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| The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness | ||||||||||||
| Coverage characteristics | 5.1.1 Statistical presentation Total exports (f.o.b.) and total imports (c.i.f.) in million euros is accessible for all users on Statistics Portugal’s Internet website [http://www.ine.pt]. Formats available are pdf and excel tables.
Data are also disseminated on a worldwide trade basis and by Extra-EU countries.
The geographical coverage of the data is the entire country of Portugal (including Autonomous Region of Madeira and Azores). | |||||||||||
| Periodicity | 4.1.1 Periodicity Monthly | |||||||||||
| Timeliness | 4.1.2 Timeliness Within 10 weeks after the end of the reference month. | |||||||||||
| Access by the Public | ||||||||||||
| Advance dissemination of release calendar | 5.1.3 Advance release calendar An advance release calendar that provides one-quarter-ahead notice of the precise release dates is disseminated on Statistics Portugal Internet website [http://www.ine.pt].
In addition, a two-month ahead advance release calendar is disseminated in Calendar. | |||||||||||
| Simultaneous release to all interested parties | 5.1.4 Simultaneous release The data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing press releases to the media (“Press Release - International Trade Statistics” for data on worldwide trade and “Press Release – Extra Trade Statistics” for data on trade with non-EU countries) and by simultaneously placing the data on Statistics Portugal’s Internet website [http://www.ine.pt]. | |||||||||||
| Integrity | ||||||||||||
| Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including those relating to the confidentiality of individually identifiable information | 0.1.1 Responsibility for collecting, processing, and disseminating statistics National Statistical Institute The National Statistical System (NSS) is governed by the Law nº 22/2008 of May 13, 2008. The NSS comprises: a) The Higher Statistical Council; b) Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Statistics Portugal, I.P.; c) The Bank of Portugal; d) The Regional Statistical Services of the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira; e) Bodies which produce official statistics by delegation [of powers] from Statistics Portugal. The Higher Statistical Council is the State body which oversees and coordinates the NSS. Statistics The powers and responsibilities of the Bank of Portugal within the NSS are those established in its Organic Law and consist, namely, of collection and preparation of monetary, financial, foreign exchange and balance of payments statistics. Statistics Portugal, the Bank of Portugal, the Regional Statistical Services of the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira and the bodies with powers delegated by the governing board of INE, I.P., in the capacity of bodies responsible for production of official statistics, are considered to be statistical authorities. As such, they have responsibility for the production of official statistics, and are empowered to require information (mandatory and gratuitously) to all departments or agencies, individuals and legal entities, any necessary elements for the production of official statistics, and may set up data collection that, although not relevant to the specific activity of the entities obliged to the information supply, yet it is invested of statistical importance. According to the Law, the Higher Statistical Council is the State body which defines and approves the guidelines or official statistical activities and the respective priorities. Among others, it is the responsibility of the Higher Statistical Council to approve technical instruments for statistical coordination, to be mandatory applied in the production of official statistics, and to take steps to assure that such instruments are disseminated, publicised and used, with the option of proposing to the Government that mandatory use be extended to the administrative authorities and to issue recommendations on the definition of statistical methodologies, concepts and nomenclatures for the use of administrative acts for the production of official statistics, and to take steps to ensure application of these recommendations. The official statistics are produced with technical independence and are deemed to be a public good, observing the national and international quality standards, and meeting the needs of their users in an efficient manner and without an excessive burden for the suppliers of information, namely through more extensive use of administrative data. Merchandise trade Data on merchandise trade are disseminated by Statistics Portugal as a public service.
The statistical system is ruled by the National Statistical Law (Law nº 22/2008 of May 13, 2008), which stipulates the principles and the bodies of the national statistical system.
