| |
Changes to country name presented on a country basis
From the March 2013 reference period there will be name changes for two countries shown as follows:
| Country | New name |
| Burma (Republic of Myanmar) | Myanmar, Republic of |
| East Timor, Dem Rep of | Timor-Leste |
These changes will affect time series spreadsheet table 2 and data cube tables 8 and 9 of International Merchandise Imports, Australia (cat. no. 5439.0), and time series spreadsheet tables 14a, 14b, 36a - 36j, 37a - 37i, of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0).
International merchandise trade data available on request showing these countries will also be affected.
Amendments to Schedule 4 of Customs Tariff
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service introduced significant amendments to Schedule 4 of the Customs Tariff Act . These changes were implemented on 1 March 2013. More detail is available in Australian Customs Notice 2012/55.
The Information Paper: Amendments to Schedule 4 of Customs Tariff (cat. no. 5368.0.55.019) which provides information on new treatment codes, commodity codes and a correspondence between the ceasing codes and the replacement codes was released on the ABS website on 19 March 2013.
These changes to treatment code and commodity classifications will be applied to import statistics from March 2013 and will impact on statistics available on request.
Change to restriction on exports of aluminium oxide or alumina
From the January 2013 issue of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) the secondary restriction on aluminium oxide, or alumina (AHECC code 2818.20.00) that groups data for Bahrain, Egypt and Iceland into a single category ('Country Confidential – Alumina' in country classification, 'State not available for publication' in state classification) has been lifted. This means that this data will now allocate to the correct country and state on a total country and state level. Note that the restriction has been applied to data up to and including December 2012.
This change has impacted tables 14 and 15, and time series spreadsheet tables 14a, 15a, and 36a–36j of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0). It will also impact detailed data available via the ABS tailored 'user pays' service. A primary restriction of 'No country details' and 'No state details' will continue to apply to aluminium oxide, or alumina (AHECC code 2818.20.00).
For more information contact Andrew Gibbs, Confidentiality Manager, on Canberra (02) 6252 5409 or via email andrew.gibbs@abs.gov.au.
Change to the composition of the 'Euro area' category
From the January 2013 issues, the category 'Euro area' published in time series spreadsheet tables 14a and 14b of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0), and table 2 of International Merchandise Imports, Australia (cat. no. 5439.0) has been amended to include Estonia. The new composition has been applied to the whole time series. The complete list of countries included in the Euro area are now;
- Austria
- Belgium
- Cyprus
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Ireland
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Slovak Republic
- Slovenia
- Spain
AHECC and Customs Tariff
The ABS sometimes makes changes to statistical codes on 1 January and 1 July. There were no changes applied to either classification at 1 January 2013.
Malaysia – Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA)
A new preference scheme code for the Malaysia Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA) has been introduced for imports of merchandise trade data from January 2013.
| New preference code | Free Standing Descriptor |
| M | Goods which meet Malaysia Australia FTA rules of origin & preferential rate of duty has been claimed |
Changes to existing preference code labels
The labels for several existing preference codes have been changed:
| Preference code | Existing label | Revised label |
| L | Leased Developed Country preferential rate of duty has been claimed | Least Developed Country preferential rate of duty has been claimed – LDC (Schedule 1, Part 2) |
| T | The Developing Country preferential rate of duty has been claimed | The Developing Country preferential rate of duty has been claimed – DCS (Schedule 1, Parts 1 and 4) |
| A | The Developing Country preferential rate of duty has been claimed – historical | The Developing Country preferential rate of duty has been claimed – DC (Schedule 1, Parts 1 and 3) |
| R | Goods manufactured in Singapore but do not meet SAFTA rules of origin receive a Developing Country ( | The Developing Country preferential rate of duty has been claimed – DCT (Schedule 1, Part 5) |
Future release dates of foreign trade publications
5368.0 – International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia
| March 2013 | 7 May 2013 |
| April 2013 | 6 June 2013 |
| May 2013 | 3 July 2013 |
| June 2013 | 6 August 2013 |
| July 2013 | 5 September 2013 |
| August 2013 | 2 October 2013 |
5439.0 – International Merchandise Imports, Australia
| March 2013 | 17 April 2013 |
| April 2013 | 16 May 2013 |
| May 2013 | 19 June 2013 |
| June 2013 | 17 July 2013 |
| July 2013 | 20 August 2013 |
| August 2013 | 17 September 2013 |
|
This page first published 19 October 2006, last updated 2 April 2013 |
