Methods and Standards - Agriculture

Methods, standards and classifications

In response to a growing demand for high-quality and internationally-comparable statistics, FAO develops, implements and promotes methods and standards to guide national data producers in generating and using sound statistics. In particular, the Organization is committed to provide national statistical systems with internationally recognized definitions, concepts and classifications as well as methodological guidance for the production of high quality statistics related to food and agriculture.

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Methods

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Corporate Standards

Data and Statistical Standard Series

The FAO Data and Statistical Standard Series covers topical issues for data and statistics and provides statisticians with the guidance needed to ensure that timely and high-quality data and statistics are produced and disseminated.

Classifications

Caliper - Statistical Classifications

Consult Caliper, an FAO tool for the dissemination of statistical classifications, and browse, search, download and query classifications and correspondences.

List of classifications relevant to FAO's mandate

FAO maintains information on the main classifications owned by the Organization, the UN Statistical Division and other international organizations that are relevant to its mandate.

Agriculture

General Information
Status	Operational
Website	FAOSTAT commodity list (to be discontinued soon)
Custodian	Website
Custodian	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States
Year Published	1960's
Availability	English

Purpose of the Classification
Statistical Domain	Agriculture statistics
Purpose	FCL is a unique commodity tree-based classification established by FAO for the purpose of bringing together Agricultural Production and Trade data into the framework of Food Balance sheet and Commodity balances.
Main Applications	Agricultural statistics, agricultural censuses, Food Balance Sheets.
Main Users	FCL has been phased out and is currently used in the context of mapping CPC and HS classifications for internal purpose only.

Methodology

Scope

The FAOSTAT Commodity List (FCL) is the classification of food and agriculture commodities (originally 683 items grouped in 20 chapters) that has been used in FAOSTAT since the 1960s.
In the new FAOSTAT Statistical Working System, the FCL has been replaced by the Central Product Classification of the United Nations (CPC) expanded for agriculture, in order to ensure a better alignment with international standards.

Concept Being Classified

Crops, livestock and their derived products

Relationship to Other International Classifications

Related To:
Central Product Classification (CPC) Ver. 2.1
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) 2017

Major Differences (Scope, Structure, and Concepts):
Discrepancies can be noticed in structure, as the FCL follows the pattern of the so-called “commodity tree”, in which the parent item is the primary commodity (e.g. wheat) and the children items are its derived products (e.g. flour made from wheat).

Classification Structure

Level	Level Name	Code Format	Number of Items
Level 1	Groups	00	23 items
Level 2	Commodities	0000	776 items

Revision Information

Chronology of revisions/versions of the classification:
Previous version:
Definition and Classification of Commodities (1994)
(Available in English, French and Spanish)

Official Adopting Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Coordinating Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Next Review:
N/A

Reason for Latest Revision:
Additional domains have been included.

Major Changes:
Pesticides, fertilizers and machineries commodities have been added.

Find out more on Caliper
Classification and correspondences	ShowVoc Browse all correspondences

Contact Information
	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistics Division (ESS) Email: [email protected] Telephone: +39 06570 52548 Address: Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 1 00153 Rome, Italy

General Information
Status	Operational
Website	Website
Custodian	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Year Published	2015
Availability	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

Purpose of the Classification
Statistical Domain	Agriculture statistics
Purpose	The classification of livestock covers all livestock of any type being raised on the holding; livestock refers to all animals, birds and insects kept or reared in captivity mainly for agricultural purposes (domestic animals such as cats and dogs are excluded, unless they are being raised for food or other agricultural purposes).
Main Applications	Agricultural statistics, agricultural censuses
Main Users	Ministries of Agriculture and National Statistical Offices carrying out agricultural censuses.

Methodology

Scope

The classification of livestock covers all livestock of any type being raised on the holding; livestock refers to all animals, birds and insects kept or reared in captivity mainly for agricultural purposes (domestic animals such as cats and dogs are excluded, unless they are being raised for food or other agricultural purposes). The animals raised include those present on the holding, as well as those being grazed on communal grazing land or in transit at the time of enumeration; bees are counted in terms of number of hives. A holding raises an animal if it has primary responsibility for looking after the animal on a long-term basis and making day-to-day decisions about its use, regardless of ownership. If countries wish to subdivide a livestock type by breed or raising method, they may expand the classification accordingly.

Concept Being Classified

Goods, animals

Relationship to Other International Classifications

Related To:
Classification of livestock - Central Product Classification (CPC) Ver. 2.1

Major Differences (Scope, Structure, and Concepts):
No major differences; however, differently from livestock in CPC, this classification is focused on the livestock raised on the holding exclusively. This results in only minor differences as compared to CPC in its structure. The classification of livestock has a two-level structure. No major differences.

Classification Structure

Level	Level Name	Code Format	Number of Items
Level 1	Group	0	8 items
Level 2	Class	00	26 items

Revision Information

Chronology of revisions/versions of the classification:

Website:
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4913e.pdf

Official Adopting Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Coordinating Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Next Review:
2025

Reason for Latest Revision:

The revision took place as part of the WCA periodical review; the aim was to enhance harmonization with the latest CPC Ver.2.1.

Major Changes:

Higher harmonization with CPC.