In addition Statistics Portugal applies the European Regulations in force. 0.1.2 Data sharing and coordination among data producing agencies National Statistical Institute Data sharing and coordination among data-producing agencies is continuously promoted to avoid duplication of efforts and to reduce response burden. Data is shared at national and regional levels. It is explicitly governed by the Law that Statistical authorities shall develop the forms of cooperation considered necessary for full discharge of their duties and responsibilities within the NSS. In the past few years several Protocols have been established enabling Statistics Portugal to have access to information for statistical purposes. The Law specifically states that Statistics Portugal and the Bank of Portugal shall establish forms of collaboration as deemed appropriate to performance of their duties within the NSS, and also for the conduct of joint statistical operations, the sharing of statistical units files, quality control for basic information and external representation for the purposes of community statistics. Merchandise trade Not applicable.0.1.3 Confidentiality of individual reporters' data National Statistical Institute Statistical secrecy is established by Law to safeguard the privacy of citizens in general and to ensure trust in the NSS. All personal data collected by the authorities, for statistical purposes, are considered confidential, being protected by the professional secrecy, either by employees or others who became aware of them by means of their professional duties related with the official statistical activity. The breach of confidentiality is considered a very serious administrative offence (in case of violation of professional secrecy it implies criminal responsibility), while the non-response to surveys within the period stipulated by the statistical authority is considered a serious administrative offence. The staff of Statistics Portugal signs legal confidentiality commitments on appointment. Instructions and guidelines exist for the protection of statistical confidentiality, both at concerns production and dissemination processes. Merchandise trade Publication of international trade statistics at the Combined Nomenclature (CN) level uses so-called passive confidentiality.
In addition Statistics Portugal applies the regulation (EC) Nº 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) Nº 3330/91 and Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 of 22 May 1995 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries. 0.1.4 Ensuring statistical reporting National Statistical Institute The Law nº 22/2008, of May 13, 2008 establishes the principle of statistical authority (article 4º) under which in connection with their activities, statistical authorities may require all services and bodies, individuals or organizations to provide, obligatorily and free of charge, any information needed for the production of official statistics and may set up collection procedures for data which, albeit not relevant to the specific activity of the persons or organization required to supply the data, is of statistical importance. These provisions shall prevail over any limitations or duties of secrecy contained in special legal frameworks, and the use of administrative data for official statistical purposes shall for all purposes be deemed one of the essential purposes for which it is collected. By way of exception, these provisions shall not apply in certain circumstances (article 4, n. 3). The response to the statistical questionnaires is compulsory to all respondents. Administrative fines are foreseen in the Law (article 25º and following) to those who do not provide the information required by statistical authorities. Statistics Merchandise trade The National and Community Legislation determine the trade operators (PSI) that have to provide the required information to Statistics Portugal.0.2.1 Staff, facilities, computing resources, and financing National Statistical Institute The staff number is the strictly necessary to meet European Statistics requirements. Due to national budgetary constraints of recruitment for the Public Administration, hiring to meet our needs is not possible at present. Computer resources are considered reasonable and measures are being taken regarding further improvement of our information and communications technology. Physical facilities (office building, furniture and equipment) are satisfactory to perform the required tasks. Statistics Merchandise trade International Trade Statistics is produced by Statistics Portugal (INE), sharing all the resources. 0.2.2 Ensuring efficient use of resources National Statistical Institute In the framework of the National Statistical System, Statistics Portugal prepares Annual Plans and Annual Reports that are discussed and approved in the Higher Statistical Council. The Annual Plan has as a reference the multi-annual national and European plans that run for five years. They reflect the activities of the National Statistical System and not only the ones of Statistics Portugal. Statistics Human and financial resources are also planned and monitored on a monthly basis, with the help of intranet applications at unit level and per activity (statistical and non-statistical). Merchandise trade There are several measures implemented in Statistics Portugal to ensure efficient use of resources, such as:
0.3.1 Monitoring user requirements National Statistical Institute A - Customer Satisfaction Surveys – Customer Satisfaction Surveys has been recognized as an important instrument to assess quality perceived by its customers at Statistics Portugal, and a new approach was developed taking into account recent experiences. - Quality dimensions were discussed and defined according to the following structure: 1. Quality perception, concerning
