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Compilation of International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) in Malawi. By Joseph Chimseu Phiri at Expert Group Meeting on Compendium of Intra-African and Related Foreign Trade Statistics 5-7 th October 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PRESENTATION OUTLINE. Introduction
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Compilation of International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) in Malawi By Joseph Chimseu Phiri at Expert Group Meeting on Compendium of Intra-African and Related Foreign Trade Statistics 5-7th October 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
PRESENTATION OUTLINE • Introduction • Coverage and Organisation • Data Sources • Data Collection and Classification • Quality Control • Data Processing and Results • Dissemination and Major Users • Current Developments • Conclusion
INTRODUCTION • National Statistical Office (NSO) is legally mandated to compile trade statistics. • External Trade section in the Economic Statistics Division does the compilation. • Compilation is based on the UNSD IMTS(Rev.2) manual. • We mainly look at imports, exports and re-exports.
COVERAGE • Based on the guidelines set by UNSD. • Compilation is done in accordance with the general trade system. • As per requirement, not all goods are included in the analysis.Among those not included are: • Consignment of goods in direct transit. • Returned merchandise and returned parking materials • Merchandise repair free of charge. • Personal belongings
COVERAGE continued….. • Goods excluded in analysis are: • Goods imported by diplomatic corps. • Supplies under military defense agreements. • Commercial samples.
DATA SOURCES • Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) • Electronically captured Custom declaration data in ASYCUDA++ and some hard forms are sent to NSO by 15th of every month. • Submission of soft copies is through E-mail. Hardcopies come by post.
DATA SOURCES continued… • Electricity Supply Commission of (ESCOM) • Major exporting companies and associations : • ILLOVO Sugar Corporation • Tea Coffee Association of Malawi and • Tobacco Control Commission
DATA COLLECTION AND CLASSIFICATION • NSO receives electronic data in ASYCUDA ++ format from busiest ports of MRA • Hard copies from other smaller ports • Electricity export tariff from ESCOM • Other hard copies come from Tea Ass. Of Malawi and Tobacco Control Commission
DATA COLLECTION AND CLASSIFICATION • Three classifications of goods are followed during data analysis i.e. • HS – classifies goods into physical material nature (97 categories) • SITC Rev. 4 – classifies goods for statistical purposes/level of processing. • BEC Rev 4-Classifies goods according to end use.
QUALITY CONTROL • Hard copies from Non automated customs offices undergo • Sorting • Manual Checks • Verification of Codes • Wrong and late entries are identified. • These are sent back to MRA for physical verification.
QUALITY CONTROL CONTINUED… Quality control of electronic data from Automated Customs office involves: • Checking of codes e.g. HS, partner country etc. • The relationship that exists between net weight and supplement unit (pieces). • The checks are built up in the validation rules of the EUROTRACE package.
DATA PROCESSING AND RESULTS • EUROTRACE vers. 2.5 is the main package for data processing and analysis. • It consists of 3 modules namely DBMS, Editor and Comext. • Data is loaded into the server. It is then converted and stored in the EUROTRACE • In EUROTACE,data is processed • It is extracted and exported to Ms Excel for tabulation and graphing.(examples of a table and a graph in the next two slides below that were made in excel.
DATA DISSEMINATION AND USERS • The trade statistics are released in the following official NSO publications: • Monthly Statistical Bulletin (MSB) • Quarterly Statistical Bulletin (QSB) • Trade Brief Release • Annual Trade Statistics Report • Office website: www.nso.malawi.net • Major users are: • Private and Public sector • Regional and International organizations e.g. COMESA, SADC, IMF, UNSD
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS • NSO is arranging with MRA to have data that would facilitate compilation of FOB value tables for imports. • Mid 2010 Malawi with support from COMESA introduced Special Trade Regime (STR) with Zambia. • NSO is in a process of developing a Trade Information System(TIS). • Designed to provide a one stop-shop for all information regarding trade in Malawi.
CONCLUSSION • External Trade Statistics are vital to any country • Strides are being made to fully implement the Updated and new recommendations of IMTS (2010).