RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/M/13
24 March 2000
(00-1217)
Committee on Customs Valuation
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 3, 9 AND 16 MARCH 2000
Chairman: Mr. Edward Brown (United Kingdom)
The agenda proposed for the meeting, circulated in WTO/AIR/1252 was adopted as follows:
1. Notifications made by deve loping country Members ........................................................2
(a) Extension of delay period ................................................................................................... ....2
(Requests from Members which are to apply the Agreement as of 1 January 2000)
- Bahrain (G/VAL/W/57)
- Côte d'Ivoire (G/VAL/W/46 and Add.1)
- Myanmar (G/VAL/W/40)- Senegal (G/VAL/W/45)
- Sri Lanka (G/VAL/W/41)
(Requests from Members which are to apply the Agreement during 2000)
- Colombia (G/VAL/W/53 and Corr.1)
- Dominican Republic (G/VAL/W/54 and Add.1)
- Egypt (G/VAL/W/56 and Add.1)
- Guatemala (G/VAL/W/52 and Add.1,2)
- Jamaica (G/VAL/W/60)- Mauritania (G/VAL/W/58 and Corr.1)
(b) Reservation on minimum prices .............................................................................................2
- Uruguay (G/VAL/W/55)
- Nicaragua (G/VAL/W/59)
2. Other business............................................................................................................... ........2
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1. Notifications made by developing country Members
(a) Extension of delay period
1.1 The Chairman stated his understanding that consultations on the first group of five Members
which were to apply the Agreement as of 1 January 2000 were still on-going and he was not in a
position to report any definite results.  He reminded delegations that, at its meeting of17 December 1999, the Committee had agreed that it would consider any requests for extensions from
Members, which were to apply the Agreement by 1 January 2000, made before that date.  This could
be found in the minutes of that meeting in G/VAL/M/12.
1.2 Regarding the next group of six Members which were to apply the Agreement during 2000,
he drew Members' attention to document G/VAL/ W/54/Add.1 which contained the draft decision on
the Dominican Republic's request for an extension of the transition period, in accordance withparagraph 1 of Annex III of the Agreement.  He proposed that the Committee adopt this decision.
1.3 The Committee adopted the draft decision on the Dominican Republic's request under
paragraph 1 of Annex III.
(b) Reservation on minimum prices
1.4 The Chairman drew Members' attention to the draft decision contained in
G/VAL/W/55/Add.1/Rev.1 on Uruguay's request to co ntinue a system of minimum values beyond the
date of implementation of the Agreement, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Annex III of the
Agreement.  He proposed that the Committee take note of this draft decision and forward it to theCouncil for Trade in Goods for approval and for ultimate adoption by the General Council under the
provisions of Article IX of the WTO Agreement.
1.5 The Committee took note of the draft decision on Uruguay's request under paragraph 2 of
Annex III and agreed to forward it to the Council for Trade in Goods for further action.
1.6 The representative of India, although joining in the consensus to forward Uruguay's draft
decision to the CTG, stated that this was without prejudice to India's position on the granting of
reservations on minimum values to developing countries strictly in accordance with the provisions of
paragraph 2, Annex III of the Agreement.  His delegation believed that paragraph 2 of Annex III
could be invoked by a Member without having to seek a waiver from its obligations.
2. Other business
2.1 The Chairman reminded delegations that consultations were still on-going on outstanding
requests and, given that a few were close to agreement, he proposed suspending the meeting until the
following week.  Delegations would be informed of the date at short notice.
2.2 The Committee so agreed.
Reconvened meeting of 9 March
3.1 The Chairman drew Members' attention to the draft decision on Sri Lanka's request for an
extension of its transition period under paragraph 1 of Annex III in document G/VAL/W/41/Add.1.
He proposed that the Committee adopt this draft decision.
3.2 The representative of Sri Lanka stated that the reasons for which the Government of Sri
Lanka had requested a one year extension for the delayed application of the provisions of theG/VAL/M/13
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Agreement were given in the document G/VAL/W/41 which had been circulated earlier.  He informed
the Committee that, following the subsequent plurilateral meetings his delegation had had with
interested trading partners, an agreement was reached for a one year extension on the delayed
application.  The draft decision was contained in  G/VAL/W/41/Add.1 with an annex containing Sri
Lanka's operational plan for the implementation of the Agreement.  It could be observed from thedraft decision that Sri Lanka was making substantial efforts to implement the provisions of the WTO
Agreement and would need to continue to receive technical assistance to support the implementation
and application of the Agreement, following th e detailed operational plan for implementation.
