NOTES ON METHODOLOGY
2016.
Source and methods of
data collection
The data source for the statistics on the trading in goods with EU Member States
is the Intrastat form used by reporting units to report on arrivals and/or
dispatches on the monthly basis, that is, in a month in which goods physically
enter or leave the territory of the Republic of Croatia. The reporting units are
all business entities, value added tax payers, whose value of trading in goods
with EU Member States exceeds the exemption threshold determined for the
reference year. For 2016, the value of 1.8 million kuna of the exemption
threshold for arrivals and of 900 thousand kuna for dispatches has been
determined. In order to achieve the complete harmonisation with the EU
methodology and legislation, the data have been supplemented with the trade
value below the exemption threshold, after being estimated on the basis of data
on supplies and acquisitions of goods in/from EU Member States provided by the
Tax Administration Office of the Republic of Croatia.
Data sources for the statistics on the trading in goods with third countries,
that is, non-EU countries, are Single Administrative Documents on export and
import of goods. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics receives the reviewed Single
Administrative Documents from the Customs Administration of the Republic of
Croatia in the form of data records.
Following the basic methodological recommendations of the UN Statistical Office
and Eurostat, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics statistically processes and
disseminates the collected Intrastat and Extrastat data as unique information on
the foreign trade in goods of the Republic of Croatia.
Legal basis
The legal basis for the conduct of the Intrastat survey is the European
legislation related to the statistics on the trading in goods between EU Member
States (Regulation No 638/2004 and amending regulations Nos 222/2009 and
659/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council as well as the Commission
Implementing Regulation No 1982/2004 and the Commission amending regulations Nos
1915/2005, 91/2010, 96/2010 and 1093/2013), the Official Statistics Act (NN, Nos
103/03, 75/09, 59/12 and 12/13 – consolidated text) and the Customs
Administration Act (NN, Nos 68/13, 30/14 and 115/16). More detailed notes on the
methodology of this survey are published on the web site of the Croatian Bureau
of Statistics (http://www.dzs.hr/default_e.htm).
The legal basis for the Extrastat is the European legislation related to the
statistics on the trading in goods with third countries (the Regulation (EC) No
471/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, the Commission
Regulation (EU) No 92/2010 and the Commission Regulation (EU) No 113/2010), the
EU Customs Legislations Implementation Act (NN, No. 40/16), the Official
Statistics Act (NN, Nos 103/03, 75/09, 59/12 and 12/13 – consolidated text), the
Customs Administration Act (NN, Nos 68/13, 30/14 and 115/16) and the Ordinance
on Filling the Single Administrative Document (NN, No. 77/13).
Coverage and
comparability
The statistics on foreign trade in goods comprises all the goods exported from
or imported into the country. Data on foreign trade in goods include both export
and import based on gross inward and outward processing.
In inward and outward processing, the total value of goods is monitored. Thus,
in the case of an active transfer, the value of goods imported for inward
processing, that is, the full value of goods exported after inward processing
(including the value of imported goods, the value of domestic material and the
value of domestic services).
Besides commercial transactions (which includes charges), the statistics also
comprises goods for which the trade, that is, export and import, is performed
without the payment of the counter value. This statistics does not
include temporary export and import (less than two years) of goods that are
returned to the owner in an unaltered state, services, monetary gold, goods used
as carriers of customized information including software and software downloaded
from the Internet, means of payment which are legal tender and securities, goods
supplied free of charge which are not the subject of commercial transactions
(advertising material and commercial samples), supplying of Croatian diplomatic
missions abroad and foreign diplomatic missions in the Republic of Croatia, and
temporary exports and imports for repair.
All the data on export and import are expressed in values and quantities. Value
of goods is determined on the basis of original documents of business entities
(contracts, invoices).
The values expressed are real values achieved at the time deals were contracted
(invoice values), which are then further recalculated according to deliveries at
the Croatian border.
The export values are calculated on the basis of the FOB parity. It means that
the invoice value is reduced for transportation and other costs incurred from
the Croatian border to the place of delivery abroad, if it is agreed that goods
are delivered abroad. If it is agreed for delivery to take place in the country
(Republic of Croatia), the invoice value is increased by the costs incurred from
the place of delivery in Croatia to the Croatian border.
The import values are calculated on the basis of the CIF parity. It means that
the invoice value is increased by transportation and other costs incurred from
the place of delivery abroad to the Croatian border, if it is agreed that goods
are delivered abroad. If it is agreed for delivery to take place in the country
(Republic of Croatia), the invoice value is reduced for the costs incurred from
the Croatian border to the place of delivery in Croatia.
The amounts expressed in foreign currencies are converted into kuna, euros and
American dollars according to the monthly exchange rate lists determined for the
reporting month. The mean exchange rate of the Croatian National Bank is used.
Since 1 January 2002, the 8-digit code of the Combined Nomenclature, the EU
customs and statistical classification of products, has been used in data
collection and it is harmonised up to the 6-digit code level with the Harmonised
system.
Data on the export are shown by countries of destination. In Extrastat, data on
the import are shown by countries of the origin of goods, while in Intrastat
data on the arrivals of goods are presented by countries of dispatch.
The economic classification of countries refers to:
European Union – EU (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom)
European Free Trade Association – EFTA (Island, Liechtenstein, Norway,
Switzerland)
Central European Free Trade Agreement – CEFTA (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia)
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – OPEC (Algeria, Angola, Ecuador,
Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Islamic Republic
of Iran).
Abbreviations
CIF
cost, insurance and freight
Eurostat
Statistical Office of the European Communities
FOB
free on board
NN
Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia
UN
United Nations
Prepared by:
Dubravka Drempetić
Boro Žderić
Saša Tomašević
Snježana Šala