Information about the Overseas Cargo Statistics

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Availability

Valid From: ..	01/01/1923
To: ..	Ongoing
Frequency: ..	Annually

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Design
Purpose: Overseas cargo statistics record the value and gross weight of all goods loaded or unloaded at New Zealand ports - both sea and air.

General Information ..Population covered
Documented imports and export entries from Customs Department administrative records.

Overseas Cargo Loaded (Exports) Statistics

Inclusions:

• all goods and material grown, produced or manufactured in New Zealand;
• articles, wholly or partially manufactured in New Zealand from imported materials, which have changed in character as a result of the production process;
• goods in the same condition as that in which they were imported and after having undergone operations, such as re-packing, leave them essentially unchanged;
• goods being returned after repair or modification in New Zealand;
• goods on short-term loan or lease;
• goods consigned to New Zealand forces or diplomatic representatives overseas
• goods consigned for modification or repair;
• currency transactions in gold, silver and current coin;
• goods for foreign aid projects (second hand clothing only);
• replacements;
• returnable containers;
• returnable samples;
• aircraft spares being consigned overseas for use in New Zealand aircraft and unserviceable parts, which have been removed from foreign aircraft being returned overseas; and
• temporary trade items and tourist or traveller effects leaving New Zealand.

Exclusions:

• large one-off exports and re-exports of transport equipment, i.e. aircraft, shipping vessels, oil rigs etc. that arrive in or depart from the country under their own power.

Overseas Cargo Unloaded (Imports) Statistics

Inclusions:

• goods which add to the stock of material resources in New Zealand as a result of their movement into the country;
• goods being returned after repair or modification from overseas;
• leased goods;
• temporary imports into New Zealand, such as tourists’ effects, including vehicles, travellers, samples, returnable containers, ships and aircraft engaged in international trade and transit or trans-shipment goods;
• fish and other sea products landed in New Zealand, from either extraterritorial waters or the high seas, by New Zealand vessels;
• goods, other than motor vehicles, imported for official representatives of overseas countries;
• passengers’ baggage (except vehicles) imported permanently;
• currency transactions in gold, silver and current coin;
• goods on loan;
• replacements; and
• goods imported for use by foreign armed forces.

Exclusions:

• large one-off exports and re-exports of transport equipment, i.e. aircraft, shipping vessels, oil rigs etc. that arrive in or depart from the country under their own power.

N/A As Overseas Cargo Statistics are sourced from Customs documentation.

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Output Variables

Output variables are pieces of individual information that can be extracted from the survey/output data. Often output variables can be cross tabulated with other output variables, for example sales by industry classification. The list below contains all current and past output variables which have been released for this survey/output.

Variable Name	Description
Trade Type	Exports, Re-exports, Exports + Re-exports or Imports
New Zealand Port	The port in New Zealand the commodity is loaded or unloaded at. (Complete List )
Overseas Port	The foreign port that the commodity is loaded or unloaded at. (Complete List )
Country	The Country of Destination (for exports), the country of origin (for imports) or the country of export (for imports).
HS	There are 12,000 commodity codes (10 digits long) covered in 96 chapters (2 digits long), covering all types of goods.
Value	For exports: FOB (Free On Board) For imports: VFD (Value For Duty) or CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)
Quantity	Kilograms. The gross weight for cargo includes packaging but excludes the weight of re-usable cargo containers.

Changes in Output Variables over time

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Guide to Interpreting Data

Summary of Changes to Survey/Output ..1826

Export and Import totals first became available in 1826.

1855

In 1855, country data for Australia, United Kingdom and the United States of America, also became available.

From the late 1800s, more country data became available.

1961

The Customs Department compiled the export and import statistics right through to 1961.

1962

From 1962, the Statistics Department assumed the role of compiling the export and import statistics.

From 1 July 1962 to 30 June 1967, the New Zealand Customs Tariff was arranged in accordance with the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised). The statistics were published in an identical arrangement of the SITC (Revised).

