WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/718 
16 November 2004 
 (04-4936) 
  
 
 
 
REPORT (2004) OF THE COMM ITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS 
 
A. BACKGROUND  
1. The Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 (the Agreement) entered into force on 1 Ja nuary 1995.  This report covers the year 2004.  It 
addresses the work undertaken by the Committee on Customs Valuation (the Committee) in respect of 
the objectives of the Agreement, which are: to provide greater uniformity and certainty in the 
implementation of the provisions of Article VII of the GATT 1994;  to esta blish a fair, uniform and 
neutral system for the valuation of goods for custom s purposes that precludes the use of arbitrary of 
fictitious customs values;  to ensure  that the basis for valuation of goods for customs purposes should, to 
the greatest extent possible, be the transaction valu e of the goods being valued;  and to secure additional 
benefits for the international trade of developing countries. 
 2. During the period under consideration, the Committee has held two formal meetings, on 8 
March (G/VAL/M/37) under the Chairmanship of Mr Ivan Lee (Hong Kong, China) and 25 October 
(G/VAL/M/38) under the Chairmanship of Mr. Robi n Twyman (United Kingdom). At the 25 October 
meeting, the Committee el ected Mr Robin Twyman as Chairman for 2004-2005.  
 3. Participation in the Committee is open to all WTO Members.  In additi on, Governments granted 
observer status by the WTO Genera l Council attended Committee mee tings as observers.  At the 
April 1997 meeting, the Committee granted observer  status to those orga nizations which had had 
observer status on an ad hoc  basis, namely UNCTAD and the WCO, as well as to the ACP and the 
IADB.   The Committee took note of the fact that the World Bank and the IMF had observer status by 
virtue of the Agreements between these organizations and the WTO. 
 4. The Committee's rules of procedure, which we re approved by the Council for Trade in Goods, 
are contained in G/L/146. 
 B. I
MPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT  
5. During the period under review, no devel oping country Members maintained delayed 
application of the provisions of the Agreement in ac cordance with the provisions of Article 20.1 of the 
Agreement.  At circulation of th is report, no Member maintains an extension of the delay period in 
accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1, Annex III. Understanding has been reached in the 
Committee that the texts of the national legislation of these developing country Members will be supplied to the Committee before the developing co untry Members begin applying the provisions of the 
Agreement (G/VAL/5, para. B.2(ii)).  In addition, at  circulation of the report , four Members maintain 
reservations which have been granted under paragr aph 2, Annex III for minimum values, or under the 
Article IX waiver provisions (El Salvador , Guatemala, Senegal, and Sri Lanka).  
 6. To date, 68 Members have notified their nati onal legislation on customs valuation (this figure 
includes the 14 Members which have submitted comm unications indicating that their legislation notified 
under the Tokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreem ent remained valid under the WTO Customs G/L/718 
Page 2  
 
 Valuation Agreement and does not include the 25 indi vidual EC Members).  Fifty-five Members have 
not yet made any notification (see Annex).  C. 
ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE  
7. At the meeting on 8 March 2004: 
 
 The Committee:  
− concluded its examination of the le gislation of Chile. It agreed to revert to the customs legislation 
of Armenia, Burkina Faso, China, Peru, Tha iland and amendments to India's and China's 
legislation at the next  meeting of the Committee; 
− took note of the information in document G/VA L/2/Rev.18 which contai ned a list of Members 
having invoked the special and differential provisions  of the Customs Valuation Agreement.  It also 
took note of document G/VAL/W/76/Add.7 which cont ained an updated inventory of notification 
requirements pursuant to extension decisions and minimum value rese rvations, and the notifications 
that had been made under the Decisions concerning delay extensions and minimum value reservations; 
− noted that the delay period has now expired for a ll developing countries, which should now all be 
applying the Agreement.  The delegation of Rw anda, which had an outstanding request for an 
extension of the delay period was retracted followi ng Rwanda's application of the Agreement as 
from 1 January 2004; 
− took note of the five documents containing  the Annual Reviews, namely G/VAL/W/29, 
G/VAL/W/43, G/VAL/W/77, G/VA L/W/89, G/VAL/W/108,and G/VAL/ W/124/ M, and agreed to  
revert to this item at the next meeting; 
− agreed to revert to the item of India's questions  about certain valuation policies of the European 
Communities at its next meeting; 
− the question of holding another review of the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection remained 
undecided and it was agreed to revert to this matter at the next meeting; 
− agreed to revert to the item of  paragraph 8. 3 of the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues 
and Concerns at the next meeting as no new de velopments had been made in the matter; 
− took note that the WTO Committee on Trade a nd Development had adopted the 2004 Technical 
Assistance Plan (as in WT/COMTD /W/119/Rev.3. and also noted the need to avoid two parallel 
and repetitive exercises. However Members were  encouraged to continue to inform the 
Committee of the various technical assistance activ ities carried out by them on bilateral and other 
fronts; 
− took note of the report on the on-going work of the Technical Committee. 
 8. At the meeting on 25 October 2004:  
 The Committee: 
 
