Legal basis 

The information to be collected by INSTAT/XML is defined by the following legal acts. Information related to the transport of the message, such as the technical operator sending INSTAT/XML, is not included in the present specification.

The Intrastat regulation (Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 of 7 November 1991 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States (OJ No L 316, 16.11.91)) is the legal basis specifying the new data collection system for intra-Community trade statistics. Art. 34 states that "the Commission may, for the purpose of facilitating the task of the parties responsible for providing information, establish simplified data collection procedures and in particular create the conditions for increased use of automatic data processing and electronic data transmission".

The Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3590/92 of 11 December 1992 concerning the statistical information media for statistics on Trade between Member States (OJ No L 364, 12.12.92) states that "it is important to provide the Competent Authorities with all technical details required for the printing of the Intrastat forms" and "it is necessary to take account of other modes of transmitting information, and in particular, to promote the use of magnetic or electronic information media".

Information and notices from the Commission on the "Explanatory notes to the Intrastat forms referred to in Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3590/92" (OJ No C 349, 31.12.92) give PSIs the necessary guidelines to complete the Intrastat forms and provide the statistics on trade between Member States.