Did you know your banana might be statistically more Dutch than Dominican?

On April 2025, during our last webinar of the International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) course, over 300 participants from around the world joined to dive deep into global trade flows—and one hot topic, sparked by a presentation from Ms. Maria Batlle of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, was the «Rotterdam Effect»in her presentation “From Plantation to Port: The Dominican Republic’s Banana Export Industry“!

When goods like bananas from the Dominican Republic pass through mega-ports like Rotterdam, they’re often counted as EU trade—even if their final destination is Paris, not the Port of Rotterdam. It’s a statistical twist that shows why accurate data matters in policymaking.

This is exactly why we come together in our IMTS course: to deepen understanding, share experiences, and improve the accuracy and impact of trade statistics around the world.

More about this project: https://tft.unctad.org/fr/projets/projets-actuels/trade-statistics-2015-present/