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Changes to country groupings
From the April 2013 issues the following changes have been applied to the composition of the Least Developed Countries, Developing Countries and OPEC country groupings.
- The OPEC country grouping have been amended to include Angola and Ecuador and exclude Gabon, Indonesia and Niger to match current membership. The OPEC group includes:
- Algeria
- Angola
- Ecuador
- Iran
- Iraq
- Kuwait
- Libya
- Nigeria
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
- Venezuela
Time series spreadsheet tables and tables in International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) and International Merchandise Imports, Australia (cat. no. 5439.0) do not include the OPEC country group and have not been affected. International merchandise trade data available on request including the OPEC country group is affected. The new composition applies to the whole time series.
From the March 2013 issues there have been name changes for two countries shown as follows:
| ABS Country mnemonic | Country | New name |
| BURM | Burma (Republic of Myanmar) | Myanmar, Republic of |
| ETMR | East Timor, Dem Rep of | Timor–Leste |
These changes have affected time series spreadsheet tables 14a, 14b, 36a–36j and 37a–37i of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) , and time series spreadsheet table 2 and data cubes 8 and 9 of International Merchandise Imports, Australia (cat. no. 5439.0). International merchandise trade data available on request showing these countries has also been affected. Time series IDs will remain the same.
Table 14 of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) showing data for selected countries on an international merchandise trade basis has not been affected.
Changes have also been made to the ABS international trade overseas port classification for Timor–Leste. These changes have affected port data only, available on request. There have been no changes to publication tables or time series spreadsheets. Details of changes are shown as follows:
| ABS port code | Label | New label |
| 626 | East Timor | Timor–Leste |
| 626100 | Dili, East Timor | Dili, Timor–Leste |
| 626399 | Other and Unspecified Ports, East Timor | Other and Unspecified Ports, Timor–Leste |
Characteristics of Australian Exporters, 2011–12
The publication Characteristics of Australian Exporters, 2011-12 (cat. no. 5368.0.55.006) was released on 28 May 2013 and is accessible on the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>. This publication examines the number and characteristics of Australia's exporters. Estimates of exporters of merchandise trade are compiled from data sourced from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and from the Australian Taxation Office's Australian Business Register. Estimates of exporters of services are compiled largely from the ABS Survey of International Trade in Services.
Amendments to Schedule 4 of Customs Tariff
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service has introduced significant amendments to Schedule 4 of the Customs Tariff Act. The 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 have been 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 on request. 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 time series spreadsheet 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 Euro area includes:
- 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
| May 2013 | 3 July 2013 |
| June 2013 | 6 August 2013 |
| July 2013 | 5 September 2013 |
| August 2013 | 2 October 2013 |
| September 2013 | 6 November 2013 |
| October 2013 | 5 December 2013 |
5439.0 – International Merchandise Imports, Australia
| May 2013 | 19 June 2013 |
| June 2013 | 17 July 2013 |
| July 2013 | 20 August 2013 |
| August 2013 | 17 September 2013 |
| September 2013 | 17 October 2013 |
| October 2013 | 20 November 2013 |
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This page first published 19 October 2006, last updated 5 June 2013 |
