Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Trade in waste by material and partner, shows the amounts (in mass unit) and the monetary value (in Euro) of selected wastes that are shipped across intra-EU and extra-EU borders.
The data set includes following variables:
Imports of waste to EU countries (in order to characterise intra-EU trade);
Imports from non-EU countries and exports to non-EU countries of waste (in order to characterise trade of the EU with the rest of the world).
Exports to EU countries of waste, (in order to characterise trade among EU countries).
Data are disaggregated by EU-Member State, by category of material and partner.
This data set is derived from International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS) published by Eurostat. The data measure both the monetary value and the physical quantity of goods traded between the EU Member States (intra-EU trade) and of goods traded by the EU Member States with non-EU countries (extra-EU trade). ‘European’ means that the statistics are compiled on the basis of the concepts and definitions set out in EU legislation. ‘National’ statistics, i.e. statistics published at national level by the Member States, are compiled on the basis of national rules which may differ from EU rules.
Product coverage:
The scope of the “waste” is defined and approximated in terms of relevant product codes selected from the list of Combined Nomenclature codes used in International Trade in Goods Statistics.
They are grouped according to the following classification, which provides a breakdown for some material categories:
Plastics, including rubber;
Paper and cardboard;
Glass;
Textiles;
Organic - Animal and vegetal origin;
Wood;
Metals;
Minerals;
Not specified.
The Total is calculated summing up all these categories.
3.2. Classification system
Within international trade in goods statistics standardised classifications are applied to data on commodities and on countries. Regarding the product classification the Combined Nomenclature (CN) is applied for the detailed data whereas the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) or the Broad Economic Categories (BEC) is used for aggregated data. The Geonomenclature is classifying the countries for international trade purposes.
The nomenclature of products which are disseminated is in accordance with the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) 2, 4, 6 digit level and the detailed level (8 digits) of the Combined Nomenclature (CN8). The CN is subject to annual revisions that ensure that the CN is kept up to date in the light of changes in technology or in patterns in international trade.
Country and goods classifications include specific codes for example confidentiality and adjustment purposes. Nomenclatures and correspondence tables are available at the Eurostat's classification server RAMON.
Combined Nomenclature (CN) - Harmonised System (HS)
For extra- and intra-EU trade purposes goods are classified according to the Combined Nomenclature in the European Union. This classification is based on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) managed by the World Customs Organisation (WCO). The HS uses a six digit numerical code for the coding of products and the Combined Nomenclature is further breaking down the coding into an eighth digit level according to EU needs.
The CN is extended with some alphanumeric codes that are used to identify confidential or adjusted data and trade for which a breakdown of the results at a detailed level of product classification is not possible.
Standard International Trade Classification (SITC)
International trade in goods statistics publish figures according to the Standard International Trade Classification of the United Nations. At present the fourth revised version of the SITC is applied which has a five-level hierarchical structure with purely numerical coding. The SITC enables to make comparisons on a worldwide basis.
Broad Economic Categories (BEC)
The Broad Economic Categories of the United Nations arranges international trade data into end-use categories that are meaningful within the framework of the System of National Accounts (SNA), namely categories approximating the three basic classes of goods in the SNA: capital, intermediate and consumer goods. The BEC includes nineteen basic categories. The basic categories are those that are not further sub-divided in the classification. Each category of the BEC is defined in terms of divisions, groups, subgroups and basic headings of the SITC.
Geonomenclature
International trade in goods statistics classifies the reporting country and the partner country according to the nomenclature of countries and territories for the external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States - known as the "Geonomenclature" and managed by Eurostat. An ISO alpha-2 codes are applied, which means that each country is identified with a two-letter alphabetical code. The Geonomenclature is subject to revisions in order to take into account any geopolitical changes.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The aim of international trade statistics as stated in the UN 2010 manual is ‘to record all goods which add to or subtract from the stock of material resources of a country by entering (imports) or leaving (exports) its economic territory’. At EU level, the ‘economic territory’ is the statistical territory of a Member State, which corresponds to its customs territory with one exception - the statistical territory but not the customs territory of Germany includes Heligoland.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
For detailed data, the following indicators, both on an annual basis, are disseminated:
trade value (gross value in thousand euro).
trade quantity (in tonne).
3.5. Statistical unit
Any natural and legal person lodging a customs declaration in a Member State is reporting to the extra-EU trade statistics on the condition that the customs procedure is of statistical relevance.
Within intra-EU trade statistics any taxable person carrying out an intra-EU trade transaction is responsible for providing the information.