2. Value for money 3. Global image 4. Expectations 5. Loyalty/fidelity A matrix/table based on the concepts related to these 5 dimensions was developed, and questions were built accordingly. - Questionnaires Structure and scales The questionnaires are built in an identical way, that is, they always have the same structure. However, taking into account the different segments that are to be inquired, questions may vary (although they are all linked to the dimensions and its concepts). The questionnaires are composed by the following four groups: 1. Quality perceived concerning Statistical information (based on the Eurostat quality dimensions) 2. Quality perceived concerning Products 3. Quality perceived concerning Services 4. Quality perceived concerning the Organization A group 5 is also considered so that respondents may answer freely (for suggestions etc…) - Data analysis We use “extreme balance answers” which transform our scales into another one (using different weights) between -1 and +1, where values next -1 mean full non-satisfaction; and values near +1 mean full satisfaction. Analysis can be made by group of questions or by dimensions, and for different segments. Using this approach, comparisons can also be made amongst different segments. B – Suggestions from customers, especially through the website, are also frequent. C – Special requests on statistical data are also an important issue when analyzing statistical user requirements. Statistics Merchandise trade In the Working Group of the Statistical Council are discussed, among other things, the needs, relevance, accuracy and practical utility of the existing statistics. 0.4.1 Quality policy National Statistical Institute The Law governing the NSS states that official statistics shall comply with national and international statistical quality standards. A – The NSI’s Quality Management System Statistics Quality Policy was defined in the Quality Handbook. In this moment Quality policy is highly oriented by the Principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice. The three main objectives of Statistics Portugal’s Quality Management System are, since its beginning, to continuously improve the quality of:
B – The Quality Team The Quality Unit - This Unit is composed by three elements and its main tasks are to:
The implementation of Statistics Portugal’s Quality Management System has been oriented by ISO 9000:2000 Norms, has well as by the EFQM Excellence Model (European Foundation for Quality Management), having as a reference the principles of Total Quality Management. Internal Quality Auditors - Internal quality auditors are statisticians from different units, and they make a part of a multi-disciplinary team of 14 auditors. They collaborate with the quality unit to undertake audits. C – Public recognition Statistics Merchandise trade In general:
Only in Intra-UE trade:
0.4.2 Quality monitoring National Statistical Institute A – Internal quality audits. Since 2000 Statistics Portugal has in practice internal quality audits, focused on the Statistical Process, as an evaluation tool of its Quality Management System. The reference of these audits is the Statistical Production Procedures Handbook. However, the whole process of Internal Quality Audits was organized taking into account the International Standards - ISO Norms. The aim of these audits is to verify if statisticians are working according to the procedures that are settled in the organization for this process and to improve the process description as well. Therefore, the audits work as a tool for continuous quality improvement rather then inspection. According to the above mentioned norms, an internal procedure was settled for the Internal Quality Audits process, which comprises support documentation for the execution of quality audits. Apart from this procedure, documentation to help the auditors doing their work was also provided - mainly checklists based on the procedures. The audit is based on observation of evidence and on minimum documentation that every project leader has to organize for its “survey”. This minimum documentation is compulsory by means of the Statistical Production Procedures Handbook. Results of the Quality Audits process comprises, for example, the revision of our handbook (1997 edition) in order to define some of the sub-processes; improvement of statistical documentation, etc… In the auditing activity Statistics Portugal asked for two external audits to two surveys: Labour force survey (undertaken by an expert from the ISI and Brazilian National Statistical office); and International Trade Statistics (undertaken by experts from Statistics Denmark – not finished yet). B – Customer Satisfaction Surveys (see 0.3.) C – Performance Indicators – A Group of Performance Indicators were defined to monitor achievements, special emphasis to indicators that measure Timeliness of statistical results on a monthly basis. D – Methodological documentation – Methodological descriptions are considered a very important instrument to the statistical system, a common structure was defined for this document and is a part of the Statistical Production Handbook. Merchandise trade Regular meetings among National Authorities of all Member States. 0.4.3 Quality planning National Statistical Institute Quality Management activities are an important issue of the Annual Activities Plan. At the moment, and specifically for 2008, activities concerning quality management will focus:
1.1.1 Impartiality of statistics National Statistical Institute The technical independence principle is foreseen in the Law governing the NSS. Official statistics are produced with technical independence, without prejudice to compliance with rules issued by the National Statistical System or the European Statistical System. Therefore, statistics are compiled on an objective basis determined by statistical criteria. Statistics Merchandise trade Statistics Portugal is independent in terms of determining its methodology and dissemination policy.
