8. 5. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 114/7 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 840/96 of 7 May 1996 laying down certain provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 as regards statistics on external trade THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to 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 ('), and in particular Article 21 thereof, Whereas, for the purpose of compiling external trade statistics, it is necessary to define the implementing procedures for the collection of data and for the proces- sing, transmission and dissemination of the results, in order to obtain harmonized statistics; Whereas it is essential to clarify the subject of external trade statistics, especially in order to avoid dual recording or to exclude certain transactions and to define the inter- vals at which they are to be drawn up; Whereas the definition of the data to be returned needs to be supplemented, together with the procedures by which they are referred to in the statistical information medium; Whereas it is essential to define the specific movements of goods for which special provisions are necessary; whereas Community harmonization measures need to be introduced; Whereas it is necessary to fix the timetable for the trans- mission of the results to the Commission and the proce- dures for corrections to ensure regular and uniform dis- semination; Whereas, in view of the links which exist between external trade statistics and customs procedures, there is a need to bear in mind the provisions adopted by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 estab- lishing the Community Customs Code (3, as amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (°), as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 482/96 (*; () OJ No L 118, 25. 5. 1995, p. 10. () OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. () OJ No L 253, 11. 10. 1993, p. 1. () O No L 70, 20. 3. 1996, p. 4. Whereas the relevant rules should be replaced in order to improve their transparence; whereas Commission Regula- tion (EEC) No 546/77 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3678/87 (¥), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 518/79 (), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3521/87 (!, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3345/80 (%), Regulation (EEC) No 3678/87 and Regulation (EEC) No 455/88 ('), should therefore be repealed; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on External Trade Statistics, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: CHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 For the purpose of this Regulation, ‘imports’ shall mean the movements of the goods referred to in point (a) of Article 6 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 1172/95, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Basic Regulation’ and ‘exports’ shall mean the movements of the goods referred to in point (b) of Article 6 (1) of the Basic Regulation. CHAPTER 2 OBJECT AND REFERENCE PERIOD Article 2 Pursuant to Article 6 (2) of the Basic Regulation, external trade statistics shall not cover goods: () OJ No L 70, 17. 3. 1977, p. 13. (9 OJ No L 346, 10. 12. 1987, p. 12. () OJ No L 69, 20. 3. 1979, p. 10. ( OJ No L 335, 25. 11. 1987, p. 8. () OF No L 351, 24. 12. 1980, p. 12. (%) OJ No L 46, 19. 2. 1988, p. 19.