However small and medium trade operators are exempted from obligation to provide Intrastat declarations. Member States have implemented a threshold system which allows intra-EU traders not to report on their transaction or provide less detailed information on condition that their total trade value does not exceed a certain amount during the previous or present calendar year. However, Member States assure quality standards when determining the national thresholds.
3.6. Statistical population
Trade in goods of the EU and its Member States includes all goods which add or subtract from the stock of material resources of the reporting Member State by entering (imports) or leaving (exports) its economic territory including goods for processing. Information on the goods is provided by legal or natural person.
3.7. Reference area
All EU Member States and the EU aggregate.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data is published from the year 2004 onwards.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Trade value in thousand euro.
Trade quantity in tonne (net mass).
The reference period for the information on international trade transaction should be the calendar month of dispatch/export respectively that of arrival/import of the good. However, in practice the reference period is in general the calendar month during which the customs declaration is accepted by the national authorities on extra-EU trade and for intra-EU trade the calendar month during which VAT becomes chargeable on intra-EU acquisitions.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
All regulations relevant for the European statistics on international trade in goods can be 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.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
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.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Information about a product being traded may be regarded as commercially sensitive by the information provider for either the value of trade, the quantity of trade, or perhaps the ratio between the two, since this would give an indication of the price of the product. There are various ways in which the nature of the product can be suppressed although at the cost of a loss of information to the user of the statistics. Alternatively, the information provider may regard the origin or destination of goods as commercially sensitive. There are three types of confidentiality:
Partner Confidentiality: in order to conceal the destination or the origin of a product, the code of the partner country is replaced by a 'secret country code', different for intra- and extra-EU trade.
Product confidentiality: in order to suppress the nature of the commodity involved, all or part of the trade is allocated to a confidential product code.
Product and Partner Confidentiality: the two preceding types are applied at the same time; therefore both the partner and the product are hidden.
The levels of these three types of confidentiality can be assessed using data available in the Eurostat Comext database, where special codes are used for suppressing partner or product.
The impact of confidentiality over total trade, in terms of trade value, net mass and number of eight-digit product codes (CN8) is documented in the Quality Report on European statistics on international trade in goods.
8.1. Release calendar
The precise date of the monthly release for international trade data is disseminated on the website. This dataset is updated once a year when complete results are available for the last reference year.
8.2. Release calendar access
The release calendar is available at this website (Release calendar).
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice, Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat´s website (see item 10 - ´Accessibility and clarity´) respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
User Guide on European statistics on international trade in goods — The purpose of this Guide is to explain to a wide range of users how the statistics relating to trade in goods, both between EU Member States and with non-EU countries, are collected, compiled, processed and published at European level. The different issues are tackled in a question and answer format.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Quality Report on European statistics on international trade in goods — This Report provides users with a tool to assess the quality of the international trade in goods statistics published by Eurostat. The data quality can be assessed against indicators covering the following components: relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and coherence.
11.1. Quality assurance
Quality reporting is not a new concept in European trade statistics. Since 2005, the Intrastat legislation made annual reporting on determined quality indicators for international trade statistics mandatory. Member States have to supply Eurostat with an annual Quality Report in a fixed deadline after the reference year. In practice this reporting process has been harmonized: Member States fulfil their obligation of quality reporting by completing the annual quality questionnaire pre-filled by Eurostat. The key quality indicators are then gathered in a summary Quality Report published on Eurostat website.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The main strengths of the international trade in goods: the relevance, the timeliness and punctuality, the accessibility, the clarity and the coherence.
Their main weaknesses: the accuracy and the comparability.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
In a circular economy, residual materials are recycled and re-injected into the economy as new raw materials - then called 'secondary raw material'. This may have several benefits, both reducing net wastes and increasing the security of raw materials supply. An accurate picture of the European raw materials sector must include the movements of raw materials originating from waste, i.e. secondary raw materials, crossing European boundaries both as imports and exports, as well as of intra-EU trade.
Many non-hazardous waste streams are regarded as valuable resources because they are potentially an important source of raw materials. Overall, cross-border movements of recyclable waste have significantly increased over the last decade.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
The EU trade statistics are based on the EU legislation which is directly applicable in the Member States. In particular, the legislation includes a clear and precise list of all the statistical variables to be provided by the Member States to Eurostat. All the mandatory variables are provided by all the Member States.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
As intra-EU trade statistics stem from Intrastat declarations by the traders, a main source of error that affects accuracy of intra-EU data is late or non-response. Intra-EU as well as extra-EU trade data accuracy is also affected by specific characteristics of this statistical field, such as the practice of concealing confidential information and the exemption thresholds applied by countries in order to reduce the burden on enterprises.
