46 Wholesale trade

This division includes wholesale of physical goods on own account or on a fee or contract basis (commission trade) related to domestic (national) wholesale as well as international wholesale (import/export), including on the internet.

Wholesale on own account means owning the goods traded until the ownership is transferred to the buyer. In the case of transit trade, the goods are commissioned by a buyer, but the agent owns the goods while they are in transit. However, both cases are classified the same way (groups 462 to 469).

This division includes wholesale on a fee or contract basis (group 461), specialised wholesale (groups 462 to 468) and non-specialised wholesale (group 469); class 4639 is an exception as it includes non-specialised wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco.

The rules for defining specialised and non-specialised wholesale activities are described in Chapter 3.3.6 of the introductory guidelines.

This division also includes:

• wholesale of motor vehicles and motorcycles, and related parts, equipment and accessories

• transit trade activities

This division excludes:

• trade of electricity, see 351500

• trade of gaseous fuels for energy supply through mains, see 352300

• rental and leasing of goods, see division 77

• packaging of solid goods and bottling of liquid or gaseous goods, including blending and filtering for third parties, see 829200