PROMOTING TRADE
Aside from promoting bamboo and rattan as pro-poor non-timber forest products, INBAR also monitors the state of global and national trade in bamboo and rattan, in a number of ways.
- Monitoring global trade of bamboo and rattan commodities
The total world market value (domestic and international) for bamboo and rattan products is estimated to be about USD 60 billion, according to data from the UN Comtrade database—the largest depository of international trade data—and national statistics authorities. The international trade of bamboo and rattan between countries is only a small part of the total trade of bamboo and rattan products, the majority of which is conducted in domestic markets. The annual international trade value of the bamboo and rattan sector is estimated to be USD 2.5 billion.
- Setting codes and standards
As an international nomenclature for the classification of products, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding Systems (HS) allows participating countries to classify traded goods on a common basis for customs purposes.
Prior to 2007 there were 10 6-digit UN HS codes covering bamboo and rattan commodities, including bamboo and rattan vegetable materials, plaiting articles, furniture and seats, and bamboo shoots, of which only two were specified for bamboo and rattan. As such, a sizeable proportion of bamboo and rattan trade likely goes undocumented every year. With the efforts of INBAR, the World Customs Organization and Chinese Customs, 14 new codes for bamboo and rattan have been put into effect since 2007, in which individual codes were given to bamboo and rattan wickerwork, furniture and seats, and bamboo charcoal, flooring, plywood, pulp, paper and preserved bamboo shoots. In 2018, there were 24 HS codes for bamboo and rattan.
For more information, please read our publication on HS codes here.
One of the functions of INBAR is to collate and analyze global trade data and present it to its Member States and the world. INBAR has been the recognized International Commodity Body for bamboo and rattan under the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) since 2001.
Based on UN Comtrade data, INBAR maintains a trade database where users can access information about imports and exports of various bamboo and rattan products, based on their code / the commodity type, the year, the area / country / trading partner and HS nomenclature.
The INBAR trade database can be accessed here.
- Publishing annual trade reports
Every year, INBAR attends meetings of the CFC. It also publishes its analysis of United Nations Comtrade data about bamboo and rattan. The latest reports can be found on the INBAR library.
Trade Overview 2016: Bamboo and Rattan Products in the International Market (read here)
International Trade of Bamboo and Rattan in China in 2017 (read here)