the united nations commodity trade statistics database (un comtrade)

4
Joint Standing Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD (2004), Inquiry into Intelligence on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) , Canberra: Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, http://www.aph.gov.au/house/ committee/pjcaad/WMD/report.htm, accessed April 13, 2004; and Great Britain, Parliament, House of Commons, Foreign Affairs Committee (2003), The Decision to Go to War in Iraq: Ninth Report of Session 2002–02: Volume 1 , London: Stationery Office, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmfaf/813/813.pdf, accessed April 13, 2004. Bert Chapman HSSE Library, 504 West State Street, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2058, United States E-mail address: [email protected]. Fax: +1 765 494 9007. 15 April 2004 The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) Accessed June 2004, Available: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/comtrade/ UN Comtrade is a component in the powerful Statistical Databases stable of the United Nations Statistics Division. It bprovides commodity trade data for all available countries and areas since 1962Q and these data entail almost 700 million records. Each record consists of five variables: breporterQ country, bcommodity,Q trading bpartner,Q byear,Q and btrade flow,Q where trade flow identifies imports, exports, or reexports of the designated commodity. The market share of all reporting countries entails more than 90% of all world trade. These data alone make this electronic tool very helpful for economic investigations, but it is only one element in the United Nations array of analytical instruments that cover, for example, universal protocols for eradicating poverty and hunger, and for improving healthcare and education; gross domestic product assessments; social indicators; populations of major cities around the world; accepted rules for generating and providing these data; and the Cyberschoolbus statistical site (in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic versions) for middle and secondary school students. In itself, this UN Comtrade resource has evolved into a treasure chest of material; its ac- cumulation of annual trade data from over 130 countries is classified according to versions of the Standard International Trade Classification and of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding Systems. 1 To expedite its use, there is an HTML and a PowerPoint presentation entitled bUN Comtrade Database SystemQ in the bFirst Time UserQ section. This is a useful entry point and either one of these descriptions may be used for bibliographic instruction. However, there is an important aspect that requires emphasis: This is a database, with very little extra text beyond the limited descriptions assigned to classification categories. The doi:10.1016/j.jgi.2004.04.001 Book reviews 773

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Page 1: The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade)

Joint Standing Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD (2004), Inquiry into Intelligence on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass

Destruction (WMD), Canberra: Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, http://www.aph.gov.au/house/

committee/pjcaad/WMD/report.htm, accessed April 13, 2004; and Great Britain, Parliament, House of Commons,

Foreign Affairs Committee (2003), The Decision to Go to War in Iraq: Ninth Report of Session 2002–02: Volume 1,

London: Stationery Office, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmfaf/813/813.pdf,

accessed April 13, 2004.

Bert Chapman

HSSE Library, 504 West State Street, Purdue University,

West Lafayette, IN 47907-2058, United States

E-mail address: [email protected].

Fax: +1 765 494 9007.

15 April 2004

The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade)

Accessed June 2004, Available: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/comtrade/

UN Comtrade is a component in the powerful Statistical Databases stable of the

United Nations Statistics Division. It bprovides commodity trade data for all available

countries and areas since 1962Q and these data entail almost 700 million records. Each

record consists of five variables: breporterQ country, bcommodity,Q trading bpartner,Qbyear,Q and btrade flow,Q where trade flow identifies imports, exports, or reexports of the

designated commodity. The market share of all reporting countries entails more than 90%

of all world trade. These data alone make this electronic tool very helpful for economic

investigations, but it is only one element in the United Nations array of analytical

instruments that cover, for example, universal protocols for eradicating poverty and

hunger, and for improving healthcare and education; gross domestic product assessments;

social indicators; populations of major cities around the world; accepted rules for

generating and providing these data; and the Cyberschoolbus statistical site (in English,

Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic versions) for middle and secondary school

students.

In itself, this UN Comtrade resource has evolved into a treasure chest of material; its ac-

cumulation of annual trade data from over 130 countries is classified according to versions of

the Standard International Trade Classification and of the Harmonized Commodity Description

and Coding Systems.1 To expedite its use, there is an HTML and a PowerPoint presentation

entitled bUN Comtrade Database SystemQ in the bFirst Time UserQ section. This is a useful

entry point and either one of these descriptions may be used for bibliographic instruction.

