| The Czech Statistical Office produces external trade data from customs statistics that had been processed by the end of 2003 by the Ministry of Finance of the CR - Directorate General of Customs (MF CR-DGC). Since 2004 the collection and initial checks of the data are the responsibility of the MF CR-DGC, while the processing and subsequent checks and publishing have been carried out by the Czech Statistical Office. Legislation provides for surveying data on exports and imports in Customs Act No. 13/1993 Coll., as last amended, and implementing decrees of the Ministry of Finance of the CR No. 252/2002 Coll. and No. 253/2002 Coll., which implement some provisions of the Act. In the framework of customs statistics, external trade encompasses activities of all enterprises engaged in exports and imports of goods for resale. Definitions and methodology of key indicators Following the recommendation of Eurostat, the Czech Statistical Office has been applying the geographical breakdown laid down by the international standard ‘Geonomenclature’ since 1999, which differs in principle from the nomenclature used before. This shift affected the allocation of some countries to higher units: e.g. Turkey and Cyprus were formerly (before 1999) included in Asia, while the Geonomenclature, which is updated every year by Eurostat, places them in Europe now. a) Groupings of countries (1 January 2003) The group of countries associated under the OECD (OECD countries) includes the EU countries, EFTA countries (except for Liechtenstein), Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey, and the following countries outside Europe: Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and United States (including Puerto Rico). Market economies includedeveloped market economies,, namely: - EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France (incl. Monaco; French Guiana; departments of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Réunion), Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (incl. the Isle of Man and islands Guernsey and Jersey), - EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway (including territories Svalbard and Jan Mayen), Switzerland, - others developed market economies: Andorra, Australia, Canada, Cyprus, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Israel, Japan, Malta, New Zealand, South Africa, San Marino, Turkey, United States (including Puerto Rico) and Holy See (Vatican City State). European transition and CIS economies include Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The group of CEFTA is composed of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. China, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia and Viet Nam make up the group of other transition economies and economies with a state trade system. b) Deflators and physical volume indices of imports and exports The deflators released are based on 2000 average (= 100) and derived by deflating values according to individual SITC Rev. 3 sections using price indices to reflect the structure of imports or exports in a given (reference) period. Import or export index at constant prices (formerly the physical volume index) compares the volume of imported or exported goods at constant prices to the volume of goods imported or exported in the previous period; it shows a relative change in the volume of goods exchanged in the reference period compared to the basic period, excluding price changes. Terms of trade (formerly real terms of trade) are the ratio of export to import price indices. To calculate deflators, nominal price indices of imports and exports are applied. Conversion of the 1994 price level to the 2000 one is based on price bridges. c) Trade balance The trade balance published in this chapter has not differ since 2000 as for methodology from the trade balance, which is part of the current account of the balance of payments that is compiled for this Yearbook by the Czech National Bank (Chapter 7. Currency and Balance of Payments). Using data of a different date of processing causes that in the last mentioned year there are differences between the data of the Czech National Bank and the Czech Statistical Office. Comparability of data on exports and imports listed in this Statistical Yearbook and previous ones: Changes in methodology for the collection of data on the Czech external trade - i.e. the transition to customs statistics - render the data released from 1991 not fully comparable to those for previous periods. a) Comparability as to time - Since 1996 exports have been reported as of the date on which goods are released into export regime (not as of the date on which goods cross the border, as it used to be before); - Imports are reported as of the date on which goods are released into free circulation in the country. b) Comparability as to contents - Figures reported since 1991 only refer to tangible exports and imports over the reference period. Figures for 2003 are temporary and only include imports/exports assessed from correctly completed single administrative documents (SADs) received by 18 May 2004 - the deadline for still preliminary processing of the external trade statistics. SADs for 2003 completed incorrectly and not corrected by the deadline will not be included in 2003 export and import volumes until the following processing, whose results were not available at the time this publication was under preparation. This subsequent processing will be published later on; - Customs statistics contain no information on direct re-export; - Industrial plants are not reported as invoiced; the