DISSEMINATION STANDARDS BULLETIN BOARD (DSBB)

5.1.1 Statistical presentation

• Merchandise trade statistics cover the goods entering and leaving the economic territory of the Republic of China, including Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Sales of fish overseas and bunker oil for foreign vessels or aircraft at local ports are also included in exports.
• Values of exports are on an F.O.B. basis, while values of imports are on a C.I.F. basis.
• Data are disseminated by breakdowns as follows: trade by commodity, trade by country, composition of exports and imports, trade by economic activity (industry).
• The country of exports/re-exports refers to country of last known destination, while the country of imports/re-imports refers to country of origin.

4.1.1 Periodicity

Monthly

4.1.2 Timeliness

Within 6 working days (subject to postponement due to Chinese Lunar New Year or other consecutive public holidays) after the end of the reference month.

5.1.3 Advance release calendar

The date of the next release is announced in monthly press release of ?œExports and Imports Trade Statistics.??Advance release calendar is posted on the MOF website (https://www.mof.gov.tw/Eng/htmlList/6689) or at https://win.dgbas.gov.tw/dgbas03/bs7/calendar/calendarE108.asp

5.1.4 Simultaneous release

Data are disseminated monthly at the MOF Website https://www.mof.gov.tw/Eng/htmlList/6685

0.1.1 Responsibility for collecting, processing, and disseminating statistics

• Merchandise trade statistics collected, compiled and published by the MOF are governed by the Statistics Act and the Enforcement Rules.
• The data on merchandise trade are disseminated by the MOF as a service to the public.

1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release

The information in the press release is provided, under strict embargo, to the Premier, the Vice Premier and the Secretary-General on the morning before official release.

1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products

No ministerial commentary is released with these data. MOF provides its own analytical commentary with these data releases.

4.3.1 Revision schedule

Preliminary trade statistics of the previous month are released early in the current month and are revised in the middle of the following month. Annual adjustment and revision will be issued in February and September of the following year.

1.2.4 Advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques

• From 2006, total exports and total imports include re-exports and re-imports, respectively, in compliance with the United Nations??International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions 2004. Total trade values are revised to 1971, trade by country is revised to 1998, and trade by commodity as well as composition of exports and imports are revised to 2000.
• From 2014, the same currency exchange rate from NT dollar to US dollar is applied to either imports or exports, which is the average of selling and buying rates announced by the Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance every 10 days in a month for filing customs declaration purpose. In addition, the country of re-imports has been changed from country of the seller to country of origin.
• From 2016, due to the adoption of the General Trade System, goods stored and re-exported subsequently in customs-bonded warehouses, logistics centers, and non-manufacturing enterprises in free trade zones are included in the trade statistics. From 2019, aircraft engines stored for repair or maintenance in customs-bonded warehouses, logistics centers, and free trade zones and re-exported subsequently are excluded from trade statistics by case review. The data are retrospectively estimated to 2001.

5.2.1 Dissemination of documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques

A description of the methodology is published in the Appendix of E-books "Monthly Statistics of Exports and Imports Republic of China" on the MOF website.

4.2.1 Internal consistency

Breakdown of trade values by commodity and by country (area) can be mutually checked for their consistency. They can also be cross-checked with the import and export trade statistics file of the Customs Administration to ensure accuracy.