However, there is an important aspect that requires emphasis: This is a database, with very

little extra text beyond the limited descriptions assigned to classification categories. The

doi:10.1016/j.jgi.2004.04.001

Book reviews 773

Page 2: The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade)

bPublications,Q bMethods and Classifications,Q and bStatistical CommissionQ tabs at the top of

theWeb page highlight United Nations materials and definitions of standards and aspects of the

Statistical Commission, but once the user enters the bStatistical DatabasesQ area, the primary

(and almost sole) focus is on the reams of commodity data. For this reason, this review presents

specific statistical inquiries as the method of demonstrating Comtrade’s use. Experienced users

will see immediately the versatility that this suite offers, and the straightforward applicability

illuminated here should stimulate even novice clients to employ this system as well.

Simple searches may be done with the bComtrade ExplorerQ option. Here, a simple one-

word search may be initiated: entering bvanillaQ as the search element produces an output of

nine classification system-commodity code combinations. For example, within the most

recent 2002 Harmonized System, vanilla is coded here as bHS02-0905,Q signifying code

group 09 for bcoffee, tea, mate, and spices,Q and subcode 05 for bvanilla.Q The returned data

show that, for the years 2000 through 2003, the United States was the major international

importer (amounting to $455,793,008 or 58.8% of total vanilla imports), while France was

the most significant exporter with 28.6% of all vanilla trade with a market value of

$56,812,100. Labeled pie charts reinforce the presented data.

In a similar manner, entering bZambiaQ into this search engine yields an indicated

importation in 2002 of $172,071,952 worth of bnuclear reactors, boilers, machinery, etc.QClicking on the commodity code number next to this description reveals that the United States

provided 3.4% or $5,796,723 worth of items from this commodity group. Zambia exported

during this period bcopper and articles thereofQ to the tune of $493,241,024 ormore than 53% of

all their exports. Over 42% of all these exports (i.e., almost $394 million worth) went to

Zambia’s Top Export Partner, the UK, and by clicking on this latter country’s link, it can be seen

that the copper commodities composed about 75% of all exports to the UK, with bother basemetals, cermets, articles thereofQ comprising another 20%. Thus, this database allows access to

extremely useful partner trading information.

An inclusion process within the Comtrade Explorer allows selected commodities to be

investigated while still maintaining the ability to see other trade activity, thereby expanding

the suite of commercial elements. The bquick filterQ pull-down allows the option to see

chosen traffic with other partners or to see exchange in other commodities. By clicking on

the returned bareas, not elsewhere specifiedQ import partner, it can be seen quite quickly

that in 2002 Zambia imported 24 kilograms of vanilla worth $492. Possible alternative

commodities might include bHS02-9501-Wheeled toys designed to be ridden by childrenQ(South Africa supplied Zambia with almost 72% of these), bHS02-9101-Wrist-watches,

pocket-watches, and other watches, including stop-watchesQ (Zambia exported $88 worth in

2002), or the bHS02-5002-Raw silk (not thrown)Q importation by Zambia for the same year

in the amount of just under $500.

For slightly more practiced users, the initial Web page has the bShortcut QueryQ tool thatwill accept, in one pass through six pull-downs and one text box, the import/export/reexport

of a bCommodityQ in year YYYY (or recent years, or latest reported data) to a specified

bCountryQ (or region or former country) from either the bWorldQ or a selected country/region/

former country according to any, or to a specific classification system. For a query into the

Book reviews774

Page 3: The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade)

exportation of petroleum (bHS02-2709-Petroleum oils, crudeQ) in 2002 to the UK from

Mexico, we find that slightly more that $115 million of this product was moved to the UK.

With one adjustment, it is possible to determine that over $13 billion worth of Mexican

petroleum was exported to the bWorld.Q Changing the bfromQ pull-down from bMexicoQ tobSaudi ArabiaQ reveals that $413 million of petroleum was exported to the UK and $53 billion

to the bWorld,Q respectively. It is a very quick and useful tool.