3.3 He added that Sri Lanka currently limited the application of minimum values for customs
purposes to used motor vehicles classified under HS headings 87.01, 87.02, 87.03, and 87.04.  The
application of minimum values to used motor vehicles was not used as a protectionist measure butmainly to prevent under-invoicing and to regularise  the import of used motor vehicles.  Furthermore,
the awareness of the environmental aspect of pollution caused by emissions emanating from used
motor vehicles was also of great concern.  Therefore, the application of minimum values of motor
vehicles was used, in a transparent manner, for specific purposes and for justifiable reasons.
3.4 For the purpose of clarity and record, his delegation wished to state that pursuant to paragraph
2 of Annex III and the relevant provisions of the Agreement, the Government of Sri Lanka intended to
enter a reservation before the expiry of the extended transitional period, enabling Sri Lanka to retain
application of minimum values on used motor vehicles classified under HS headings 87.01, 87.02,
87.03, and 87.04.  Finally, his delegation wished to assure its trading partners and Members of theCommittee of its commitment to the multilateral tr ading system and to implement and to apply the
provisions of the WTO Agreement.  He thanked the Committee for its favorable consideration of Sri
Lanka's request.
3.5 The Committee adopted the draft decision on Sri Lanka's request for an extension under
paragraph 1 of Annex III.3.6 The representative of Panama stated that her delegation considered that extension periods
granted should not exceed two years and should only be given for serious cases.  In addition, if an
extension was granted, recipient Members should notify their progress on implementation to the
Committee and that they should request technical assistance.
3.7 The Chairman proposed suspending the meeting again as informal consultations on
outstanding requests were on-going and could possibly be completed for some Members by next
week.  Members would be advised of the date for the reconvening at short notice.
3.8 The Committee so agreed.
Reconvened meeting of 16 March
4.1 The Chairman drew Members' attention to the draft decision on Jamaica's request for an
extension under paragraph 1 of Annex III that had been transmitted to Members prior to the meeting.
He proposed that the Committee adopt this decision.
4.2 The Committee adopted the draft decision on Jamaica's request for an extension under
paragraph 1 of Annex III.
4.3 The representative of Jamaica thanked the Committee for adopting this decision granting her
Government a one year extension of the transition period for applying the Agreement.  This decision
was concluded following intensive consultations which were protracted and difficult.  In this regard,
her delegation wished to state that whilst her Government was committed to meeting its obligationsG/VAL/M/13
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under the WTO Agreement, it placed emphasis on the need for Members to take into full account the
development, financial and trade needs of developing countries as agreed to by Members in the
Marrakesh Ministerial Decision on texts relating to minimum values.  Her delegation also wished to
thank those Members who had responded positively to Jamaica's request for technical assistance.  As
her Government was still in the process of developing the capacity to meet its obligations under theAgreement, it would welcome further assistance from other Members in meeting these needs.
4.4 The Chairman stated that two new requests had been received and that consultations were still
on-going on these and the other requests for extensions.  Therefore, he proposed closing this meeting
which commenced on 3 March and scheduling a new meeting in two weeks time for which a new
agenda would be issued shortly.
4.5 The representative of Mexico questioned the efficiency of the Committee meeting to address
each individual request separately.  He asked when the other regular work of the Committee would be
taken up.
4.6 The Chairman stated that the Committee would meet on 12 April to carry out its regular work.
He agreed that it would be best if several requests could be dealt with together.  However, given that
certain Members were not in a position to agree on terms and conditions, and deadlines for application
for others had to be respected, he considered the present pace of meetings as the only possible
solution.  He did not wish to hold up adoption of a draft decision informally agreed pending
agreement on other requests.  Therefore, he strongly urged Members to agree to the present way ofproceeding.
4.7 The Committee so agreed.
4.8 The representative of Saint Lucia expressed the hope that singling out individual Member's
requests on a case-by-case basis would not lead to the perhaps inappropriate imposition of strict terms
on individual Member states.  In this regard, her delegation stressed that the provisions of the
Agreement providing for an extension be adhered to in spirit and in letter.
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