
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1982/2004 of 18 November 2004 implementing Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and repealing Commission Regulations (EC) No 1901/2000 and (EEC) No 3590/92 

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and in particular Articles 3(4) and (5), 6(2), 8(2), 9, 10, 12 and 13(3) thereof,
Whereas:

(1) Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States are based on the Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council which reconsiders the statistical provisions with a view to improving transparency and facilitating comprehension and which is adapted to meet current data requirements. Particular implementation arrangements are assigned to the Commission in accordance with Article 14(2) of the said Regulation. Therefore it is necessary to adopt a new Commission Regulation which should refer in a restrictive manner to the assigned responsibility and specify the implementing provisions. Commission Regulations (EC) No 1901/2000 of 7 September 2000 laying down certain provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and (EEC) No 3590/92 of 11 December 1992 concerning the statistical information media for statistics on trade between Member States should therefore be repealed.

(2) For methodological reasons a number of types of goods and movements should be exempted. It is necessary to draw up a comprehensive list of those goods to be excluded from the statistics to be sent to the Commission (Eurostat).

(3) Goods are to be included in trade statistics at the time when they enter or leave the statistical territory of a country. However, special arrangements are needed when data collection takes account of fiscal and customs procedures.

(4) A link between value added tax information and Intrastat declarations should be maintained in order to check the quality of the collected information. It is appropriate to determine the information to be transmitted by the national tax administration to the national authorities responsible for statistics.

(5) Common definitions and concepts should apply to data collected within the Intrastat system in order to facilitate a harmonised application of the system.

(6) With a view to transparency and equal treatment of the companies, harmonised and accurate provisions should be applied for the setting up of thresholds.

(7) Appropriate provisions have to be determined for some specific goods and movements in order to ensure that the necessary information is collected in a harmonised way.

(8) Common and appropriate timetables as well as provisions on adjustments and revisions have to be included in order to satisfy users’ needs for timely and comparable figures.

(9) A regular assessment of the system is planned in order to improve the data quality and ensure the transparency of the functioning of the system.

(10) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Subject matter
Article 1 
This Regulation sets up the necessary measures for implementing Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Excluded goods
Article 2 
The goods listed in Annex I to this Regulation shall be excluded from statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States  and the United Kingdom.
Period of reference
Article 3 
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CHAPTER 2
COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION BY THE TAX ADMINISTRATION
Article 4 
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                  Information on VAT returns
               
Article 5 
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                  Information on recapitulative VAT statements
               
Article 6 
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CHAPTER 3
COLLECTION OF INTRASTAT INFORMATION
Partner Member State and country of origin
Article 7 
The partner Member States and where collected, the country of origin shall be reported according to the version of the nomenclature of countries and territories in force.
Value of the goods
Article 8 

1. The value of the goods shall be the taxable amount which is the value to be determined for  value added tax  purposes ....For products subject to duties, the amount of these duties shall be excluded.Whenever the taxable amount does not have to be declared for  value added tax  purposes, a positive value has to be reported which shall correspond to the invoice value, excluding VAT, or, failing this, to an amount which would have been invoiced in the event of any sale or purchase.In the case of processing, the value to be collected, with a view to and following such operations, shall be the total amount which would be invoiced in case of sale or purchase.
2. Additionally,  the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  may also collect the statistical value of the goods, as defined in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 638/2004.
3. The value of the goods defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be expressed in the national currency. The exchange rate to be applied shall be:
(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(b) the official rate of exchange ... applicable to calculating the value for customs purposes....
Quantity of the goods
               
Article 9 

1. The net mass shall be given in kilograms. However, where there is a supplementary unit mentioned according to paragraph 2, it is not mandatory to request the specification of net mass from the parties responsible for providing information.
2. The supplementary units shall be mentioned in accordance with the information set out in the Combined Nomenclature hereinafter referred to as ‘CN’ as established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 opposite the subheadings concerned, the list of which is published in Part I ‘Preliminary provisions’ of the said Regulation.
(3.) References above and below to the CN – or to a CN Chapter, chapter or code – are references to the customs tariff, or to a corresponding provision of that tariff.
Nature of transaction
Article 10 
The nature of transaction shall be reported according to the codes specified in the list of Annex III to this Regulation.  The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  shall apply the codes of column A or a combination of the code numbers in column A and their subdivisions in column B indicated in this list.
The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  may collect code numbers ... in column B ....
Delivery terms
Article 11 
The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customsmay  collect the delivery terms according to Article 9(2)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 638/2004  using  the codes specified in Annex IV to this Regulation.
Mode of transport
Article 12 
The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customsmay  collect the mode of transport according to Article 9(2)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 638/2004  using  the codes specified in Annex V to this Regulation.
CHAPTER 4
SIMPLIFICATION WITHIN INTRASTAT
Article 13 

