ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/30/Rev.3 Department of Economic and Social Affairs ● Statistics Division Studies in Methods Series M, No. 30, Rev. 3 ____________________________________________________________ Statistical Territories of the World for use in International Merchandise Trade Statistics ____________________________________________________________ United Nations ● New York, 2000 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Copyright © United Nations 2000 All rights reserved CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction 1-14 1 List of questions 4 Explanation of concepts used in or related to the questionnaire 8-14 5 Statistical territories of the world 8 ANNEX Agencies and persons responsible for the completion of the statistical territories questionnaire 76 iii INTRODUCTION 1. The United Nations Statistical Commission at its twenty-ninth session (11-14 February 1997) decided that a revision of Customs Areas of the World should be one of the priorities in methodological work in the area of international trade statistics. 1 Following this decision of the Commission, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) conducted a survey of countries to collect information regarding their statistical territories. 2. In cooperation with members of the Task Force on International Trade Statistics, 2 UNSD developed a special questionnaire which was sent to countries on 11 May 1999. By May 2000, 128 countries had responded. 3. This publication contains a list of the questions which were contained in the questionnaire; an explanation of concepts used or related to the questions; country responses 3 organized in alphabetical order; and an annex listing agencies and persons responsible for completion of the questionnaire. The country presentations are standard, with the numbers representing questions asked and the cells immediately below the question numbers containing the country responses. The possible responses are: Yes, Yes*, No, No*, n/a (not applicable), and n/a*. An asterisk (*) indicates that a comment is provided in a footnote. If no response was provided the cell is left blank. 4. The main results of the survey can be summarized as follows: the statistical territory of most of the countries coincides with their economic territory, and geographical territory (68.0% in both cases). 4 The statistical territories coincide even more closely with the customs territories (in 80.8% of the cases) which reflects the fact that the majority of countries use customs records as their main source of data. 1 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1997, Supplement No. 4 (E/1997/24), para. 39 (a). Customs Areas of the World (United Nations Publication, Sales No. E.89.XVII.12) was published in 1989 and contained a brief description of customs areas which UNSD was able to obtain from countries, or which it derived from national publications or other sources. The focus on customs areas was warranted by compilation practices of the countries: most of them compiled their trade statistics based on when goods crossed the customs border. 2 The Task Force includes representatives of the following: Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (Statistics Division, Macroeconomics Division), Economic Commission for Europe, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Economic Commission for Africa, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, International Trade Center, Inter-American Development Bank, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Statistical Office of the European Communities and World Customs Organization. 3 Some responses have been edited by UNSD. 4 Several countries indicated that their statistical territory coincides with their economic, geographical or customs territory, with certain exceptions. 1 5. A distribution (in %) of country responses to questions regarding inclusion of various elements in the statistical territory is presented in the table below. 5 Question # Territorial elements Statistical territory Includes Excludes Not applicable 4.1 Premises where inward 52.8 26.4 19.2 processing is carried out 4.2 Industrial free zones 29.6 38.4 30.4 4.3 Commercial free zones 26.4 41.6 28.8 4.4 Customs warehouses 53.6 40.0 7.2 4.5 Enclaves of other countries 24.0 57.6 5.6 4.6 Enclaves in other countries 20.8 53.6 8.8 4.7 Enclaves of international 27.2 58.4 16.0 organizations 4.8 Territorial waters and 33.0 43.0 24.0 continental shelf 4.9 Offshore territories, 14.4 60.8 26.4 possessions, etc. 6. Forty-five per cent of the countries indicated that they are members of a customs union. In 76% of such cases the foreign trade statistics of the countries cover not only trade with third countries but also intertrade with the other member states of the customs union of which the reporting countries are members. 5 Answers do not always add up to 100% since, in some cases, countries did not provide a response. If a certain territorial element is absent in a country, the “No” response may, in fact, mean “Not applicable”. 2 7. Countries are encouraged to review their responses and provide their comments/ revisions to: Mr. Hermann Habermann, Director, United Nations Statistics Division, DC2-1420, United Nations, NY 10017; or by fax to (212)963-9851; or by e-mail to "[email protected]". Countries which did not respond to the questionnaire and are not represented here are encouraged to send their responses for inclusion in the UNSD database and in future revised editions of this publication. 3 Questions 1 Does the statistical territory of your country coincide with the economic territory? 2 Does the statistical territory of your country coincide with the geographic territory? 3 Does the statistical territory of your country coincide with the customs territory? 4 Do you include in the statistical territory of your country the following elements, i.e. do you make records of goods entering or leaving these elements in your foreign trade statistics : 4.1 premises where inward processing is carried out 4.2 industrial free zones 4.3 commercial free zones 4.4 customs warehouses 4.5 territorial enclaves of other countries in your country: 4.51 embassies 4.52 military bases 4.53 research installations 4.54 other (please specify) 4.6 territorial enclaves of your country in other countries: 4.61 embassies 4.62 military bases 4.63 research installations 4.64 other (please specify) 4.7 territorial enclaves of international organizations in your country 4.8 territorial waters, and continental shelf lying in international waters over which the country enjoys exclusive rights or over which it has, or claims to have, jurisdiction in respect of the right to fish or to exploit fuels or minerals below the seabed 4.9 offshore territories, possessions, dependencies, islands, etc. 4.10 other territorial elements? 5 Is your country a member of a customs union? If "Yes" 5.1 Do the data cover both trade with third countries and intertrade with the member states? 5.2 Do data cover only trade with third countries and exclude intertrade with the member states? 5.3 Is foreign trade of the country included in foreign trade statistics of the union and not available separately? 4 Explanation of concepts used in or related to the questionnaire 8. The statistical territory of a country or area is "the territory with respect to which data are being collected"; 6 that is, goods which enter or leave the statistical territory are to be recorded in the external trade statistics. 9. The economic territory of a country consists “of the geographic territory administered by a government within which persons, goods and capital circulate freely" 7 and includes: "(a) Airspace, territorial waters, and continental shelf lying in international waters over which the country enjoys exclusive rights or over which it has, or claims to have, jurisdiction in respect of the right to fish or to exploit fuels or minerals below the seabed; (b) Territorial enclaves in the rest of the world (clearly demarcated areas of land which are located in other countries and which are used by the government which owns or rents them for diplomatic, military, scientific or other purposes - embassies, consulates, military bases, scientific stations, information or immigration offices, aid agencies, etc. - with the formal political agreement of the government of the country in which they are physically located); (c) Any free zones, or bonded warehouses or factories operated by offshore enterprises under customs control (these form part of the economic territory of the country in which they are physically located)." 8 In the case of maritime countries their economic territory "includes any islands belonging to that country which are subject to exactly the same fiscal and monetary authorities as the mainland, so that goods and persons may move freely to and from such islands without any kind of customs or immigration formalities". 9 The economic territory of a country does not include the territorial enclaves used by foreign governments or international organizations which are physically located within the 10 geographical boundaries of that country. 6 International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions, Revision 2 (United Nations Publications, Sales No. E.98.XVII.16), para. 64. 7 System of National Accounts, 1993 (United Nations Publication, Sales No. E94.XVII.4), para. 14.9. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid., para. 14.11. 5 10. Customs territory is "the territory in which the customs law of a state applies in full." 11 11.