information includes only the value of tangible deliveries crossing the border; - Customs statistics contain no figures on exports or imports of services, as these are implemented in an intangible form; - Before 1991, external trade data were measured broken down by trading country; since 1991, however, customs statistics have been referring to countries of origin (imports) and countries of destination (exports), as requested by international organizations; - Ministry of Finance of the CR - Directorate General of Customs converted 1986-1990 data for them to comply with the methodology of customs statistics as much as possible. This step also took account of exchange rate changes. All figures on the Czech external trade are given in the real (average) exchange rate of the Czech koruna to foreign currencies effective in the years concerned; - The move to customs statistics also changed the classification used, and the Harmonized System of Coding and Description of Goods, contained in the Czechoslovak tariff, superseded the Czechoslovak national classification. Correspondence tables have been used to turn the data into the nomenclature SITC, Rev. 3 (UN Standard International Trade Classification) used in this Chapter; - CZSO Measure No. 69/1993 Coll., introduced the national Standard Classification of Production (SKP; a variant application of CPA also referred to as CZ-CPA) and since 1997 the Statistical Yearbook has released figures on imports and exports broken down by CZ-CPA two-digit code. Changes in external trade statistics methodology, effective as of 2000 Having consulted the issue of external trade methodology with Eurostat and users of statistics, the Czech Statistical Office amended the methodology in 2000 for the statistics not to include any value of the following: 1. ships and aircraft imported for and exported after inward processing; it only includes labour input and material and energy consumption for the processing;
2. ships and aircraft exported for and imported after outward processing; it only includes labour input and material and energy consumption for the processing;
3. returned goods, i.e. goods that return in an unchanged state into free circulation procedure within three years after they were exported out of the country;
4. exported goods, which will not be left abroad permanently and are assumed to be imported back;
5. monetary gold in both imports and export.
For analytical purposes, this Statistical Yearbook releases figures for 1996 to 2000 converted to comply with the methodology for 2000. There were no imports for and exports after inward processing before 1996 (neither aircraft nor ships were imported for this purpose), which is why the conversion was not made for that period.
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Detailed figures on external trade are available in the following CZSO publications brought out according to the CZSO Catalogue of Publications 2004:a) under group 6 - EXTERNAL TRADE: - “External Trade of the Czech Republic” (Czech-English version); monthly, in February to May 2004 on the 29th working day and in June 2004 to January 2005 on the 35th working day following the end of reference period - “External Trade by CZ-CPA" (Czech-English version); quarterly, in February to May 2004 on the 35th working day and in June 2004 to January 2005 on the 48th working day following the end of reference period, only in electronic form now b) under group 1 - COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION, subgroup 10 - Yearbooks: - “External Trade Yearbook of the Czech Republic 2003 – Part 1” (Czech-English version); annual data on external trade of the Czech Republic in territorial structure, broken down by country group, continent, and country, and on commodity structure based on the HS, SITC and CZ-CPA; in the 4th quarter of 2004 - “External Trade Yearbook of the Czech Republic 2003 – Part 2” (Czech-English version); annual data on external trade of the Czech Republic by six-digit items of the HS; in the 4th quarter of 2004 c) other regular CZSO publications: - “CZSO Current News” (Czech-English version), monthly - “Bulletin ČSÚ”, quarterly - “Indicators of Economic and Social Development of the Czech Republic”, quarterly. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the CR and the CZSO bring out the publication “Foreign Trade of the Czech Republic 2003” - preliminary figures as at the February 2004 closing date, breakdown by both territory and commodity by country group, continent, country and SITC Rev. 3, and subchapters of the HS - brought out in the 2nd quarter of 2004). The Czech agency for promotion of trade “Czech Trade” (formerly the Centre of External Economic Relations), the CZSO, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the CR, and the Ministry of Finance of the CR - Directorate General of Customs bring out jointly the publication “Facts on Foreign Trade of the Czech Republic” in English every year. The CZSO’s Internet websites www.czso.cz release figures on trends in imports and exports starting from 1993. The query system of the pages makes it possible to have a look at figures broken down by commodity (down to the eight-digit and five-digit levels of the customs tariff and SITC Rev. 3 nomenclature, respectively), country (countries, continents, basic economic groupings), and time (month, quarter and year). The figures are released in terms of value (CZK in thousands, FOB) and volume - net mass (kg) and quantity (pieces, metres, etc.) - where requested by the customs tariff. The application is also available in English. | 
