Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason trade statistics are collected on a different basis by HM Revenue and Customs and the Office for National Statistics; and what plans the Government has to align the collection of such data.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is required to collect trade in goods statistics by EU legislation. This legislation sets out the detail and frequency of the data to be collected and provided to the EU Commission.

Council Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 and Commission Regulations (EU) No 92/2010 and No 113/2010 set out the requirement for HMRC to collect trade in goods statistics between the UK and non-EU countries. Council Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1982/2004 sets out the requirement to collect the corresponding statistics between the UK and other EU Member States.

HMRC provides trade in goods data to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As required by the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6) and the European System of Natural and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010), National Accounts and Balance of Payments also include trade in services. The ONS collects this data.