1967

On 1 July 1967, a new Customs Tariff became effective and was based on a completely different classification - the Brussels Tariff Nomenclature (BTN).

Statistics were published according to the BTN (as adapted for New Zealand Trade) and the SITC. The SITC was identical to the BTN at the international four digit level, but adapted to New Zealand requirements at the seven digit level.

In July 1978, the Customs Co-operation Council Nomenclature (CCCN) was introduced as the classification for the collection from source documentation and the standard International Trade Classification Revision 2 (SITC Revision 2) for the publication of the data.

Both these classifications were the expanded versions of the previously used BTN and SITC Revised, respectively.

1981

CASPER (Customs and Statistics processing of entries and retrieval system) was introduced in 1981 and is an automated system of capturing import data. Export data is still being done on paper entries.

1986

In 1986, the minimum value on export/import entries that were processed, increased from $200 to $1000.

1987

Up to 31 December 1987, exports and imports were recorded initially under the CCCN (Customs Co-operation Council Nomenclature).

They were subsequently converted on a one-to-one basis to the New Zealand Statistical Classification of export/imports.

Both statistical classifications were based on the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) (Revision 2).

1988

From 1 January 1988, the international Harmonised System (HS) replaced the CCCN and the SITC (Revision 2) was replaced by the SITC (Revision 3). From that date, the domestic HS customs tariff catered for both exports and imports.

The HS customs tariff utilises a ten digit numeric and 1 digit alpha code to identify commodities at the statistical key (lowest) level and contains approximately 12,500 items.

1996

Effective from the January 1996 reference month, nearly 2,000 commodity codes in the New Zealand Harmonised System Classification (HS) were changed.

1997

In July 1997, Customs introduced its newly integrated information technology system. The Customs Modernisation project (CusMod) covered not only importing and exporting but also passenger clearance, revenue collection, and intelligence analysis. The major effect of the CusMod system will have on Trade statistics will be new EDI export entries and enhanced import entries.

From August 1997, exports are recorded by month of export. This change was made when the New Zealand Customs Service brought in new processing systems. Exports up to July 1997 that were not processed until August 1997 fell between the old and new recording systems. To keep these exports in trade statistics they were assigned to the month of August 1997.

2002

Commodity codes were revised. The New Zealand Harmonised System Classification (HS) was revised to incorporate changes promulgated by the World Customs Organisation. At the 10-digit commodity code level, 1,147 new codes were introduced while 909 codes became obsolete. Most code changes were effective from the January 2002 reference month. Changes to HS Chapters 48, 97 and 98 were delayed until the April 2002 reference month.

2007

Effective from 1 January 2007, the New Zealand Harmonised System Classification (HS) has been substantially revised to reflect changes made to the HS by the World Customs Organisation. There are a considerable number of changes at the four, six and 10 digit levels of the classification because of HS2007, resulting in 16 HS chapters having some change in coverage. These HS chapters are: 28, 29, 30, 32, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 60, 69, 74, 84, 85 and 90. These changes will create some discontinuity in time series between data up to December 2006 and that from January 2007 onwards. It is impossible to estimate the extent of the changes in values but it is expected to be minimal at the chapter level.

SITC (Revision 3) was replaced by the SITC (Revision 4). Rev 4 concords to the most recent versions of the Harmonised System (HS2002 and HS2007).

2008

The New Zealand Standard Trade Classification – Level of Processing (LOP) was approved in 2008 as a standard output classification for publishing overseas trade data. Its purpose is to give an indication of how processed New Zealand’s imports and exports are, and whether value is being added to products domestically or overseas. The LOP classification was developed by Statistics NZ's overseas trade team in response to requests for this type of breakdown from public and private sector stakeholders.

Statistics New Zealand discontinued the annual publication of the Overseas Cargo Statistics - Hot Off The Press (HOTP) with the last publication being for the year ended June 2007 released on 20 September 2007. Data is now available, updated monthly, from Statistics New Zealand's online database Infoshare, as well as Table Builder.