1. The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  shall calculate  the  thresholds for the year following the current calendar year on the basis of the latest available results for  the relevant  trade ... over a period of at least 12 months. The provisions adopted at the start of a year shall apply for the whole year.
2. The value of the trade of a party responsible for providing information is considered to be above the thresholds:
(a) when the value   of relevant trade ... during the previous year exceeds the applicable thresholds, or
(b) when the cumulative value of  relevant trade ... since the beginning of the year of application exceeds the applicable thresholds. In that case, information shall be provided from the month in which thresholds are exceeded.
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3a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. For individual transactions whose value is less than £175, the parties responsible for providing information may report the following simplified information:
— the product code 9950 00 00,
— the partner Member State,
— the value of the goods....
CHAPTER 4a
TRADE BY BUSINESS CHARACTERISTICS
Compilation of statistics on trade by business characteristics
               
Article 13a 

1. National authorities shall compile annual statistics on trade by business characteristics.
2. The statistical units shall be enterprises as defined in the Annex to Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93.
3. Statistical units are constructed by linking the identification number allocated to the party responsible for providing information pursuant to Article 9(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 with the legal unit of the Business Register in accordance with the variable 1.7a referred to in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
4. The following characteristics shall be compiled:
(a) trade flow;
(b) statistical value;
(c) partner Member State;
(d) commodity code, according to the section or two-digit level as defined in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 451/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
(e) number of enterprises;
(f) activity carried out by the enterprise according to the section or two-digit level of the statistical classification of economic activity (NACE) as laid down in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
(g) size class, measured in terms of the number of employees according to the definitions of characteristics for structural business statistics as laid down in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 250/2009.
5. The following datasets shall be compiled:
(a) matching rates between trade and business registers;
(b) trade by activity and enterprise size class;
(c) share of largest enterprises in terms of value of trade by activity;
(d) trade by partner Member State and activity;
(e) trade by number of partner Member States and activity;
(f) trade by commodity and activity.
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CHAPTER 5
RULES CONCERNING SPECIFIC GOODS AND MOVEMENTS
Article 14 
In addition to the provisions of the Regulation (EC) No 638/2004, specific goods and movements shall be subject to the rules set out in this Chapter ....
Industrial plant
Article 15 

1. For the purpose of this Article:
(a) ‘industrial plant’ is a combination of machines, apparatus, appliances, equipment, instruments and materials which together make up large-scale, stationary units producing goods or providing services;
(b) ‘component part’ means a delivery for an industrial plant which is made up of goods which all belong to the same chapter of the CN.
2. Statistics on trade between Member States and the United Kingdom  may cover only dispatches and arrivals of component parts used for the construction of industrial plants or the re-use of industrial plants.
3. The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs when  applying paragraph 2 may apply the following particular provisions on condition that the overall statistical value of a given industrial plant exceeds £2.62 million, unless they are complete industrial plants for re-use:
(a) The commodity codes shall be composed as follows:
— the first four digits shall be 9880,
— the fifth and the sixth digits shall correspond to the CN chapter to which the goods of the component part belong,
— the seventh and the eighth digits shall be 0.
(b) The quantity shall be optional.
Staggered consignments
Article 16 

1. For the purpose of this Article ‘staggered consignments’ means the delivery of components of a complete item in an unassembled or disassembled state which are shipped during more than one reference period for commercial or transport-related reasons.
2. The reference period for arrivals or dispatches of staggered consignments may be adjusted so that data are reported only once, in the month when the last consignment is received or dispatched.
Vessels and aircraft
               
