Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 30—International accounts and trade 1025
The UN definition excludes:
direct transit trade, i.e. goods being
trans-shipped or moved through Australia for
purposes of transport only;
ships and aircraft moving through Australia
while engaged in the transport of passengers
or goods between Australia and other
countries; and
non-merchandise trade, consisting primarily of
goods moving on a temporary basis (e.g.
mobile equipment, goods under repair and
goods for exhibition) and passengers’ effects.
International merchandise trade statistics are
compiled by the ABS from information submitted
by exporters and importers or their agents to the
Australian Customs Service.
The UN recommendations for the compilation of
merchandise trade statistics recognise that the
basic sources used by most compiling
countries—customs records—will not be able to
capture certain transactions. In Australia the
following types of goods, which fall within the
scope of the UN definition of merchandise trade,
are excluded because customs entries are not
required:
parcel post exports for values not exceeding
$2,000 and parcel post imports for values not
exceeding $1,000; and
migrants’ and passengers’ effects exported or
imported.
For exports only, types of goods excluded are:
fish and other sea products landed abroad
directly from the high seas by Australian ships;
and
individual transaction lines (within an export
consignment) where the value of the goods is
less than $500.
For imports only, types of goods excluded are:
bunkers, aviation fuel and stores supplied
abroad to Australian ships and aircraft; and
consignments screened free or entered on
informal clearance documents for values not
exceeding $250. From July 1998 individual
transactions lines (within a formally entered
import consignment), where the value of
goods is less than $250, are not processed by
the ABS and are also excluded.
Classification
In addition to the primary classification between
exports and imports, international merchandise
trade is also classified by commodity, by country
of origin/destination, by Australian State of
production/destination, and by industry of origin.
Export and import commodity statistics are
available classified according to:
the Harmonized System, a World Customs
Organization classification which groups goods
according to their component materials, from
raw materials through to processed and
manufactured products;
the codes and descriptions of the third revision
of the United Nations Standard International
Trade Classification (SITC Rev. 3). This
classification groups commodities according to
the degree of processing they have undergone,
from food and crude raw materials through to
highly transformed manufactures; and
the 19 categories of the United Nations
Classification by Broad Economic Categories
(BEC). The BEC classifies international trade
statistics for the purposes of general economic
analysis according to the main end use of the
commodities traded.
Commodity export and import statistics in this
section are presented according to SITC Rev. 3.
Valuation
For exports, the point of valuation adopted is
free-on-board (f.o.b.) at the Australian port of
shipment, while the basis of valuation is
‘transactions value’, the actual price at which the
goods are sold.
For imports, the point of valuation is the point of
containerisation (in most cases), or f.o.b. at the
customs frontier of the exporting country or the
port of loading, whichever comes first. The basis
of valuation is the customs value. For transactions
between independent buyers and sellers, this will
generally be the price actually payable. Where
traders are not independent (for example if they
are related or affiliated in some way), an
appropriate customs value may be determined.