WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/475
12 July 2002
(02-3889)
COTE D'IVOIRE - WAIVER ON MINIMUM VALUES IN REGARD TO THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE VII OF THE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Decision of 8 July 20021
The General Council,
Taking into account  Côte d'Ivoire's request, contained in G/C/W/301/Add.1 and
G/C/W/301/Add.2, for a waiver from the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (henceforth Customs Valuation Agreement) in order totemporarily maintain minimum values in respect of the goods identified in Annex 1, and noting :
- that Côte d'Ivoire became a contracting party to Customs Valuation Agreement and invoked
paragraph 1, Article 20 of that Agreement on 1 January 1995, and was therefore scheduled to
apply the provisions of the Agreement on 1 January 2000;
- on 24 July 2000
2, the Customs Valuation Committee agreed to Côte d'Ivoire's request under
paragraph 1 of Annex III of the Customs Valuation Agreement for extension of its transition
period until 1 July 2001;
- the good cause for Côte d'Ivoire's request as set out in G/C/W/301/Add.1 and
G/C/W/301/Add.2, and its intention for this waiver to be on a limited and transitional basis;
- that this waiver to maintain temporarily minimum values will apply only to the goods
identified in Annex I, and Côte d'Ivoire's inte ntion that this would be a single request for a
waiver to maintain minimum values;
- that in all other regards Côte d'Ivoire has implemented fully the Customs Valuation
Agreement since 1 July 2001 and has notified its implementation legislation to the Committee
on Customs Valuation;
- Côte d'Ivoire's long-standing commitment and considerable efforts in reforming and
modernizing its customs administration;
- Côte d'Ivoire has benefited from technical assistance in support of implementation and
application of the Customs Valuation Agreement;
- Côte d'Ivoire's  intention to use the period of this waiver to develop proficiency in techniques
such as risk management and verification in order to be able to apply by the end of this
waiver period the Customs Valuation Agreement to the goods identified in Annex 1;
                                                     
1 Adopted in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the WTO
Agreement agreed by the General Council in November 1995 (WT/L/93.)
2 G/VAL/32.WT/L/475
Page 2
- that Côte d'Ivoire implemented and applied on 1 July 2001 Paragraph 2 of the Decision on the
Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Software for Data Processing Equipment3;
- that Côte d'Ivoire does not use currently, and does not plan to use, preshipment inspection
services for purposes of customs valuation;
- the procedures set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Section B.1 of G/VAL/5;
Having regard  to the Guiding Principles to be followed in considering applications for
waivers adopted on 1 November 19564, the Understanding in Respect to Waivers of Obligations under
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, and paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article IX of the
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.
Acting  pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement,
Decides , in view of the exceptional circumstances set out above, that:
1. Subject to the terms and conditions set out hereunder, Côte d'Ivoire may use the
officially-established minimum values for the valuation for customs purposes of the goods
listed in Annex I until no later than 1 January 2003;
2. Côte d'Ivoire will not apply minimum values to additional products;3. Côte d'Ivoire will publish and make publicly available by 1 July 2002 the data sources,
methodologies, basis, criteria and other relevant information for determining the minimum
values for the goods identified in Annex 1;
4. Côte d'Ivoire will publish and make publicly available any amendments or changes to the
above-mentioned data sources, methodologies, basis, criteria and other relevant information
60 days before implementing such changes, a nd will not apply such changes to importations
entering its customs territory prior to the completion of this 60 day notification period; and
5. this Decision shall not prejudice the rights and obligations of Côte d'Ivoire under the WTO
Agreements, in particular those rights and obligations under the Customs ValuationAgreement.
                                                     
3 G/VAL/5.
4 L/532.WT/L/475
Page 3ANNEX I
LIST OF GOODS TO WHICH MINIMUM
VALUES MAY BE APPLIED
NOMENCLATURE DESCRIPTION
0202100000 to 0210900000 Meat and meat offal
0401100000 to 0402900000 Milk
0902100000 to 0902400000 Tea
1101000000 Wheat or meslin flour
1507 to 1508 and 1511 to 1515 Refined vegetable oils
1517100000 Margarine
1701911000 to 1701999000 Sugars
1704100000 Chewing gum, whether or not sugar-coated
1704900000 Other (sweets)
1901100000 Milk based food preparations
1902300000 Pasta
1902400000 Couscous
1905300000 Biscuits
2002902000 Tomato concentrates
2402200000 Cigarettes containing tobacco
3101000000 to 3105900000 Fertilizers
3306100000 Dentrifices
3401191000 Ordinary soap
3401200000 Soap in other forms
3402200000 Surface-active washing preparations put up for retail sale
3506910000 Adhesives based on rubber or plastics
3605000000 Matches
4011400000 New pneumatic tyres, of rubber, of a kind used on
4011400000 New pneumatic tyres, of rubber, of a kind used on mopeds
4011500000 New pneumatic tyres, of rubber, of a kind used on bicyclesWT/L/475
Page 4
NOMENCLATURE DESCRIPTION
4013200000 Inner tubes, of rubber, of a kind used on bicycles
4013900000 Inner tubes, of rubber, of a kind used on mopeds
4013900000 Inner tubes, of rubber, of a kind used on motorcycles
4820200000 Exercise books
3208291000 and 5209291000 Damask and the like, bleached
5208 to 5212 Dyed or printed fabrics
5310900000 Jute fabrics
5407 to 5408 Woven fabrics of synthetic filament yarn, dyed or printed
5512 to 5515 Woven fabrics of synthetic staple fibres, dyed or printed
5516 Woven fabrics of artificial staple fibres, dyed or printed
6305100000 Sacks, of jute
6305330000 Woven polypropylene sacks with a carrying capacity of
6305330000 Woven polypropylene sacks with a carrying capacity of
6305330000 Woven polypropylene sacks with a carrying capacity of
6309000000 Worn clothing
7323940000 Enamelled table or kitchen articles
7606111000 Corrugated aluminium
7615110000 to 7615200000 Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof,
8506101100 to 8506101900 R20/R06 batteries
8711209000 Motorcycles and mopeds
8712000000 Bicycles
8714910010 Moped and bicycle frames
9404210000 Foam mattresses
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