Article 17 

1. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) ‘vessel’ means vessels considered as seagoing in accordance with CN Chapter 89, tugs, warships and floating structures;
(b) ‘aircraft’ means aeroplanes falling within CN codes 8802 30 and 8802 40;
(c) ‘economic ownership’ means the right of a taxable person (for value added tax purposes, or for corresponding purposes under the law of a member State)  to claim the benefits associated with the use of a vessel or aircraft in the course of an economic activity by virtue of accepting the associated risks.
2. Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and the United Kingdom  on vessels and aircraft shall cover only the following dispatches and arrivals:
(a) the transfer of economic ownership of a vessel or aircraft from a taxable person established in  a  Member State to a taxable person established in the United Kingdom. This transaction shall be treated as an arrival;
(b) the transfer of economic ownership of a vessel or aircraft from a taxable person established in the United Kingdom to a taxable person established in  a  Member State. This transaction shall be treated as a dispatch. Where the vessel or aircraft is new the dispatch is recorded  if the United Kingdom is the country  of construction;
(c) the arrivals and dispatches of vessels or aircraft before or following processing under contract as defined in Annex III, footnote 2.
3. The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  shall apply the following specific provisions on statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and the United Kingdom  on vessels and aircraft:
(a) the quantity shall be expressed in number of items and any other supplementary units laid down in the CN, for vessels, and in net mass and supplementary units, for aircraft;
(b) the statistical value shall be the total amount that would be invoiced – transport and insurance costs excluded – in the event of sale or purchase of the whole vessel or aircraft;
(c) the partner Member State shall be:
((i)) the Member State where the taxable person transferring the economic ownership of the vessel or aircraft is established, on arrival, or the taxable person to whom the economic ownership of the vessel or aircraft is transferred, on dispatch, for the movements referred to in paragraphs 2(a) and (b);
((ii)) the Member State of construction, on arrival in the case of new vessels or aircraft;
((iii)) the Member State where the taxable person who exercises economic ownership of the vessel or aircraft is established, on arrival, or the Member State undertaking the processing under contract, on dispatch, for movements referred to in paragraph 2(c);
(d) the reference period for arrivals and dispatches referred to in paragraphs 2(a) and (b) shall be the month when the transfer of economic ownership takes place.
4. At the request of the national authorities, the authorities responsible for managing the ships and aircraft registers shall provide all the information available to identify a change of economic ownership of a vessel or aircraft between taxable persons established in  the United Kingdom.
Motor vehicle and aircraft parts
Article 18 
The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  may apply simplified national provisions for motor vehicle and aircraft parts....
Goods delivered to vessels and aircraft
Article 19 

1. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) ‘delivery of goods to vessels and aircraft’ means the delivery of products for the crew and passengers, and for the operation of the engines, machines and other equipment of vessels or aircraft;
(b) a vessel or aircraft shall be deemed to belong to the  country  where the taxable person who exercises economic ownership of the vessel or aircraft as defined in Article 17(1)(c) is established.
2. Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and the United Kingdom  shall cover only dispatches of goods delivered on the territory of the  United Kingdom  to vessels and aircraft belonging to a Member State. Dispatches shall cover all goods defined in Article 3(2)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 638/2004.
3. The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  shall use the following commodity codes for goods delivered to vessels and aircraft:
— 9930 24 00 goods from CN chapters 1 to 24,
— 9930 27 00 goods from CN chapter 27,
— 9930 99 00: goods classified elsewhere....In addition, the simplified partner country code ‘QR’ may be used.
Goods delivered to and from offshore installations
               
Article 20 

1. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) ‘offshore installation’ means equipment and devices installed and stationary in the sea outside the statistical territory of any Member State and the United Kingdom;
(b) ‘goods delivered to offshore installations’ means the delivery of products for the crew and for the operation of engines, machines and other equipment of offshore installation;
(c) ‘goods obtained from or produced by offshore installations’ means products extracted from the seabed or subsoil, or manufactured by the offshore installation.
2. Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and the United Kingdom  shall record:
(a) an arrival, where goods are delivered from:
((i)) a  Member State to an offshore installation established in an area where the  United Kingdom  has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil;
((ii)) an offshore installation established in an area where  a Member State has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil to the  United Kingdom;
((iii)) an offshore installation established in an area where  a  Member State has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil to an offshore installation in an area where the  United Kingdom  has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil;
(b) a dispatch, where goods are delivered to:
((i)) a  Member State from an offshore installation established in an area where the  United Kingdom  has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil;
((ii)) an offshore installation established in an area where  a  Member State has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil from the  United Kingdom;
((iii)) an offshore installation established in an area where  a  Member State has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil from an offshore installation established in an area where the  United Kingdom  has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil.
3. The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs  shall use the following commodity codes for goods delivered to offshore installations:
— 9931 24 00: goods from CN chapters 1 to 24,
— 9931 27 00: goods from CN chapter 27,
— 9931 99 00: goods classified elsewhere.For those deliveries... the simplified partner Member State code ‘QV’ may be used.
Sea products
               
