Ministry for the Economy, Finance and Recovery (France)

French Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes (DGDDI)

Department of Statistics and Economic Studies on External Trade (DSECE)

11, rue des deux communes 93558 Montreuil Cedex - France

International trade in goods statistics (ITGS) published by Eurostat measure the value and quantity of goods traded between the EU Member States (intra-EU trade) and goods traded by the EU Member States with non-EU countries (extra-EU trade). ‘Goods’ means all movable property including electricity. ‘European’ means that the statistics are compiled on the basis of the concepts and definitions set out in EU legislation.

Trade by invoicing currency (TIC) data are part of the information available for extra-EU trade. The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. Data by invoicing currency can be used for instance to explore the use of the euro in the EU’s international trade, to compare it with the role of the United States dollar (USD) (e.g. see the article here, in french) or to analyse the role of the euro in the euro area and in the EU. These statistics are very useful to central banks, including the European Central Bank, for comparing the euro with other major international currencies. These data are also used by financial market segments or foreign investors.

Statistical dimensions available for TIC data:

• reporting country;
• partner area;
• reference period;
• trade flows;
• product;
• invoicing currency.

Product classification

The Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) is managed by the United Nations and correlated with the subheadings of the Harmonised System. SITC Rev. 4 comprises 2 970 basing headings which are aggregated into 262 groups, 67 divisions and 10 sections. TIC data are based on the section level complemented by the division 33 ‘oil”.

Country classification

The ‘Nomenclature of countries and territories for the external trade statistics of the Union and statistics of trade between Member States’, known as the ‘Geonomenclature’, is used to collect detailed statistics on exchanges of goods. TIC data are only disseminated at an aggregated partner level: partner ‘extra-EU’ for TIC data reported by the EU Member States and partner ‘world’ for the TIC data reported by the EFTA and enlargement countries. See the publication Geonomenclature applicable to European statistics on international trade in goods for more information (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/international-trade-in-goods/publications#methotherpub).

The scope of TIC data is the same as for monthly detailed data on extra-EU trade in goods. They cover all goods entering (imports) or leaving (exports) the national statistical territory and for which the trading partner is a non-EU country. Note that the statistical territory of France corresponds to its customs territory.

As ITGS in general, TIC data cover all sectors of the economy.

Reporting country – Except for some specific goods like vessels and aircraft, ITGS follow the physical movements of the goods. A country should record an import when goods enter its statistical territory and an export when goods leave that territory except if those goods are in simple transit.

Partner country – At detailed level, this is the last known country of destination for exports and the country of origin for imports. However individual partner countries are not kept in the dissemination of data by invoicing currency. They are replaced by the partner area  ‘extra-EU’.

Product – Goods are primarily classified by commodity code as set out in the EU Combined Nomenclature. TIC data are compiled on the basis of a correspondence table enabling the transposition of detailed data collected according to the Combined Nomenclature into the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). TIC data are available by SITC sections (0 to 9) and Oil (SITC division 33). Before 2022 reference year, TIC data are available by three product groups: Raw materials without oil (SITC sections 0-4, excluding division 33), Oil (SITC division 33) and Manufactured products (SITC sections 5-8).

Currency – The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. Its definition is provided by the customs legislation. Only the following currencies or groups of invoicing currencies are considered for data transmission to Eurostat:

Common currencies to be reported whatever the data source used:

• Euro (‘EUR’)
• UK pound sterling (‘GBP’)
• US dollar (‘USD’)
• National currencies of non-euro area Member States (‘XU3’)
• Other not specified currencies (‘_X’)
• Unknown currency (‘_U’)
• Total ‘_T’

Additional invoicing currency breakdown if the data source is the customs declaration:

• Brazilian real (‘BRL’)
• Canadian dollar (‘CAD’)
• Swiss franc (‘CHF’)
• Chinese yuan renminbi (‘CNY’)
• Indian rupee (‘INR’)
• Japanese yen (‘JPY’)
• South Korean won (‘KRW’)
• Mexican peso (‘MXN’)
• Norwegian krone (‘NOK’)
• Russian rouble (‘RUB’)
• Singapore dollar (‘SGD’)
• Turkish lira (‘TRY’)

Note on ‘unknown’ currency: Trade for which the currency is unknown should be distributed over the individual currencies or groups of currencies proportionally to their relative share except if it is known that such a distribution would skew the data in a too significant extent. In such a case, the code UNK ‘Unknown’ could exceptionally be used.

