§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of United Kingdom exports and imports counted as being within the EU, consists of entrepot trade through Rotterdam and Amsterdam(a) to and (b) from non-EU countries. [120810]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 5 May 2000]: HM Customs and Excise are the Department responsible for collecting trade statistics on the movement of goods with other countries including EC member states.
Goods from non-EC destinations that transit other EC member states before clearing customs procedures for import in UK are recorded as non-EC movements for trade statistics purposes. Likewise, goods from non-EC destinations that transit other EC member states after clearing customs procedures for export in UK are recorded as non-EC movements.
Some trade reported as moving within the EC may have previously originated from, or be ultimately destined for, non-EC countries. However, under the Intrastat system these movements are not readily identifiable.