Article 21 

1. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) ‘sea products’ means fishery products, minerals, salvage and all other products which have not yet been landed by seagoing vessels;
(b) a vessel shall be deemed to belong to the  United Kingdom if that is  where the taxable person who exercises the economic ownership of the vessel defined in Article 17(1)(c) is established.
2. Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and the United Kingdom  on sea products shall cover the following arrivals and dispatches:
(a) the landing of sea products in the reporting Member State’s ports, or their acquisition by vessels belonging to the  United Kingdom  from vessels belonging to  a  Member State. These transactions shall be treated as arrivals;
(b) the landing of sea products in  a  Member State’s ports from a vessel belonging to the  United Kingdom, or their acquisition by vessels belonging to  a  Member State from vessels belonging to the  United Kingdom. These transactions shall be treated as dispatches.
3. On arrival, the partner Member State shall be a Member State where the taxable person who exercises the economic ownership of the vessel, which is carrying out the capturing, is established and, on dispatch,  a  Member State where the sea products are landed or where the taxable person who exercises the economic ownership of the vessel, acquiring the sea products, is established.
4. Provided that there is no conflict with other ... law, national authorities shall have access to all available data sources that they may need to apply this Article, in addition to those of the Intrastat system or customs declaration.
Spacecraft
               
Article 22 

1. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) ‘spacecraft’ means vehicles which are able to travel outside the earth’s atmosphere;
(b) ‘economic ownership’ means the right of a taxable person to claim the benefits associated with the use of a spacecraft in the course of an economic activity by virtue of accepting the associated risks.
2. The launching of a spacecraft for which economic ownership has been transferred between two taxable persons one of whom is  established in  the United Kingdom  shall be recorded:
(a) as a dispatch in the  country  of construction of the finished spacecraft;
(b) as an arrival in the  country  where the new owner is established.
3. The following specific provisions shall apply to the statistics referred to in paragraph 2:
(a) the data on the statistical value shall be defined as the value of the spacecraft, excluding transport and insurance costs;
(b) the data on the partner Member State shall be the  country  of construction of the finished spacecraft, on arrival, and the  country  where the new owner is established, on dispatch.
4. Provided that there is no conflict with other ... law, national authorities shall have access to all available data sources that they may need to apply this Article, in addition to those of the Intrastat system or customs declarations.
Electricity and gas
Article 23 

1. Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and the United Kingdom  shall cover dispatches and arrivals of electricity and natural gas.
2. Provided that there is no conflict with other ... legislation, national authorities shall have access to all available additional data sources other than those of the Intrastat System or the Single Administrative Document for customs or fiscal purposes which they may need .... National authorities may require that information is provided directly by operators established in the  United Kingdom  which own or operate the national transmission network for electricity or natural gas.
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Military goods
Article 24 

1. Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and the United Kingdom  shall cover dispatches and arrivals of goods intended for military use.
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CHAPTER 6
DATA TRANSMISSION TO EUROSTAT
Article 25 
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CHAPTER 7
QUALITY REPORT
Article 26 
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CHAPTER 8
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 27 
Regulation (EC) No 1901/2000 and Regulation (EEC) No 3590/92 are hereby repealed with effect from 1 January 2005.
Article 28 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2005.
...
ANNEX I

                  List of goods excluded from statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States  and the United Kingdom


((a)) monetary gold;
((b)) means of payment which are legal tender and securities, including means which are payments for services such as postage, taxes, user fees;
((c)) goods for or following temporary use (e.g. hire, loan, operational leasing), provided all the following conditions are met:

— no processing is or was planned or carried out,
— the expected duration of the temporary use was or is not intended to be longer than 24 months,
— the dispatch/arrival has not to be declared ... for VAT purposes;
((d)) goods moving between:

