the carrier.
For a more in-depth discussion on the treatment of transfer prices see Chapter 18 of this Manual.
However, establishing the date of delivery for the international transportation and insurance of goods may be a problem, depending on transit times relative to the accounting period, because they are recorded in customs administrative systems when crossing the frontier of the destination country rather than the frontier of the source country.
Details of the classification systems are usefully available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/class/family/default.asp. The site also includes correspondence tables between different systems where relevant.
The latest version at the time of writing was released in 2007. Details are available at http://www.wcoomd.org/home_wco_topics_hsoverviewboxes.htm.
Version 2 is in draft form at the time of writing available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cr/registry/regct.asp?Lg=1.
The latest version at the time of writing is the 2002 version available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cr/registry/regcst.asp?Cl=236&Lg=1.