The set of collected currencies has been evolving over time. Initially, only 5 currencies were collected (EUR, USD, _X, XU3 and _T). Since 2020 reference year, _U currency was added. The full set mentioned above has been collected only since 2022 reference year.

The statistical unit is any natural or legal person lodging a customs declaration in France on the condition that the customs procedure is of statistical relevance.

The statistical population comprises all the legal or natural persons who have lodged a customs declaration with the French National Customs Authority within the year.

France’s customs territory, which includes the French overseas territories and the Principality of Monaco.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See document TIC Quality indicators.

TIC data disseminated at national level

Not available.

Not applicable.

For data transmission to Eurostat – Trade values (in national currency units) by invoicing currency. The value of traded goods is calculated at the national frontier, on a FOB (free on board) basis for exports and a CIF (cost, insurance, freight) basis for imports. Hence, only incidental expenses (freight, insurance) are included and they are incurred for:

• exports in the part of the journey located on the territory of the country where the goods are exported from;
• imports in the part of the journey located outside the territory of the country where the goods are imported to.

For data dissemination on Eurostat website – Share of each invoicing currency in extra-EU imports and exports.

The reference period for the information on international trade in goods transactions is the calendar month of export or import of the goods.

The reference years for which TIC data are disseminated result from the aggregation of monthly figures from January to December.

General statistical legislation

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics

Legislation applicable as of 1 January 2022

Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics

• Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152

• Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1225 specifying the arrangements for the data exchanges and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, as regards the Member State of extra-Union export and the obligations of reporting units

• Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1704 further specifying the details for the statistical information to be provided by tax and customs authorities and amending Annexes V and VI of Regulation (EU) 2019/2152

Extra-EU trade legislation (or Extrastat) - legislation applicable up to 1 January 2022

Basic Act: Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council

• Implementing Commission Regulation (EC) No 92/2010

• Implementing Commission Regulation (EC) No 113/2010

All regulations relevant for the European statistics on international trade in goods can be found in the publication Legislation on European statistics on international trade in goods or consulted from the Legislation page of the International trade in goods section on Eurostat website. All legal texts of the EU are accessible on Eur-Lex.

Not applicable.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

As a general definition, data used by national and EU authorities for producing statistics are considered confidential if statistical units can be identified, either directly or indirectly, and information about individuals or businesses is disclosed as a result.

At national level the principle of “passive confidentiality” is applied for ITGS, mainly at CN8 level, secondarily at CN8 x partner country level.

For national purposes or specific productions like TEC or TIC, controls for “active confidentiality” are added (at least 3 legal units contributing, none of them for more than 85% of total).

As TIC data are required at very aggregated level, and they are compiled from real trade data (i.e. data as collected in SADs, before any treatment of confidentiality), there is never any confidentiality problem, therefore no specific data treatment applies.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 8.1 ‘Release calendar’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency (TIC)’ for more details.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 8.2 ‘Release calendar access’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 8.3 ‘Release policy - user access’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 9 ‘Frequency of dissemination’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 10.1 ‘Dissemination format - News release’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 10.2 ‘Dissemination format - Publications’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 10.3 ‘Dissemination format - online database’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

Some researchers could get access to micro-data, including invoicing currency.

Researchers address a demand for any access to data covered by statistical or fiscal confidentiality to French “Statistical Secret Committee” (Insee data, VAT data, external trade data…). “DSECE (douanes)” is listed among producers of data, as you can see on https://www.comite-du-secret.fr/contacts/services-producteurs/. Demands can be filled in on line, as it is explained on https://www.comite-du-secret.fr/procedure-fr/procedure-via-cdap/. French customs add an undertaking of confidentiality, to be signed by the researchers. They also restrict the provision of micro-data to researchers on the French territory, with a secure environment, such as can be found in universities and institutional rsearch centres.

Not applicable.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 10.6 ‘Documentation on methodology' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

100%

TIC data are only disseminated by Eurostat. See item 10.7 ‘Quality management - documentation’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

Prior to any dissemination, like all data produced, TIC data is subject to multiple quality checks.

1/ in case of the absence of a declaration from a respondent, he is contacted to make sure that there is indeed no declaration to provide to the customs
2/ the declarations and operators that contribute the most to the statistics are checked in-depth
3/ an automatic scheme detects errors, mismatches and inconsitencies in each of the processed declarations before computation
4/ ad-hoc analysis is performed based on studies / other sources of information (non systematic)
(Invoicing currency and exchange rates are implicitly part of these controls)

See item 11.2 ‘Quality management - assessment' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

In addition to being transmitted to Eurostat, data by invoicing currency are also transmitted to Banque de France, who can use them for instance to explore the use of the euro in the French international trade, and to compare it with the role of the United States dollar (USD). European Central Bank can do the same at euro area or EU level.

