Inaccuracies in Forest Products Trade Statistics

Between two trading partners, the export flow reported by one country often disagrees with the import flow reported by the other. For international trade in hardwood logs and lumber, double accounts to directly compare exporters’ statistics with importers’ statistics indicate that discrepancies in trade volumes and values are numerous and sometimes large. Export flows appear to be underreported from the developing countries, but overreported from many of the industrialized ones. Countries such as the United States publish export statistics not at all consistent with statistics reported by trading partners. Identification of these data inconsistencies helps analysts define information needs for improved decisionmaking.

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