HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases imports and exports information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).

From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. To use the tables, you will need the commodity codes for crayfish, lobster and fish products. These codes are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. Lobster and crayfish are classified to Chapter 03 of the Tariff and fish products are classified within Chapter 16.

The data on the website will, within limitations, tell you the total value of imports of these products into the UK. It includes value and weight (kg) of imports and exports. However, it will not identify individual items as this could identify individual importers or exporters. This would be in conflict with Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA). CRCA restricts the information that HMRC may disclose publicly on persons making imports and exports.

It will not be possible to distinguish imports and exports specifically from or to Tristan Da Cunha because for trade statistics purposes the territory of “Tristan Da Cunha” is included and grouped together with imports from and exports to Saint Helena, Tristan Da Cunha and other islands in this area.

If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.