WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/VAL/8/Add.13 
 11 October 2004 
 (04-4237) 
Committee on Customs Valuation  
  
 
INFORMATION ON TECHNICAL  ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES 
 
Addendum
 
  
 At its meeting of 12 May 1995, the Committee on Customs Valuation agreed that greater 
transparency of technical assistance activities, pursuant to Article  20.3 of the Agreement on 
Implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994, w ould be ensured if the information documents 
prepared for the WCO Technical Committee on Custom s Valuation on such activities were also made 
available as WTO documents. 
 
 This document provides information on completed WCO technical assistance activities reproduced from WCO document VT0369, of 25 Februa ry 2004.  It also includes information on 
technical assistance activities carried out by WCO Members reproduced from WCO document VT0380, of 25 February 2004. The present docum ent updates GATT document VAL/W/29/Rev.9, 
and WTO documents G/VAL/W/4 and G/VAL/8 and Adds.1-12. 
 
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INTRODUCTION 
1. Article 20.3 of the Agreement provides fo r the establishment of technical assistance 
programmes for developing countries.  The Article goes on to state that such technical assistance may 
include, inter alia , the training of personnel, assistance in preparing implementation measures, access 
to sources of information regarding customs valua tion methodology, and advice on the application of 
the provisions of the Agreement.  In this regard , it is recognized that for developing countries which 
are, by virtue of being Parties to the Agreement, committed to apply the Agreement at a fixed date or 
which are considering applying it in the near future , it would be a matter of urgent need to have a 
nucleus of customs officers trained in the Code.  Thus, among the various technical assistance 
programmes offered, the training of personnel acquires a degree of priority.  2. As provided for in Annex II of the Agreement, the responsibilities of the Technical Committee include the facilitation of technical assistan ce with a view to furthering the international 
acceptance of the Agreement.  The Technical Committ ee at its first meeting expressed the view that 
the Customs Co-operation Council, through its Secretar iat, could provide co-ordination in developing 
a technical assistance programme in co-operation with member administrations willing to provide 
assistance and other international organizations.  The Council's Plan for the '90s has also placed 
considerable emphasis on the need  for holding seminars and training courses on the GATT Code. 
 
3. At its Eighth Session, the Technical Co mmittee had examined document 31.808 describing 
seminars and training courses organized on custom s valuation, especially on the GATT Valuation 
Agreement, and the activities of the Customs Co- operation Council in this area.  The Committee 
found the document useful and in this regard dir ected the Secretariat to periodically update the 
information. In successive sessions of the Comm ittee, a number of revised or supplementary G/VAL/8/Add.13 
Page 2  
 
 documents were prepared which periodically update d this information.  This document contains 
information provided by the WCO Secretariat of  its most recent technical assistance activities. 
 
ACTIVITIES OF THE WCO SECRETARIAT 
 
Recipient Member  Angola Duration :  27-31 October 2003 
Location :  Luanda 
Subject :  Implementation of the WTO Valuation Agreement 
Type :  National training course 
Objectives :  To provide specialist knowledge on th e WTO Valuation Agreement and its 
implementation and assistance in regard to supporting systems and procedures relevant to valuation ma nagement, including risk management 
and post clearance audit from a valuation perspective 
Participants :  16 officers from Angola Customs administration 
Facilitator :  One Technical Officer from the Valuation Sub-Directorate and two valuation 
experts from Japan Customs 
Donor: Japan 
 
 ACTIVITIES OF WCO MEMBERS 
 Japan
 
  "Japan has dispatched our experts and h as accepted trainees to give the knowledge of 
Customs Valuation/Post Clearance Audit and to s upport the implementation of the WTO Valuation 
Agreement.  The details of our t echnical assistance activities, which we  have carried out since the last 
session and have planned during the period up  to 30 June 2004, are listed below." 
 1. Dispatch of Experts  
Country Period of dispatch Number of Experts 
Angola 27-31 October 2003 2 
Laos 23-27 February 2004 2 
Cambodia 15-19 March 2004 2 
Indonesia 15-19 March 2004 2 
Papua New Guinea 4-9 April 2004 2 
Peru 11-16 April 2004 2 
China 16-21 May 2004 2 
Russian Federation 6-11 June 2004 2 
 
2. Acceptance of Trainees  
Period of training course Country of trainee Total number of trainees 
13-22 November 2003 Laos 6 
22 February-6 March 2004 Afghanistan 10 
  G/VAL/8/Add.13 
 Page 3 
 
 
 United States  
 Bilateral Based Initiatives  
 Training and/or 
Assessment 
Requested Requesting 
Organization Dates for 
Program 
Delivery Target Audience 
Americas & Caribbean 
St. Kitts Valuation Assistance 
(Complexities of the WTO Valuation Agreement) Completed 
11/10-11/14/03 Revenue 
Collectors and other relevant officials, 20 participants 
 Valuation Assistance 
(Post Clearance 
Audit)  
Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC) and Caribbean Regional Technical 
Assistance Center 
(CARTAC) Completed by 
1/12-1/16/04 Revenue 
Collectors and 
other relevant 
officials, 20 participants 
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Valuation Assistance 
(Course on Infrastructure Development) Complete 11/3-
11/7/03 Revenue 
Collectors and other relevant officials, 20 
participants 
 Valuation Assistance 
(Complexities of the 
WTO Valuation Agreement) Completed 
11/10-11/14/03 Revenue 
Collectors and 
other relevant officials, 20 participants 
 Valuation Assistance 
(Course on Infrastructure 
Development)  
   
 
  CCLEC/CARTAC 
Completed 
11/10-11/14/03 Revenue 
Collectors and other relevant 
officials, 20 
participants 
Europe 
Ukraine Valuation Assistance 
(Course on 
Infrastructure Development) Department of 
Commerce 
(Commercial Law Development Program) 3/1-3/5/04 Senior and mid 
level managers 
for Ukraine Customs, 20 participants 
 G/VAL/8/Add.13 
Page 4  
 
 Multilateral Based Intitiatives 
 
Americas & Caribbean 
Andean  
Bolivia Colombia 
Ecuador 
Peru Venezuela Valuation Assistance 
(Course on Infrastructure 
Development) Completed 
12/8-12/13/03 Senior and mid 
level managers, regional 
participation, 20 
participants (Lima, Peru, 4 from each country) 
 Valuation Assistance 
(Complexities of the 
WTO Valuation 
Agreement) 2/9-2/13/04 Revenue 
Collectors and 
other relevant 
officials, regional participation, 20 participants (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 
 Valuation Assistance 
(Post Clearance 
Audit) TBD  
 Individual Country 
Assessments  
  
 
   Andean Community/ United States 
Agency for 
International Development 
TBD  
 
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