13.2. Sampling error
EU trade statistics are based on the Intrastat system for the intra-EU trade and on the customs clearance system for the extra-EU trade. Thus, international trade in goods statistics are not affected by errors specifically applicable to sample surveys.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Accuracy of the international trade data is affected in different ways by thresholds, non-response, confidentiality practices, as well as by statistical value calculations.
14.1. Timeliness
According to the EU legislation, Member States should provide Eurostat with extra and intra-EU aggregated statistics within 40 calendar days after the reference month.
For extra-EU detailed statistics the transmission deadlines are 40 days after the reference month, and for intra-EU detailed statistics 70 calendar days after the reference month.
First results (including estimates) on Euro area and EU trade balances are published on line around 46 days after the reference month in the international trade Euro-indicators news release. The latest supplied detailed data (updates and revisions) are published at the date of the monthly press release. This indicator is updated once a year when complete results are available for the last reference year.
14.2. Punctuality
Eurostat publishes preliminary aggregates using, if necessary, estimates for missing countries. Inevitably, the data first sent for a month are subject to the possibility of later revision, as a consequence of errors, omissions or - particularly with the Intrastat system - late declarations by information providers.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Comparability between EU international trade statistics and those of its main partners.
There are two main approaches used for the measurement of international trade in goods, the general trade system and the special trade system. For extra-EU trade statistics, the special trade system is applied which means that goods from a non-EU country which are received into customs warehouses are not recorded in international trade in goods statistics unless they subsequently go into free circulation in the Member State of receipt (or are placed under the customs procedures for inward processing). Similarly, outgoing goods from customs warehouses are not recorded as exports. The general trade system, which is applied by most of the EU main partner countries, is a wider concept since it includes all goods entering or leaving the country. It should be noted that intra-EU trade statistics do not have a direct link to customs procedures, thus they are not compiled on a general or special trade basis.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Changes due to definitions, coverage or methods and other changes will have an impact on the continuity of international trade series. The impact of the different methodological and practical changes that have occurred in recent years (enlargement of the EU, changes in the Intrastat and Extrastat legislation, changes in product nomenclatures, etc.) is difficult to assess precisely. In particular the accession of new Member States to the EU may cause problems to the comparability over time since it implies for the acceding country a change from an administrative data source (Extrastat) to a purely statistical data collection system (Intrastat). This may have an impact on the accuracy of statistics at detailed level.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Apart from the international trade statistics, information on trade flows can be found in National Accounts, Business Statistics and Balance of Payments. The compilation of the data and the production of the above mentioned statistics follow the recommendations (sources and methods) of different international organisations, i.e. Eurostat, International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations (UN), etc. The Quality Report on International Trade Statistics documents the main differences between these sources in terms of concepts and definitions, statistical unit or object, classification (nomenclature) used, geographical breakdown, reference period and correction methods.
15.4. Coherence - internal
A key feature of the data set is its coherence. Aggregated data are constructed from detailed data over Member States and over different product classifications with the help of official correspondence tables. This ensures internal coherence. In addition, derived indicators such as unit value indices or seasonally adjusted series are calculated by Eurostat from the detailed data provided by Member States in order to maintain coherence.
An assessment of the internal coherence of the published datasets by the production unit.
The cost and burden are low due to the level of automatization.
Reported errors are assessed for seriousness to determine whether they should trigger a correction of already disseminated data. Reported errors that are deemed to be significant are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Minor errors are corrected in the disseminated data in connection with the next regular yearly publication cycle.
Data may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional/estimated or of low reliability for certain countries. They are completed/replaced with final data in connection with the next regularly yearly production cycle.
Every year Eurostat re-publishes the complete time series, which may lead to revisions of data previously published for any reference period.
Extra-EU trade statistics data are collected by using customs declaration. Intra-EU trade statistics are collected directly from trade operators as a consequence of the abolishment of customs control at the borders between the Member States.
Trade in waste by material and partner, shows the amounts (in mass unit) and the monetary value (in Euro) of selected wastes that are shipped across intra-EU and extra-EU borders.
The data set includes following variables:
Imports of waste to EU countries (in order to characterise intra-EU trade);
Imports from non-EU countries and exports to non-EU countries of waste (in order to characterise trade of the EU with the rest of the world).
