Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG) Codes

Data Continuity

The SCTG development team has strived to develop a new product code that is as compatible as possible with data collected using Standard Transportation Commodity Classification (STCC) commodity classifications. In certain areas, however, Harmonized System (HS)-based product definitions simply do not concord well with product categories used by the STCC. In some of these cases, the SCTG development team has broken with the organization of HS product classifications to follow STCC coding principles, and in others the team has abandoned the organizing principles of the STCC to follow HS coding principles. In all cases, the SCTG development team has given more weight future data collection and reporting efforts than to continuity with historically used product categories.

To link STCC-based historical CFS data with SCTG-based future CFS data, the SCTG development team will develop a concordance of STCC product categories to SCTG product categories. This concordance will be made available in time to compare 1997 CFS results with data from previous surveys.

It should be noted, however, that in any transition from one classification code to another, discontinuities in class definitions may result in some imprecise comparisons of pre-change and post-change data. As inescapable as these discontinuities are, the proposed STCC-SCTG concordance will aim to provide guidelines that minimize these concerns.