§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Trade, further to his written reply of 3 March, Official Report, column 138, concerning trade with the EEC Six and with the rest of the world, whether he will publish in the Official Report (a) the number of months covered, (b) figures covering September to December, (c) what seasonal adjustment would normally have to be made and (d) to what extent the deficit with the EEC Six has been understimated as a result of the change in export statistics.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe figures to which the hon. Member refers were derived by taking data for September to December 1981—not seasonally adjusted—and multiplying by three. Seasonal adjustment factors at this level of disaggregation cannot readily be calculated. No estimate is available of the impact of the change in documenting exports at these levels of disaggregation. As well as understating the deficits with EC countries, this change will result in the surpluses with non-EC countries being overstated.