Confidentiality Data

Confidentiality can apply to the product code and/or the partner country. Information about a product or partner may be considered commercially sensitive by the provider of the statistical information for the trade value, the quantity or the unit value (value/quantity) which can be considered a proxy for the price.

Product confidentiality: The real product code is replaced by a specific code dedicated to confidential trade. Save in exceptional cases, the real chapter (i.e. to the real HS2 code) is the minimum level of data provision. If possible, it is even recommended to keep information on the goods at the 3-digit level of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC).

Partner Confidentiality: The real partner country code is replaced by a specific code used for ‘countries and territories not specified for commercial or military reasons’. A distinction is made between intra-EU trade (code QY) and extra-EU trade (code QZ).