— the United Kingdom  and its territorial enclaves in ... Member States, and
— the United Kingdom  and territorial enclaves of ... Member States or international organisations.
Territorial enclaves include embassies and national armed forces stationed outside the territory of the mother country;
((e)) goods used as carriers of customised information, including software;
((f)) software downloaded from the Internet;
((g)) goods supplied free of charge which are themselves not the subject of a commercial transaction, provided that the movement is with the sole intention of preparing or supporting an intended subsequent trade transaction by demonstrating the characteristics of goods or services such as:

— advertising material,
— commercial samples;
((h)) goods for and after repair and replacement parts that are incorporated in the framework of the repair and replaced defective parts;
((i)) means of transport travelling in the course of their work, including spacecraft launchers at the time of launching.

ANNEX II
List of CN subheadings referred to Article 9(1)

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ANNEX III

List of nature of transactions codesA B

1. Transactions involving actual or intended transfer of ownership from residents to non-residents against financial or other compensation (except the transactions listed under 2, 7 and 8)
 
1. Outright purchase/sale

2. Supply for sale on approval or after trial, for consignment or with the intermediation of a commission agent

3. Barter trade (compensation in kind)

4. Financial leasing (hire-purchase)

9. Other


2. Return and replacement of goods free of charge after registration of the original transaction
 
1. Return of goods

2. Replacement for returned goods

3. Replacement (e.g. under warranty) for goods not being returned

9. Other


3. Transactions involving transfer of ownership without financial or in kind compensation (e.g. aid shipments)
 

4. Operations with a view to processing under contract (no transfer of ownership to the processor)
 
1. Goods expected to return to the initial Member State of dispatch

2. Goods not expected to return to the initial Member State of dispatch


5. Operations following processing under contract (no transfer of ownership to the processor)
 
1. Goods returning to the initial Member State of dispatch

2. Goods not returning to the initial Member State of dispatch


6. Particular transactions recorded for national purposes
 

7. Operations under joint defence projects or other joint intergovernmental production programs
 

8. Transactions involving the supply of building materials and technical equipment under a general construction or civil engineering contract for which no separate invoicing of the goods is required and an invoice for the total contract is issued
 

9. Other transactions which cannot be classified under other codes
 
1. Hire, loan, and operational leasing longer than 24 months

9. Other



ANNEX IV

Coding of delivery terms Meaning Place to be indicated, when required
Incoterm Code Incoterm ICC/ECE Geneva
EXW ex-works location of works
FCA free carrier agreed place
FAS free alongside ship agreed port of loading
FOB free on board agreed port of loading
CFR cost and freight (C&F) agreed port of destination
CIF cost, insurance and freight agreed port of destination
CPT carriage paid to agreed place of destination
CIP carriage and insurance paid to agreed place of destination
DAF delivered at frontier agreed place of delivery at frontier
DES delivered ex-ship agreed port of destination
DEQ delivered ex-quay after customs clearance, agreed port
DDU delivered duty unpaid agreed place of destination in arriving country
DDP delivered duty paid agreed place of delivery in arriving country
XXX delivery terms other than the above precise statement of terms specified in the contract
Additional information (when required):
1.. place located in the  United Kingdom
2.. place located in  a  Member State
3.. other (place located  elsewhere)
ANNEX V

Coding of mode of transportCode Title
1 Sea transport
2 Rail transport
3 Road transport
4 Air transport
5 Postal consignment
7 Fixed transport installations
8 Inland waterway transport
9 Own propulsion
ANNEX VI
Quality indicators
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1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. Accuracy is one of the main needs of users. It can be assessed by indicators made up as follows: 
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3. Timeliness shall be assessed by Eurostat by calculating the average time between the end of the reference month and transmission of the data to Eurostat, as follows: 
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4. Accessibility to users gives value to statistical data, which is increased if the data are readily available in formats required by users. Clarity of the data available depends on the assistance provided in using and interpreting the statistics and on the available comments and analysis of results. 
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5. Comparability aims at measuring the impact of differences in applied statistical concepts and definitions when statistics are compared between geographical areas, non-geographical domains, or reference periods. 
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6. Coherence is defined by how well sets of statistics can be used together. Apart from External Trade Statistics, information on external trade can be found in National Accounts, Business Statistics and Balance of Payments. 
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7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .