RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/W/58/Add.2
18 April 2000
(00-1580)
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:  French
COMMUNICATION FROM THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA
CONCERNING ANNEX III,  PARAGRAPH 1, OF THE AGREEMENT ON
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL
AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Addendum
The following communication, dated 7 April 2000, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Mauritania.
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Further to our previous letter, the Permanent Mission has the honour to transmit herewith a
more detailed set of arguments in support of Mauritania's request for an extension of the transitionperiod for application of the Agreement on Customs Valuation.G/VAL/W/58/Add.2
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Arguments from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in Support of its Request for an Extension
of the Transition Period to which it is Entitled under the
WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation
Customs revenue on imports represents about half of Mauritania's fiscal revenue. Measures of
any kind relating to this issue must be taken with the utmost care in order to avoid jeopardizing the
budget targets set by the State and compromising economic development efforts.
The effective implementation of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (WTO Agreement) on customs valuation will no doubt
have a negative impact on customs revenue for several reasons:
- The liberal character of the valuation method will mean that less protection will be
offered than under the current valuation code against under-invoicing and fraudulent
practices;
- the potential for the customs authorities to challenge transaction value will be limited,
and they will have to assimilate and learn to master new tools if they are to be
effective.
In the light of these considerations, the implementation of Article VII of the GATT calls for a
favourable environment in order to limit as far as possible the risk of a negative impact on thecountry's fiscal balance and on the private sector development process currently under way.
Thus, the additional period of three years is being requested in order to:1. Complete the relevant legislation and introduce the necessary administrative
mechanisms and procedures;
2. set up the necessary structure for the training of human resources in the customs
administration;
3. accelerate the implementation of the programme already under way to reorganize the
customs administration and modernize its equipment so that it will be able to meet thechallenges of globalization;
4. inform and train the business community in order to encourage the transition from a
system of administrative control of value to a system in which the players are genuine
partners of the customs administration.
The extension would enable Mauritania to postpone implementation of the goods valuation
system envisaged in the Agreement for an additional period of three years.
This period would be used in order to:- Set up a training programme with the assistance of our development partners for staff
from the customs and trade administrations and for members of the international
trading community;
- complete the revision of Article 26 of the Customs Code so as to incorporate the new
rules envisaged under the Customs Valuation Agreement;
- protect public finances by making sure that they remain unaltered by the new system;G/VAL/W/58/Add.2
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- guarantee the quality of imports in order to protect the health and safety of
consumers;
- limit the damaging effects of under-invoiced imports on emerging domestic
production sectors.
In addition to all these factors, we must also consider the need to protect our public finances
and fiscal interests with a view to consolidating the encouraging results acknowledged by all our
development partners.
Customs valuation is no easy matter for a country such as ours, whose customs administration
needs to be able to rely on well-trained staff and high-quality infrastructure in order to be able to
handle properly all of the technicalities associated with the implementation of the Agreement.
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