Documentation of statistics foreign trade in fish

Data description

The statistics on foreign trade in fish include data about the volume and value of foreign trade in fish and fish products intended for human consumption and other uses.

Classification system

Product groups are based on the Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes used in foreign trade. In the statistics, products are presented within product groups by fish species if the species can be deducted from the code. Import and export volumes are presented in the form of product weight. Product weight refers to the weight of a fish batch or fish product at the time of imports or exports, excluding the packaging material. The import values are CIF values and export values are FOB values. In foreign trade, the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value means the price that includes insurance and freight in addition to the actual product cost. In addition to the product price, the free on board (FOB) value includes transport, loading and other delivery costs (e.g. insurance) up to the Finnish border.

Sector coverage

The statistics on foreign trade in fish cover fish and fish products intended for human consumption and other uses.

In accordance with international practices, fish and fish products also include roe, crustaceans and molluscs, as well as products made from them, in the statistics on foreign trade in fish.

Transiting through Finland and product returns are not included in the figures presented in these statistics.

Statistical concepts and definitions

In imports, the country of origin is the country in which a product has been produced or manufactured. In some cases, the country of origin may also be the country of departure. If a product has been manufactured in two or more countries, the country in which the most recent significant processing stage took place will be regarded as the country of origin.  In exports, the most recent known country of destination is indicated.

Product groups are based on the Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes used in foreign trade (https://tulli.fi/en/statistics/combined-nomenclature-cn). In these statistics, products are presented within product groups by fish species if the species can be deducted from the code. The fish species cannot be deducted from most CN codes. For example, the import or export of Atlantic and Baltic herring cannot be identified based on the CN codes. Rainbow trout did not previously have any separate codes, but it can have been identified in codes 0302, 0303 and 0304 from 2003.

Import and export volumes are presented in the form of product weight. Product weight refers to the weight of a fish batch or fish product at the time of imports or exports, excluding the packaging material.

The import values are CIF values and export values are FOB values. In foreign trade, the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value means the price that includes insurance and freight in addition to the actual product cost. In addition to the product price, the free on board (FOB) value includes transport, loading and other delivery costs (e.g. insurance) up to the Finnish border. Therefore, value added tax and duties payable for imports from outside the EU are not included.

The export figures include re-exports. Re-exports mean products that have been resold abroad in the same condition and in the same composition in which they were imported. In the statistics on foreign trade, re-export volumes and values have not been recorded separately, as they are included in total export figures.

Transiting through Finland and product returns are not included in the figures presented in these statistics.

Statistical unit

Data collection covers all companies with an obligation to report information. From 2019, the limit for the obligation to report information has been EUR 600,000 for both the import and export value.

Unit of measure

Fish import and export volumes are presented in euro and kilograms.

Reference period

One month

Reference area

Whole of Finland

Time coverage

Data are available in the database starting from 1993.

Frequency of disseminations

Monthly

Base period

One month

The statistics are compiled based on the Act on the Natural Resources Institute Finland (561/2014), the act on food and natural resource statistics (562/2014) and the Statistics Act (280/2004).

More information: Statistics legislation

Confidentiality is a base principle of statistics and assures the confidential processing of data provided by informants, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland has undertaken to follow this principle.

More information: Privacy policy – Statistics

The disseminations of the Natural Resources Institute Finland are published online on weekdays at 9:00. Data is public after it has been published on the website.

Release calendar

Publication dates are confirmed in autumn together with the action plans. The release calendar of the following year is published for users in the end of the year. The release calendar contains data on the dates of future publications. The calendar also contains direct links to already published statistical publication.

Release calendar access

Statistical releases calendar | Natural Resources Institute Finland

Quality assurance

In compiling statistics, Luke complies with the Code of Practice (CoP) for European statistics and the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) based on it. The CoP concerns the independence and liability obligation of the statistical authorities and the quality of processes and published information. Its principles are compatible with and supplement the principles of official statistics approved by the UK Statistical Commission. In addition, the quality criteria set for the Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the CoP. The principles are also compatible with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

Quality assessment

The statistics ensure that the data, which have already been examined and validated by Finnish Customs, have undergone reliability checks, and have been transferred to the statistical database through the Finnish Customs interface, correspond to the original data.

User satisfaction

Feedback is requested from users of the statistics, especially in conjunction with any changes in the statistics. Feedback is also received directly. During the update of Luke’s statistical programme, users of statistics were also asked in the autumn of 2021 and in early 2022 to describe how they would like the statistics to be developed. Feedback from users is monitored and taken into account when developing the statistics.

