European Classification of Products by Activity CPA 2015

The CPA (European Classification of Products by Activity) is intended to be used for statistics related to production, consumption, foreign trade and transport in the area of the European Union. A Regulation binding EU Member States has been given on the classification (Commission Regulation (EC No 1209/2014).

The CPA classification has six hierarchical levels and one sub-level. The first four levels and the sub-level are uniform with NACE Rev. 2. The CPA classification also largely follows the UN’s international product classification CPC (Central Product Classification). All the classifications mentioned can be found on the Internet pages of Eurostat's classification server (RAMON): http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/nomenclatures/index.cfm?TargetUrl=LST_NOM&StrLanguageCode=EN&IntFamilyCode=&TxtSearch=&IntCurrentPage=1

The CPA is the European Union’s industry-oriented classification of goods and services. The CPA comprises all goods and services, each of which is directed to one industry of NACE, the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Union. Other international product classification standards: The EU's Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) is an extension of the CPA. The CPV classification is consistent with the CPA to the 6-digit level and a classification specifying the CPA to the 8-digit level. The Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) helps enterprises to find interesting procurement notices by standardising the identification system of the procurement authorities and bidders and the EU's Publication Office releasing procurement notices. In addition to the CPA and CPV, the EU has prepared a list of products PRODCOM (Production Communautaire), which is also harmonised with NACE Rev. 2. PRODCOM is meant for statistics compilation on production and comprises only goods and part of industries. Statistics Finland's Business Structures department has used PRODCOM in place of the HS nomenclature since the statistical reference year 1997. The HS nomenclature is a subject-oriented nomenclature of movable goods compiled by the Customs Cooperation Council (Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System). The World Customs Organization is responsible for the classification. The customs tariff nomenclature used in international trade statistics is the Combined Nomenclature CN of the European Community. The CN is harmonised with the HS on the 6-digit level but it is more detailed than the HS. Finland’s international trade statistics covering both domestic and international trade are compiled using the 8-digit CN classification, but a more detailed 10-digit TARIC nomenclature is still used in customs notifications on trade with third countries. The customs tariffs nomenclature is maintained by the National Board of Customs. Another key classification system of goods trade is the market-oriented Standard International Trade Classification SITC. Annual statistics on total trade and trade by country according to the SITC classification are also published on Finland’s international trade. At its most detailed level, the SITC has five digits and comprises good 3,000 headings. The use of statistics compiled based on the SITC nomenclature is appropriate when the aim is to get a good overall image of entire international trade or trade with some individual country. The classification according to the manufacturing industry and use purpose of goods is applicable for macroeconomic reviews.