Find out more on Caliper
Classification and correspondences	ShowVoc Browse all correspondences

Contact Information

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Statistics Division (ESS)

Contact Name:

Jairo Castano

Email:

[email protected]

Telephone:

+39 06 570 55166

Address:

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 1
00153 Rome, Italy

General Information
Status	Operational
Website	https://www.fao.org/3/a-i4913e.pdf
Custodian	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Year Published	2015
Availability	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

Purpose of the Classification
Statistical Domain	Agriculture statistics
Purpose	The WCA classification of machinery and equipment classifies machinery and equipment (manually operated, animal-powered and machine-powered) used on the holding, wholly or partly for agricultural production (machinery and equipment used exclusively for purposes other than agricultural production are excluded, as well as those owned by the holder but not used). A broad concept of machinery and equipment is used for the agricultural census, covering all machinery, equipment and implements used as inputs to agricultural production (including everything from simple hand tools, such as a hoe, to complex machinery such as a combine harvester).
Main Applications	Agricultural statistics and agricultural censuses
Main Users	Ministries of Agriculture and National Statistical Offices carrying out agricultural censuses

Methodology

Scope

Machinery and equipment (manually operated, animal-powered and machine-powered) used on the agricultural holding.

Concept Being Classified

Goods, equipment

Relationship to Other International Classifications

Related To:
HS 2012

Major Differences (Scope, Structure, and Concepts):
Machinery in the HS is the most relevant for international trade while in this classification is the machinery and equipment most used on the holding therefore it is often more detailed than the HS. Three-digits (and three-level) structure in the Classification of Machinery and Equipment vs six-digit structure in the HS. The high level categories in the WCA livestock classification (groups) do not exist in the HS; lower level subclasses in links to the HS are 1:1 but at different level (can be at six or four digits).

Classification Structure

Level	Level Name	Code Format	Number of Items
Level 1	Groups	0	3 items
Level 2	Class	00	5 items (including group levels without 2 digit codes: 7 items)
Level 3	Subclass	000	4 items (including group levels without 2 or 3 digit codes: 10 items)

Revision Information

Website:
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4913e.pdf

Official Adopting Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Coordinating Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Next Review:
2025

Reason for Latest Revision:
The revision took place as part of the WCA periodical review; the aim was to Enhance harmonization with the latest HS 2012.

Major Changes:
Minor changes: additional detail and higher harmonization with HS.

Correspondence with Other Classifications

Coding Index Available:
No
with Other Classifications:

Classification:
HS 2012

Correspondence Table:
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4913e.pdf

Contact information

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Statistics Division (ESS)
Contact Name:
Jairo Castano
Email:
[email protected]
Telephone:
+39 06 570 55166
Address:
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 1
00153 Rome, Italy

General Information
Status	Operational
Website	https://www.fao.org/3/a-i4913e.pdf
Custodian	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Year Published	2015
Availability	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

Purpose of the Classification
Statistical Domain	Agriculture statistics
Purpose	This classification classifies crops growing in the agricultural holding.
Main Applications	Agricultural statistics and agricultural censuses.
Main Users	Ministries of Agriculture and National Statistical Offices

Methodology

Scope

ICC classifies crops growing in the agricultural holding.

Concept Being Classified

Goods, plants

Relationship to Other International Classifications

Major Differences (Scope, Structure, and Concepts):
The key difference between product and crop classifications is that the ICC refers to crops that are grown in the field (i.e. to the plant), while the CPC refers to the product(s) generated from that crop; for example, “mustard” is an oilseed crop, whereas “mustard seed” is the oilseed product. ICC has four level structure and seven-digit codes. However, both high level and detailed categories are highly harmonized with CPC. No major difference.

Classification Structure

Level	Level Name	Code Format	Number of Items
Level 1	Group	0	9 items
Level 2	Class	0.00	63 items
Level 3	Sub-class	0.00.00	110 items
Level 4	Order	0.00.00.00	27 items

Revision Information

Chronology of revisions/versions of the classification:

Title or Version Number:
ICC Version 1.1

Website:
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4913e.pdf
Indicative Crop Classification 1.0
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4913e.pdf

Official Adopting Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Coordinating Entity:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Next Review:
2025

Reason for Latest Revision:
The revision took place as part of the WCA periodical review; the aim was to enhance harmonization with the latest CPC Ver.2.1.

Major Changes:
Higher harmonization with Central Product Classification (CPC) Ver. 2.1, additional detail, revised codes.

Updates:
In the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020. Volume I: Programme, concepts and definitions, a correspondence table is available between the current Ver.1.1 and the past version 1.0.

Find out more on Caliper
Classification and correspondences	Indicative Crop Classification (ICC) v1.1 ShowVoc All correspondences Indicative Crop Classification (ICC) v1.0 ShowVoc All correspondences FAO WCA 2020 Crops ShowVoc All correspondences

Find out more on Caliper

Classification and correspondences

Indicative Crop Classification (ICC) v1.1

Indicative Crop Classification (ICC) v1.0

FAO WCA 2020 Crops

Contact Information
	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistics Division (ESS) Contact Name: Jairo Castano Email: [email protected] Telephone: +39 06 570 55166 Address: Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 10 0153 Rome, Italy

Methods, standards and classifications

Methods

Methods

Corporate Standards

Data and Statistical Standard Series

Classifications

Caliper - Statistical Classifications

List of classifications relevant to FAO's mandate

Agriculture

FAOSTAT Commodity List (FCL)

Classification of livestock for the agricultural census

Classification of machinery and equipment for the agricultural census

Indicative Crop Classification for the agricultural census (ICC) Version 1.1