How do you read an excludes list?

An excludes list states activities that are not covered by a category, with a cross reference to the class where each excluded activity is classified. An excludes list is therefore read as the boundary of the category, not as a list of unrelated activities. Each exclusion names an activity that a reader might expect to find in the category, states that it is excluded, and points to the class where it belongs. The cross reference must be followed, and the note for the other class must be read, to complete the boundary.

What exclusions does the note for class 01.11 state?

The exclusions show that the heading words alone do not define the class. The heading for 01.11 includes the words cereals, leguminous crops and oil seeds, and a reader who relied on the heading alone would include rice, sweetcorn, fodder maize, and oleaginous fruits. The excludes list corrects that reading, by naming the exceptions and pointing to their classes. A reader who reads the includes list without the excludes list will overstate the scope of the class, by the amount of the exclusions. A reader who reads both lists, and follows the cross references, will see the scope as defined.

Exclusion in the note for class 01.11	Cross reference stated by Eurostat
Growing of rice	See 01.12
Growing of sweetcorn	See 01.13
Growing of maize, lupines or kale for fodder	See 01.19
Growing of oleaginous fruits	See 01.26

What exclusions does the note for class 01.13 state?

The note for class 01.13, for growing of vegetables and melons, roots and tubers, states in its excludes list, as Eurostat publishes it: growing of spices and aromatic, drug and pharmaceutical crops, see class 01.28, and growing of mushroom spawn, see class 01.30. The note also states, in its includes also list, the growing of sweetcorn, which is the activity excluded from class 01.11 and included here. The pair of notes therefore shows a boundary in both directions: an exclusion in one note, and a corresponding inclusion in the other note. A reader who reads only the exclusion in 01.11 will know that sweetcorn is not in 01.11, but will not know, from that note alone, that it is in 01.13. The cross reference points to 01.13, and the note for 01.13 confirms the inclusion. The boundary is complete only when both notes have been read.

The exclusions in 01.13 also show the pattern for activities that share a word with the heading. Mushrooms are grown as a vegetable crop in ordinary language, but mushroom spawn is excluded from 01.13 and classified in 01.30 for plant propagation. Spices are grown as crops, but spice crops are excluded from 01.13 and classified in 01.28. The heading for 01.13 does not state those exceptions. The excludes list states them, and the cross references state where the excluded activities belong. A heading comparison, without the excludes list, cannot show those boundaries, and must not be used as a substitute for the note.

How is an excludes list followed?

An excludes list is followed by reading each exclusion, following its cross reference, and reading the note for the class pointed to. The note for the other class should state the inclusion that corresponds to the exclusion, in its includes list or its description, and it may state a further exclusion that points back or onward to a third class. The chain of cross references must be followed until the note that includes the activity is found, and the inclusion must be confirmed in that note. A cross reference that points to a group, rather than a class, must be followed to the group note, and then to the class notes inside the group, because the group note states the field, and the class notes divide it.

An excludes list must also be read with the parent notes. An exclusion stated at division level applies to the whole division, and an exclusion stated at section level applies to the whole section, even where the class note does not repeat it. The manual states that notes define the scope of each position, and the positions nest, so that the scope of a class is inside the scope of its group, division and section. An activity that is excluded at section level cannot be included at class level inside that section, even if the class heading words seem to cover it. The parent notes must therefore be checked where the boundary is unclear, and the section and division exclusions must be read before the class note is treated as complete.

What does an excludes list not do?

An excludes list does not, on its own, assign a code, and it does not confirm an entry. It states what a category does not cover, and where the excluded activity is classified. The assignment of a unit, and the confirmation of an entry, remain separate steps, made by the institute or register that holds the record. A reader who finds an activity in an excludes list has learned where the activity is not classified, and where the note states it is classified. That reader must still read the note for the class pointed to, to confirm the inclusion, and must still confirm an entry with the institute or register, before presenting a code as the code for a specific business or activity.

Read the excludes list, follow each cross reference to the class pointed to, and confirm any entry with the national statistical institute or the business register that holds the record.