There are other interactive options to select data and to portray it graphically. The initial

Web page for this database has a bTrade in GraphQ example—at the moment of writing, the

current model is a graph of both trade quantity and trade values of Estonian importation from

the World of almost $42 million worth of bHS96-8429-Self-propelled earthmoving, road

making, etc., machines.Q A footnote to the graph indicates that over 35,000 records of data

available for this category were referred to this collection by 149 countries between 1996 and

2003. This bTrade in GraphQ option is a very powerful one.

The bExpress SelectionQ alternative allows, among other things, a quick view of bTotalExportsQ under the HS2002 classification. This can be obtained by entering bAllQ in each of

the bBasic ItemsQ text boxes and selecting bExportQ here, and then by setting on the

bAdvanced ItemsQ tab the bFilter Trade ValueQ to, say, a $10 billion threshold. Data sorting is

accomplished by specifying bTradeValQ in the bSelect Sort OrderQ pull-down. In a few

seconds, one learns that in 2003, Germany had total exports valued at $25 billion more than

those of the United States, i.e., $748.5 vs. $723.6 billion. By running down the list, the first

$10+ billion single commodity class in this search may be found: it is for Germany’s 2003

exportation to the World of $136.9 billion worth of bHS02-87-Vehicles other than railway,

tramway rolling stock.QAccess to this database is either free or by subscription with username and password

features. The free bGuest UserQ mode allows the selection of up to 1000 data records that may

be browsed, but not downloaded. Three individual subscription classes (in commercial or not-

for-profit cost categories) are based on the expected total number of required data records.

Similarly, organizations that may require multiple user access may subscribe to one of these

two cost options by using an Internet protocol (IP) address. This site license has no limit to

the number of records that may be accessed and downloaded.

As a final indication of the usefulness and scope of this resource, there was a note

posted on the Comtrade main Web page that stated, bas of 21 June 2004, 2.4 billion records

have been downloaded from UN Comtrade.Q It is a substantial collection of commodity

data.

The UN Comtrade database should be of particular interest to academic libraries, and to

special libraries or to organizations that are involved in domestic and international commerce

and that are in need of worldwide commodities data.

Note

1. The bMethods and ClassificationQ tab at the top of the Web page will lead to operational definitions of

these and other systems.

Book reviews 775

Page 4: The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade)

Charles D. Bernholz

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln,

NE 68588, United States

E-mail address: [email protected].

25 June 2004

Public Record Office: The National Archives. Last visited on March 4, 2001,

Public Records Office for England, Wales, and the United Kingdom, Public

Records Office, London, England, http://www.pro.gov.uk

UK National Digital Archive of Datasets, Last visited April 2, 2001, University of

London Computer Center, London, England, http://ndad.ulcc.ac.uk/

The Public Records Office for England, Wales, and the United Kingdom serves as the

National Archives for the public records of the central government of the United

Kingdom, smaller governmental units, certain courts, and other semi-independent local

bodies. With the exception of Scotland and Northern Ireland, who maintain their own

public records, each department or unit in the United Kingdom is responsible for

maintaining its own records. The Web site for the Public Records Office (PRO) of

England, Wales, and the United Kingdom provides a link to the listings of these

permanently retained public records.

Governed by the Public Records Act of 1958 and the Public Records Act of 1967, all

public records in the United Kingdom are passed out of action 5 years after the date of

creation. After the first review, many of the public records in the United Kingdom are

destroyed. Only those records thought to contain material that should be permanently retained

are held until a second review can be conducted in 15–25 years. Once the second review is

completed, a determination is made whether the records need to be archived and then they are

sent to the Public Records Office for permanent retention. In accordance with British law,

these permanent records are not made available to the public for a period of 30 years.

Immediately after the start of each new year, in what is aptly titled, New Year Openings, the

list of all of the documents that are being made available for public release is announced. In

January 2001, public records from 1970 were released to the public for first time and a listing

of these titles was immediately available on the Public Records Office Web site.

On March 19, 2001, the Public Records Office Web site launched a completely new

interface. It is expected to take over a year to complete this entire project, but the immediate

goal is make the Web site easier for users to navigate. From the outset, the PRO Web site has

solicited feedback from the site users. Several user surveys were conducted and the users’

comments and suggestions were incorporated into the ongoing plans for the complete

redesign of the Web site.

doi:10.1016/j.jgi.2004.08.005

Book reviews776