No feedback from Banque de France, but the European Central Bank seems satisfied.

See item 12.3 ‘Completeness’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

The French customs statistics (extra-EU trade) benefit from well-established data collection systems supported by effective validation and compilation tools.
It should be kept in mind that basic data consist of millions of records to be produced every month, which means that it is impossible to achieve complete accuracy.

For extra-EU trade, international trade in goods statistics are not collected via samples and so are not impacted by sampling errors. Extra-EU trade data in particular are based on customs declarations and are therefore considered to be administrative statistics.

Not applicable.

Errors often arise when trying to capture movements of goods or trade activities about which little information is available or which are inherently complex to measure, such as:
• Goods that by their nature are difficult to classify — Errors may arise in the product code allocated due to the complexity of the classification (around 9 500 subheadings in the CN), for instance for chemical or pharmaceutical products.
• Processing trade valuation — Errors arise when the processing costs are reported rather than the trade value corresponding to the total amount which would be invoiced if the goods were sold or bought.
• Product with embedded services — Errors arise when the total amount of the contract (transaction including the supply of goods and services) is reported rather than the value of the goods alone.
• Repairs versus processing — Repairs should be excluded from trade in goods statistics but processing should be included. Errors may arise when the distinction between repairs and processing is difficult to make.
Besides errors, the accuracy of trade in goods statistics at detailed level is impacted by estimates for non-collected data.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

See concepts 14.1.1 and 14.1.2.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

Not applicable.

See concept 14.2.1 for the time lag between the actual delivery of the TIC data and the target date when it should have been delivered.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

See item 15.1 ‘Comparability - geographical' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

Not applicable.

The series are homogeneous over a period of twenty years. When increases in the declarative thresholds occurred, the corresponding estimates were made.

The series are homogeneous over a period of twenty years.

The information on trade flows is also collected for the purposes of national accounts and balance of payments statistics. The Quality Report on International Trade Statistics documents the main differences between statistical outputs in terms of concepts and definitions, statistical unit or object, classification (nomenclature) used, geographical breakdown, reference period and correction methods.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The statistical series are globally consistent because they result from a unique document (Single Administrative Document).

There is no supplementary costs for TIC data relatively to Extra-EU ITGS.

The data can be corrected, on the initiative of the companies or the statistical service of the customs, on the current year and the five years that precede it. They can happen every month.

Revisions on underlying data intervene every month. But TIC data are released once a year and are generally never revised, except when major revisions occur in extra-UE trade in goods statistics.

Not available.

TIC data are derived from the combination of two types of information collected via customs declarations:

• Trade in goods transactions collected; and
• The invoicing currency of these transactions.

Collection of trade in goods data: every month via customs declarations

Collection of the invoicing currency: every month via customs declarations

Collection of trade in goods data

The standard source of information on trade transactions is the single administrative document (SAD) submitted by businesses and, in some cases, by private individuals involved in an international transaction of goods with a non-EU country.

Collection of the invoicing currency

The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. It is mandatory information to be collected by the French Customs National Authorities for imported and exported goods.

At national level, the validity of invoicing currency code is checked, as well as exchange rate.
The regularity of developments in imports and exports is controlled by large aggregates of products, globally and by country.

French TIC data disseminated by Eurostat have passed the following quality checks:

• Consistency with the expected structural requirements: validity of format and codes, integrity of the file;
• Intra-dataset checks: completeness of the dataset and uniqueness of the records, validity of the codes, validity of code combinations across the different dimensions, inter-record consistency checks;
• Intra-domain check: check of the coherence between trade values published in the TIC dataset and trade values coming from aggregated and detailed trade in goods data.

At national level:

TIC as well as ITGS Statistics are mainly obtained by aggregation of elementary administrative records, having passed a lot of controls (and sometimes revisions).

At European level:

The share of each invoicing currency in the imports and exports of France is calculated on the basis of the transmitted trade values.

At national level:

If there is a residual trade that cannot be attributed to any invoicing currency, it is distributed over the individual currencies or groups of currencies proportionally to their relative share..

At European level:

No imputation is made by Eurostat.

Some adjustment can be applied because of missing data (see 18.5.1), only estimated at aggregated level

Not applicable.