1 - Source of Information
The custom declarations of imports provided by the Department of Customs represents the only and basic source of the statistics included in the Trade Statistics - 2006 Sri Lanka.
All data have been extracted by DoC from Department of Customs. Regular meetings and continuous consultations are always held between the concerned divisions in both the DoC and the Department of Customs with the aim to improving the flow of data.

2 - Trade System
The Department of Commerce follows a Special System as a base for gathering foreign trade statistics so as to include imports and exports of all commodities and goods.
This bulletin does not include some materials such as commodities in transit, banknotes etc. as well as same export stages.

3 - Classification Of Commodities
The basic data on foreign trade included in this bulletin are based on the 8-digit code of Harmonized System for classification of commodities.
The following is an index of the Harmonized System Code that is designed to help users of data to locate specific items of interest . Section, Chapter, .. etc.. is used as technical terms here.

4 - Units of Measurement
The amount of any commodity is expressed in terms of net weight. Yet, other commodities are shown in unit numbers as necessary, such as (horses, cars and watches) , in addition to their weights in kilograms . The value of these commodities is in Sri Lankan Rupees or US $ .

5 - The Most Important Definitions and Terminology Used in Imports' / Exports' Statistics

Net Weight
The total weights (in KG) of the commodity are after excluding the wrapping and packing weight. For publishing purposes, net weight was measured in metric tons or thousand metric tons for some tables.

Value of Imports & Exports
The value of imports is calculated on C.I.F. basis . The value represents the cost, insurance, freight and other costs incurred until delivery of goods to the port of entry, apart from the customs dues .

6 - Sources of Changes
Foreign Trade data are subject to several changes which may arise from various sources. Among these are errors in the reporting and / or processing of information as to commodity classification, net weight, values and other statistical factors. The procedures used to compile these statistics include clerical and computer processing checks designed to protect the accuracy of the statistics to the fullest practicable extent. The foreign trade statistics may also experience changes in figures depending on the time at which the DoC receives the data from the Department of Customs. However, these figures are corrected in the following publications issued by DoC.