Definition: Classification of Products by Activity (CPA)

Category: External trade

Statistical Classification of Products by Activity in the European Economic Community.
The Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) is a classification of products which is essentially a European version of the United Nations' Central Product Classification (CPC) but arranged so that each product heading is uniquely assignable to a heading of the European activity classification NACE Rev 1. A further product classification related to the CPA and which is used for an EU survey of industrial production is the PRODCOM list.  The relationship between the classifications PRODCOM and the CN means that it is possible to compare external trade and domestic production of individual products at a fine level of detail.