− elected Mr Robin Twyman (United Kingdom) as Chairperson for the year 2004-2005; 
− concluded the examination of the National Le gislations of Paraguay, the Philippines and 
Tanzania,  and agreed to revert to the examin ation of the National Legislations of Armenia, 
Burkina Faso, China, India, Mexico, Peru and Thailand;   
− took note of the information in document G/VAL/2/Rev.19 which contained a list of Members 
having invoked the special and differential provisions  of the Customs Valuation Agreement.  It also 
took note of document G/VAL/W/76/Add.8 which cont ained an updated inventory of notification 
requirements pursuant to extension decisions and minimum value rese rvations, and the notifications 
that had been made under the Decisions concerning delay extensions and minimum value reservations.  There was a discussion on Members'  obligations under certain Committee Decisions  G/L/718 
 Page 3 
 
 
 and Article IX waivers granting minimum value reservations.  Members appreciated the 
notifications made by Guatemala, El Salvador and the United Arab Emirates which sought to 
explain how they were meeting these obligations.  Members asked the Secretariat to contact all members with extensions of delay or reservations of minimum values to remind them of their responsibility to provide the Committee with progress reports; 
− agreed to revert to a later meeting Sri Lanka’s re quest for a further extension to the reservation of 
minimum values, pending the outcome of Sri La nka’s ongoing consultati ons with interested 
members; 
− carried out the Transitional Review Mechanism in  accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Protocol 
of Accession of the People's Republic of China (G/VAL/57and Corr.1); 
− adopted its annual report to the Council for Trade in Goods; 
− agreed to revert to the matter of the Europ ean Communities' valuation policies pending  Brazil's 
examination of EC's responses to its earlier questions; 
−  agreed to revert to the item of the Fourth through Tenth (G/VAL/W/136) Annual Reviews at the 
next meeting of the Committee; 
− agreed to revert to the question of an Article 6 Re view of the PSI Agreement at its next meeting;   
− agreed that the Chair would carry out informal  consultations on Paragraph 8.3 of the Doha 
Decision on Implementation-Related Is sues and Concerns and revert  to it at the next meeting  of 
the Committee or earlier if there were a ny developments in Member's positions; 
− took note of the report on the on-going wo rk of the Technical Committee.  
  
 G/L/718 
Page 4  
 
 ANNEX1 
 
Notifications  
 
Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation 
or amendments under 
Articles 22.1 and 22.2 of 
the Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to 
the Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying 
application of the 
Agreement under 
Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III 
of the Agreement 
or Article IX of 
the WTO 
Agreement 
Albania N/A G/VAL/N/1/ALB/1   
Angola N/A    
Antigua & 
Barbuda N/A    
Argentina G/VAL/N/1/ARG/1 VAL/1/Add.22 + Suppl. 
1-4 +Suppl. 2/Rev.1 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.4  
Armenia  G/VAL/N/1/ARM/1 G/VAL/N/2/ARM/1  
Australia G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1 VAL/1/Add.14 + Suppl. 
1-4 
G/VAL/N/1/AUS/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.12 + 
Suppl.1  
Bahrain N/A    
Bangladesh N/A    
Barbados N/A    
Belize N/A    
Benin N/A    
Bolivia N/A G/VAL/N/1/BOL/1   
Botswana  VAL/1/Add.16   
Brazil G/VAL/N/1/BRA/1 VAL/1/Add.20 + Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/BRA/2 and 3 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.3  
Brunei 
Darussalam N/A G/VAL/N/1/BRN/1 G/VAL/N/2/BRN/1  
Bulgaria N/A G/VAL/N/1/B GR/1 G/VAL/N/2/BGR/1  
Burkina Faso N/A G/VAL/N/1/BFA/1   
Burundi N/A    
Cambodia N/A    
Cameroon N/A    
Canada G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1 VAL/1/Add.17 + Suppl.1-
3  G/VAL/N/1/CAN/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.14 
G/VAL/N/2/CAN/1  
Central African 
Rep. N/A    
Chad N/A    
Chile N/A    
China N/A G/VAL/N/1/CHN/1, 2,  3 
and 4  G/VAL/N/2/CHN/1  
Colombia N/A G/VAL/N/1/C OL/1 G/VAL/N/2/COL/1  
Congo N/A    
Costa Rica N/A G/VAL/N/1/C RI/1 G/VAL/N/2/CRI/1  
Côte d'Ivoire N/A G/VAL/N/1/CVI/1   
                                                      
