§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when he intends to restore the monthly return of trade statistics reporting British trade on a comprehensive basis;
(2) what are the reasons for the delay in the publication of United Kingdom trade figures with individual EU countries and with the EU as a whole; and when he hopes to be able to publish these figures on a monthly basis.
§ Mr. NelsonThe Central Statistical Office restarted publication of monthly estimates of the total value of the United Kingdom's visible trade with the world, including figures for trade with the European Community, on 11 October 1993. Since then, it has published aggregate details for trade with the European Community for every month, including details for trade with individual countries, 10 weeks after the end of the month. This information is available on the Central Statistical Office database, which can be accessed through the Library of the House. The full detailed statistics for every month are made available approximately 14 weeks after the end of the month through marketing agents appointed by Customs and Excise. It is planned to reduce this delay in publication to 10 or 11 weeks by the end of March 1995.
Comparable statistics for trade with countries outside the European Community are available six weeks after the end of a month. This difference in the availability of the two sets of statistics is due to differing systems of collection. The statistics on trade with European Community countries are not released until response from industry is such that the statistics are of an acceptable quality.