This Law also establishes the principle of the technical independence of Statistics Portugal, as well as the principle of confidentiality under which no individual information about people can be disseminated. Information about corporate enterprises can only be disseminated under very restrictive conditions and always requires prior consent. 1.1.2 Selection of sources, methodology, and modes of dissemination National Statistical Institute It draws from the above-mentioned technical independence principle that the choice of sources, methodologies and modes of dissemination are only guided by statistical considerations. These include technical and cost effectiveness criteria.Merchandise trade The data on merchandise trade are disseminated by Statistics Portugal as a public service and can be obtained from the Internet website [http://www.ine.pt] or by paper.
Sources:
1.1.3 Commenting on erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics National Statistical Institute Statistics Merchandise trade In case of doubt by the users, Statistics Portugal informs and clarifies the data interpretation. 1.2.1 Disclosure of terms and conditions for statistical collection, processing, and dissemination National Statistical Institute The Law of the NSS states that the statistical authorities have powers to make available and disclose the results of the work they carry out in exercise of their duties, without prejudice to compliance with the statistical secrecy rules. Statistical data shall be made available in an integrated, objective, timely and prompt manner, accompanied by the respective statistical metadata and other information to assist in interpretation of findings. Statistics Statistical publications identify where more information about Statistics Portugal and its products can be found. Merchandise trade The concepts and methodology for compilation of merchandise trade statistics are described in publications and metadata is available for all users at http://metaweb.ine.pt/sine/ 1.3.1 Guidelines for staff behavior National Statistical Institute Statistics | |||||||||||
| Identification of internal government access to data before release | 1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release National Statistical Institute The data are sent under embargo to the Minister responsible for Statistics Portugal a few hours before public dissemination.Merchandise trade Data are released to the Minister responsible for Statistics Portugal a few hours before dissemination to the public, only for information – no comments are received. | |||||||||||
| Identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases | 1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products National Statistical Institute All data released to the public is clearly identified as the data producing agency’s product. Statistical products can be recognized by the Logo, Design and Copyright. Merchandise trade Statistics Portugal produces and disseminates the International Trade Statistics. | |||||||||||
| Provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology | 4.3.1 Revision schedule Monthly data are revised every month and the most recent values are included in the latest cumulative values. 4.3.2 Identification of preliminary and/or revised data The data are provisional when first released and revised every subsequent month of the reference year. 1.2.4 Advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques. National Statistical Institute Statistics Merchandise trade Major revisions in methodology are noted in the relevant publications following the introduction of the change in methodology. | |||||||||||
| Quality | ||||||||||||
| Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics | 5.2.1 Dissemination of documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques The concepts and the methodology for the compilation of the merchandise trade statistics are described in the annual publication and avaiblle for all users under request.5.2.2 Disseminated level of detail Geographic detail: data are published by country of origin/consignment and by country of destination.
Commodity detail: data are available by 2 digit HS, 3 digit SITC-Rev.3 and 3 digit BEC-Rev.3 for the total of merchandise trade. (See also summary methodology) | |||||||||||
| Dissemination of component detail, reconciliations with related data, and statistical frameworks that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness | 4.2.1 Internal consistency Data are disseminated on Statistics Portugal’s Internet website [http://www.ine.pt] by cumulative detailed monthly data, and comparisons with the same period of the previous year. 4.2.3 Intersectoral and cross-domain consistency International Trade Statistics are cross-checked with Business surveys, VAT, Turnover Index, etc… every month and/or quarter. | |||||||||||
| Data Category Notes: By subscribing the news the user will be automatically notified by Email about the latest editions and the most recent statistical releases, besides being informed in advance about Statistics Portugal (INE) new products and services. | ||||||||||||
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