1 Documents that begin with the code "VAL" are Tokyo Round documents.  The table reflects the 
situation as of the date of circulation of this report.  G/L/718 
 Page 5 
 
 
 Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation 
or amendments under 
Articles 22.1 and 22.2 of 
the Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to 
the Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying 
application of the 
Agreement under 
Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III 
of the Agreement 
or Article IX of 
the WTO 
Agreement 
Croatia N/A G/VAL/N/1/HRV/1 G/VAL/N/2/HRV/1  
Cuba N/A G/VAL/N/1/CUB /1 G/VAL/N/2/CUB/1  
Dem Rep. of 
Congo N/A    
Djibouti N/A    
Dominica N/A G/VAL/N/1/DMA/1   
Dominican Rep. N/A G/VAL/N/1/DOM/1   
Ecuador N/A    
Egypt N/A    
El Salvador N/A    
European 
Communities G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1  VAL/1/Add.2 + Suppl.1-
13 + Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.6  
Fiji N/A G/VAL/N/1/FJI/1 G/VAL/N/2/FJI/1  
Former Yugoslav 
 Rep. of 
Macedonia  
N/A    
Gabon N/A G/VAL/N/1/GAB/1   
Gambia N/A    
Georgia N/A G/VAL/N/1/GEO/1   
Ghana N/A    
Grenada N/A    
Guatemala N/A    
Guinea Bissau N/A    
Guinea, Rep. of N/A    
Guyana N/A    
Haiti N/A    
Honduras N/A    
Hong Kong, China G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1 VAL/1/Add.9 N/A  
Iceland N/A G/VAL/N/1/ISL/1 G/VAL/N/2/ISL/1  
India G/VAL/N/1/IND/1 VAL/1/Add.24 + Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/IND/2 and 3 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.6 
G/VAL/N/2/IND/1 + 
Corr.1  
Indonesia N/A G/VAL/N/1/IDN/1 G/VAL/N/2/IDN/1 + 
Corr.1  
Israel N/A G/VAL/N/1/ISR/1 + 
Corr.1 G/VAL/N/2/ISR/1  
Jamaica N/A G/VAL/N/1/JAM/1 G/VAL/N/2/JAM/1  
Japan G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1 VAL/1/Add.7 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.8 
G/VAL/N/2/JPN/1  
Jordan N/A G/VAL/N/1/JOR/1 G/VAL/N/2/JOR/1  
Kenya N/A G/VAL/N/1KEN/1 G/VAL/N/2/KEN/1  
Korea G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1 VAL/1/Add.19 
+ Suppl. 1-4 
+ Suppl.3/Corr.1 
G/VAL/N/1/KOR/2 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.1  
+ Suppl.1  G/L/718 
Page 6  
 
 Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation 
or amendments under 
Articles 22.1 and 22.2 of 
the Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to 
the Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying 
application of the 
Agreement under 
Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III 
of the Agreement 
or Article IX of 
the WTO 
Agreement 
Kuwait N/A    
Kyrgyz Republic N/A G/VAL/N/1/KGZ/1 G/VAL/N/2/KGZ/1  
Lesotho  VAL/1/Add.21 + Suppl.1 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.2  
Liechtenstein N/A G/VAL/N/1/LIE/1 N/A  
Macao, China N/A G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1 N/A  
Madagascar N/A G/VAL/N/1/MDG/1   
Malawi G/VAL/N/1/MWI/1 VAL/1/Add.27   
Malaysia N/A G/VAL/N/1/MYS/1 G/VAL/N/2/MYS/1  
Maldives N/A    
Mali N/A    
Mauritania N/A    
Mauritius N/A G/VAL/N/1/M US/1 G/VAL/N/2/MUS/1  
Mexico N/A VAL/1/Add.25 + Suppl. 
1-3 
+ Suppl.1/Rev.1 
G/VAL/N1/MEX/1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.10 
VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.8 
G/VAL/N/2/MEX/1 and 
Cor 1  
Moldova N/A G/VAL/N/1/MDA/1 G/VAL/N/2/MDA/1  
Mongolia N/A    
Morocco N/A G/VAL/N/1/MAR/1 and 2 
G/VAL/N/1/MAR/1/Rev.
1 + Corr.1 G/VAL/N/2/MAR/1 
G/VAL/N/2/MAR/2  
Mozambique N/A    
Myanmar N/A    
Namibia N/A G/VAL/N/1/NAM/1   
Nepal N/A    
New Zealand G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1 VAL/1/Add.12 + Suppl.1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.10  
Nicaragua N/A    
Niger N/A    
Nigeria N/A    
Norway G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1 VAL/1/Add.11 + Corr.1 
+ Suppl. 1-2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.7  
Oman N/A G/VAL/N/1/OMN/1 G/VAL/N/2/OMN/1  
Pakistan N/A G/VAL/N/1/PAK/1   
Panama N/A G/VAL/N/1/P AN/1 G/VAL/N/2/PAN/1  
Papua New 
Guinea N/A    
Paraguay N/A G/VAL/N/1/PRY/1   
Peru N/A    
Philippines N/A G/VAL/N/1/PHL/1 G/VAL/N/2/PHL/1  
Qatar N/A    
Romania N/A VAL/1/Add.8 + Suppl. 1-
2 
G/VAL/N/1/ROM/1 and 2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.9  
Rwanda N/A    
St. Kitts & Nevis N/A    
St. Lucia N/A     G/L/718 
 Page 7 
 
 
 Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation 
or amendments under 
Articles 22.1 and 22.2 of 
the Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to 
the Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying 
application of the 
Agreement under 
Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III 
of the Agreement 
or Article IX of 
the WTO 
Agreement 
St. Vincent & Grenadines N/A    
Senegal N/A G/VAL/N/1/SEN/1   
Separate Customs 
Territory of 
Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsu (Chinese 
Taipei) N/A G/VAL/N/1/TPKM/1 G/VAL/N/2/TPKM/1-2  
Sierra Leone N/A    
Singapore N/A G/VAL/N/1/SGP /1 G/VAL/N/2/SGP/1  
Solomon Islands N/A    
South Africa N/A VAL/1/Add.15 + Corr.1 
+ Suppl. 1-3 
G/VAL/N/1/ZAF VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.13  
Sri Lanka N/A    
Suriname N/A G/VAL/N/1/SUR/1   
Swaziland N/A  G/VAL/N/2/SWZ/1  
Switzerland G/VAL/N/1/CHE/1 VAL/1/Add.5 N/A  
Tanzania N/A  G/VAL/N/2/TZA/1  
Thailand N/A G/VAL/N/1/T HA/1 G/VAL/N/2/THA/1  
Togo N/A    
Trinidad & 
Tobago N/A G/VAL/N/1/TTO/1 G/VAL/N/2/TTO/1  
Tunisia N/A G/VAL/N/1/TUN/1   
Turkey G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1 VAL/1/Add.29 
G/VAL/N/1/TUR/ 2 G/VAL/N/2/TUR/1  
Uganda N/A    
United Arab 
Emirates N/A    
United States G/VAL/N/1/USA/1 VAL/1/Add.1 + Suppl.1-5 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.1  
Uruguay N/A G/VAL/N/1/URY/1 G/VAL/N/2/URY/1  
Venezuela, The 
Bolivaran Rep. of N/A G/VAL/N/1/VEN/1 G/VAL/N/2/VEN/1  
Zambia N/A G/VAL/N/1/ZMB/1   
Zimbabwe G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1 VAL/1/Add.23 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.5  
TOTAL 
NOTIFIED  682 48  
 
__________ 
                                                      
2 This total number includes notifications by Members who have indicated their legislation remains valid under 
the WTO Committee (i.e. those in the first column of the table) and those made pursuant to Article 22 of the WTO 
Agreement and the D ecision on Notifications (G/VAL/5).