Summary of supply, trade and demand information on mercury
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101. Additional requests by other intergovernmental organizations for access to the IDB and the CTS databases are subject to approval by the Committee on Market Access on a case-by-case basis.
2.2
Commodity classifications and codes
102. In most countries the national statistical office is responsible for assembling, harmonizing and organizing the national trade statistics, although in some countries central banks, Customs administrations, and specialized governmental organizations carry out these tasks. 103. The more commonly used commodity classifications include: • • • •
Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), Combined Nomenclature (CN) and Classification by Broad Economic Categories (BEC).
104. The range of commodity mercury, products and compounds that are routinely reported by national authorities include the following entries from the main commodity classification systems indicated in the table below.
Table 4
Typical statistical classifications used for tracking mercury trade
Classification
Code
Product description
Statistics compiled by: Comtrade
Eurostat
USITC
yes yes yes yes yes no no
yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
yes yes yes yes yes no no
Mercury SITC rev 1 SITC rev. 2 SITC rev. 3 (BEC Rev.3) HS1992/1996/2002 CN 2002/2004 CN 2004 CN 2004
51325 52216 52227 280540 2805 40 2805 40 10 2805 40 90
Mercury Mercury Mercury Mercury Mercury Mercury, standard 34.5 kilo flasks Mercury, other than standard 34.5 kilo flasks
Mercury compounds CN 2002/2004 2825 90 50 Mercury oxides no yes no SITC rev 1 51283 Organo-mercury compounds yes yes no SITC rev 2 51551 Organo-mercury compounds yes yes no CN 2002/2004 2833 29 70 Sulphates of mercury (and of lead) no yes no CN 2002/2004 2834 29 30 Nitrates of mercury (and of copper) no yes no Sources: http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/ramon/index.cfm?TargetUrl=DSP_PUB_WELC, as well as UNSD and USITC web-sites. Regular updates to CN codes (search under “Taric”) and tariffs may be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm.
2.3
Data collection and reporting
105. In recent years the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) conducted a survey of national practices in compilation and dissemination of statistics on external trade. By December 2002, UNSD had collected information on compilation practices of seventy-six countries and one Customs union. The findings of the survey were published in 2003; some of the relevant findings are summarized below. The survey was not focused only on issues related to mercury trade, as was the recent questionnaire (see Section 2.4 below), but the survey results are indicative of national reporting practices.
What agency collects the trade data, and in what form? 106. Sources of information: The majority (95%) of respondents reported using customs records, and for 60% of these, customs records are the sole source of trade statistics. For 35% of respondents, customs records are supplemented by other sources, such as reports of various governmental agencies or commercial organizations. 107. Compiling agency: In 84% of the cases, the national statistical office is the compiling agency – responsible for assembling, harmonizing and organizing the statistics. In the remaining countries,