Exploratory Study on Selected Philippine Agricultural Commodity Import Statistics vis-à-vis Export Statistics of the Exporting Countries

Using the import data compiled by the Philippines and comparing these with data as reported by the exporting countries, this study aims to determine the disparity of the statistics from the two sources on the quantity and value of selected agricultural commodities for the years 2000 to 2005. The products covered by this study consist of wholly or semi-milled rice, maize (corn), live poultry, domestic fowls, ducks, geese, frozen meat of bovine animals, apples, oranges, onions and shallots, and garlic. The differences in statistics on the bilateral transactions (in terms of FOB values, quantities, and derived unit prices) are examined by using percentage differences, the implicit minimal measurement error (IMME), and the Wilcoxon Matched-Pair Signed-Ranks (Wilcoxon-MPSR) test. Results show that considerable discrepancies between import and export statistics do exist. The discrepancy may reflect both legitimate conceptual differences between Philippine imports and exports statistics of the exporting countries, as well as errors in reporting. The discrepancy is further substantiated by the results of the Wilcoxon-MPSR test, which show that these differences are significant.