Exports to EU countries of waste, (in order to characterise trade among EU countries).
Data are disaggregated by EU-Member State, by category of material and partner.
This data set is derived from International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS) published by Eurostat. The data measure both the monetary value and the physical quantity of goods traded between the EU Member States (intra-EU trade) and of goods traded by the EU Member States with non-EU countries (extra-EU trade). ‘European’ means that the statistics are compiled on the basis of the concepts and definitions set out in EU legislation. ‘National’ statistics, i.e. statistics published at national level by the Member States, are compiled on the basis of national rules which may differ from EU rules.
Product coverage:
The scope of the “waste” is defined and approximated in terms of relevant product codes selected from the list of Combined Nomenclature codes used in International Trade in Goods Statistics.
They are grouped according to the following classification, which provides a breakdown for some material categories:
Plastics, including rubber;
Paper and cardboard;
Glass;
Textiles;
Organic - Animal and vegetal origin;
Wood;
Metals;
Minerals;
Not specified.
The Total is calculated summing up all these categories.
28 October 2022
For detailed data, the following indicators, both on an annual basis, are disseminated:
trade value (gross value in thousand euro).
trade quantity (in tonne).
Any natural and legal person lodging a customs declaration in a Member State is reporting to the extra-EU trade statistics on the condition that the customs procedure is of statistical relevance.
Within intra-EU trade statistics any taxable person carrying out an intra-EU trade transaction is responsible for providing the information.
However small and medium trade operators are exempted from obligation to provide Intrastat declarations. Member States have implemented a threshold system which allows intra-EU traders not to report on their transaction or provide less detailed information on condition that their total trade value does not exceed a certain amount during the previous or present calendar year. However, Member States assure quality standards when determining the national thresholds.
Trade in goods of the EU and its Member States includes all goods which add or subtract from the stock of material resources of the reporting Member State by entering (imports) or leaving (exports) its economic territory including goods for processing. Information on the goods is provided by legal or natural person.
All EU Member States and the EU aggregate.
The reference period for the information on international trade transaction should be the calendar month of dispatch/export respectively that of arrival/import of the good. However, in practice the reference period is in general the calendar month during which the customs declaration is accepted by the national authorities on extra-EU trade and for intra-EU trade the calendar month during which VAT becomes chargeable on intra-EU acquisitions.
As intra-EU trade statistics stem from Intrastat declarations by the traders, a main source of error that affects accuracy of intra-EU data is late or non-response. Intra-EU as well as extra-EU trade data accuracy is also affected by specific characteristics of this statistical field, such as the practice of concealing confidential information and the exemption thresholds applied by countries in order to reduce the burden on enterprises.
According to the EU legislation, Member States should provide Eurostat with extra and intra-EU aggregated statistics within 40 calendar days after the reference month.
For extra-EU detailed statistics the transmission deadlines are 40 days after the reference month, and for intra-EU detailed statistics 70 calendar days after the reference month.
First results (including estimates) on Euro area and EU trade balances are published on line around 46 days after the reference month in the international trade Euro-indicators news release. The latest supplied detailed data (updates and revisions) are published at the date of the monthly press release. This indicator is updated once a year when complete results are available for the last reference year.
Comparability between EU international trade statistics and those of its main partners.
There are two main approaches used for the measurement of international trade in goods, the general trade system and the special trade system. For extra-EU trade statistics, the special trade system is applied which means that goods from a non-EU country which are received into customs warehouses are not recorded in international trade in goods statistics unless they subsequently go into free circulation in the Member State of receipt (or are placed under the customs procedures for inward processing). Similarly, outgoing goods from customs warehouses are not recorded as exports. The general trade system, which is applied by most of the EU main partner countries, is a wider concept since it includes all goods entering or leaving the country. It should be noted that intra-EU trade statistics do not have a direct link to customs procedures, thus they are not compiled on a general or special trade basis.
Changes due to definitions, coverage or methods and other changes will have an impact on the continuity of international trade series. The impact of the different methodological and practical changes that have occurred in recent years (enlargement of the EU, changes in the Intrastat and Extrastat legislation, changes in product nomenclatures, etc.) is difficult to assess precisely. In particular the accession of new Member States to the EU may cause problems to the comparability over time since it implies for the acceding country a change from an administrative data source (Extrastat) to a purely statistical data collection system (Intrastat). This may have an impact on the accuracy of statistics at detailed level.