Overall accuracy and reliability

When Finnish fishing vessels unload their catch at foreign ports or foreign vessels unload their catch at Finnish ports, the same data disclosure policy applies in principle as in other foreign trade. In practice, this part of the total catch is not usually shown in the statistics on foreign trade.

A customs declaration must be submitted for all non-EU trade, and no threshold values are used. A customs limit has been defined between the EFTA States (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), part of the European Economic Area, and the EU. Statistical notifications for trade in the European Single Market involve uncertainties, especially regarding the uses of fish products.

Deviations in the statistics of different countries mainly come from different reporting obligations (threshold values) in different EU Member States. Differences may arise if, for example, a large company based abroad delivers goods to Finland to such companies that have no reporting obligation. In this case, the goods must be declared in the export country, but not in Finland. Differences may also come from different ways of registering products and data in various countries. The time when data are registered in files may also vary: at the end of a year or month, a product batch may be recorded for different years or months in different countries. Exchange rate changes may cause minor differences in values.

It is probable that estimates of foreign trade in fish are slight underestimates. The reason for this is that import and export files without any CN codes are created regarding foreign trade carried out by small companies exempted from the reporting obligation in trade in the European Single Market. Currently, fish and fish products cannot be identified from them. In Finland, the value of foreign trade exempted from the reporting obligation is roughly two per cent of the total value of trade in the European Single Market. Information about the percentage of companies exempted from the reporting obligation in fish trade is unavailable. It may be slightly higher than in general in foreign trade due to the small size of companies. Then again, according to Finnish Customs, companies with a reporting obligation in Finland fulfil their reporting obligation well.

Timeliness

Luke publishes the statistics on foreign trade in fish on a monthly basis. The data included in the monthly statistics are preliminary and collected from the ULJAS database of Finnish Customs on the data publication date. The monthly statistics are completed approximately ten weeks after the end of the statistical month. The data included in the monthly statistics are specified in Luke’s statistical database when the following monthly statistics are compiled.

Luke updates the data included in the monthly statistics on foreign trade in fish to be final once a year, in September after Finnish Customs has published its final data. The final data for all months are updated at the same time. 

Preliminary annual statistics are published in March, and final annual statistics are published in September, after Finnish Customs has published its final data for the previous year.

Before 6 April 2020, the statistics were only published once a year in March as preliminary statistics.

Comparability – over time

The CN codes were adopted in Finland’s foreign trade as a result of the EU membership in 1995. The CN, with 10,000 codes, is based on the previous Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS). The CN is significantly larger than the HS. The CN and HS codes are comparable up to the six-digit classification level, but not nearly all fish species can be identified in terms of imports and exports. In 2012, the CN codes for fish and fish products underwent significant changes. As a result, 321 new codes were introduced and 206 codes were removed. The CN codes are examined continuously.

Before 1988, the Combined Customs Code Nomenclature (CCCN) with more than 5,000 national codes was used in foreign trade. The CCCN included 1,000 four-digit codes that were comparable between different countries. The HS was used in 1988–1994. The change made in 1988 makes it more difficult to compare different years. The HS had more than 6,000 national codes, 5,000 of which were internationally comparable at a level of six-digit codes. Many countries are still using the HS.

Source data

Foreign trade statistics of Finnish Customs

Frequency of data collection

Monthly

Data collection

Statistical data on foreign trade are collected in the EU using two different systems. Statistical data on trade with non-EU countries, i.e. third countries (external trade), are obtained from the customs declaration system. Data about trade between the EU Member States (trade in the European Single Market) are collected through a separate process, which is called the Intrastat system.

Trade between the EU Member States shifted to trade in the European Single Market in 1993: goods can move freely in the EU. The previous customs declarations were replaced by the Intrastat statistical notification for trade in the European Single Market based on EU regulations. It is used to collect data from companies and organisations that are engaged in trade in the European Single Market and have a reporting obligation (regulation 3330/91 on statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States). The Intrastat system is connected to the VAT system. The system maintains a register of parties with a reporting obligation. In addition, the system’s company-specific data on the total value of trade in the European Single Market are used in verification. They are also used to estimate the total value of companies exempted from the reporting obligation in trade in the European Single Market.

Companies and organisations with a reporting obligation are determined annually for each country based on the value of annual imports and exports. Different countries have different threshold values for imports and exports.