Usage and Limitations of the Data ..Uses of Overseas Cargo Data

• to help make business decisions
• enable representative organisations to protect the interests of their members
• to make policy decisions
• to monitor the performance of the New Zealand economy
• examine trade trends

Limitations of Overseas Cargo Data

The limitations of Overseas Cargo Statistics are:

• As only Customs entries of $1,000 or more are compiled into Overseas Trade Statistics, this can have a downward effect on New Zealand's reported trade with many of its smaller neighbours, particularly those in the Pacific area.

Related Data Sources ..Overseas Trade Statistics

Sampling Errors ..N/A

Non-sampling errors Data can be entered incorrectly upon Custom entries, the most common errors occur with the inputation of incorrect quantity or value data on Customs entries or the use of an incorrect HS item code.

Caveats on Release ..

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Due to the large number of variables available in Overseas Cargo data, customers have a wide range of choice when specifying their output.

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Catalogue & Reference Numbers

INFOS:

OSCM.S*, OSCA.S*

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Overseas Cargo, Port Un/Loaded by Value and Quantity
Overseas Cargo, Major Trading Partners Un/Loaded by Value and Quantity
Overseas Cargo, Port Un/Loaded by Commodity Groupings by Value

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Other Comments

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Classification(s) used

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Glossary of Terms

Term	Description
CIF	Cost, including insurance and freight. A value which represents the cost to the importer of purchasing the goods and the insurance and freight to bring the goods wharfside in New Zealand.
COD	Country of Destination. The country of destination to which the goods are exported.
COE	Country of Export. The country from which the goods were consigned to New Zealand, with or without breaking bulk in the course of the transport, but without any commercial transaction in any intermediate country.
COO	Country of Origin. The Country from which the goods originated or were manufactured.
D/F	Domestic/Foreign origin of the goods being exported.
Exports	Goods of domestic origin exported from New Zealand to another country.
FOB	Free On Board. Valuation for exports. The value of the goods at the moment they leave NZ.
Gross Weight	Gross weight for cargo statistics is the actual weight of the cargo and packaging but excludes the weight of re-usable cargo containers.
HS	Harmonised System, the 10-digit harmonised commodity classification.
Imports	Goods imported into New Zealand.
Merchandise Trade	Goods that add to or subtract from the stock of material resources of New Zealand, as the result of their movement to and from New Zealand.
Non-Merchandise Trade	Service transactions (e.g. repair trade goods on loan) are classified as non-merchandise trade.
Partner Country	A country with which New Zealand trades; can be based on the country of origin or the country of export.
Port of Loading	Port where goods are loaded onto the vessel/aircraft.
Port of Lodgement	The Customs port where the exporter has lodged an export entry, not necessarily the port of loading.
Port of Unloading	Port where goods are unloaded from the vessel/aircraft
Provisional Data	Data will remain in a provisional state (i.e. subject to updating) until they are finalised some four months later.
Re-exports	Goods of a foreign origin exported from New Zealand.
SITC Rev 4	Standard International Trade Classification, Revision 4
Statistical Quantity	A unit measurement required for commodities (items) as stated in the Customs Tariff. This measurement is taken on a net basis i.e. excluding packaging.
Valuation	The basis on which goods imported into or exported from New Zealand are valued.
VFD	Value for Duty. This is the value of which customs duty is based. It equates approximately with the free on board cost of the goods in the exporting country.

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Contact Details

Customer Service E-mail Contact:	info@stats.govt.nz
Survey Enquiries E-mail Contact:	overseas.trade.mail-in.database@stats.govt.nz

Liability

Statistics New Zealand gives no warranty that the information or data supplied contains no errors. However, all care and diligence has been used in processing, analysing and extracting the information. Statistics New Zealand shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by the customer consequent upon the use directly, or indirectly, of the information supplied in this product.