WORLD TRADE G/VAL/8/Add.3
4May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1769)
Committee onCustoms Valuation
INFORMATION ONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES
Addendum
Atitsmeeting of12May1995, theCommittee onCustoms Valuation agreed thatgreater
transparency oftechnical assistance activities, pursuant toArticle 20.3 oftheAgreement on
Implementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994, would beensured iftheinformation documents
prepared fortheTechnical Committee onCustoms Valuation onsuchactivities werealsomade available
asWTO documents.
Thisdocument provides additional information ontechnical assistance activities reproduced from
WCO document 42.323 of23April 1998. Itupdates GATT document VAL/W/29/Rev.9, andWTO
documents G/VAL/W/4, G/VAL/8, Add.1, andAdd.2.
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. Article 20.3oftheAgreement provides fortheestablishment oftechnical assistance programmes
fordeveloping countries. TheArticle goesontostatethatsuchtechnical assistance mayinclude, inter
alia,thetraining ofpersonnel, assistance inpreparing implementation measures, access tosources of
information regarding customs valuation methodology, andadvice ontheapplication oftheprovisions
oftheAgreement. Inthisregard, itisrecognized thatfordeveloping countries which are,byvirtue
ofbeing Parties totheAgreement, committed toapply theAgreement atafixed dateorwhich are
considering applying itinthenearfuture, itwould beamatter ofurgent needtohaveanucleus of
customs officers trained intheCode. Thus, among thevarious technical assistance programmes offered,
thetraining ofpersonnel acquires adegree ofpriority.
2. Asprovided forinAnnex IIoftheAgreement, theresponsibilities oftheTechnical Committee
include thefacilitation oftechnical assistance withaviewtofurthering theinternational acceptance
oftheAgreement. TheTechnical Committee atitsfirstmeeting expressed theviewthattheCustoms
Co-operation Council, through itsSecretariat, could provide co-ordination indeveloping atechnical
assistance programme inco-operation withmember administrations willing toprovide assistance and
otherinternational organizations. TheCouncil 'sPlanforthe'90shasalsoplaced considerable emphasis
ontheneedforholding seminars andtraining courses ontheGATT Code.
3. AtitsEighth Session, theTechnical Committee hadexamined document 31.808 describing
seminars andtraining courses organized oncustoms valuation, especially ontheGATT Valuation
Agreement, andtheactivities oftheCustoms Co-operation Council inthisarea. TheCommittee found
thedocument useful andinthisregard directed theSecretariat toperiodically update theinformation.
InsuccessivesessionsoftheCommittee,anumberofrevisedorsupplementarydocumentswereprepared
which periodically updated thisinformation. Thisdocument contains information provided bytheWCO
Secretariat ofitsmost recent technical assistance activities.G/VAL/8/Add.3
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II. SEMINARS
4. Noseminars were heldsince October 1997.
III. TRAINING COURSES
5. Oneadditional course washeldsince October 1997:
- Attherequest ofboththeJordanian Customs Administration andtheGerman Technique Co-
operation Officer (GTZ) based inAmman, Jordan, theWCO conducted atraining course on
theWTO Valuation Agreement andCustoms Enforcement Techniques from 1-13November
1997. Theobjective ofthetraining course wastoassist Jordan inimplementing theWTO
Valuation Agreement. Thetraining course combined theexpertise oftheValuation and
Enforcement Services withanin-depth examination oftheprinciples ofCustoms Valuation under
theAgreement followed byanexamination oftheCustoms techniques which willbenecessary
forJordan toefficiently administer thatvaluation system andeffectively combat fraud aswell
asother fraudulent practices. Itwasattended by28participants from theJordanian Customs
Administration.
IV. OTHER TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES
6. Eleven additional technical assistance activities were heldsince thelastreport:
- From 13-17 October 1997, anexpert mission wasconducted inLusaka, Zambia. Theprogramme
comprised ashort seminar toexplain theWTO Valuation Agreement andaworkshop which
examined Zambia 'sprogress towards itsimplementation. Theworkshop focused onthe
development ofacomprehensive draftaction planforsubmission tosenior management ofthe
Zambian Revenue Authority.
- Anofficer fromtheValuation Sub-Directorate visited theCustoms Administration ofCameroon,
from 15-17 October 1997. Hehadtheopportunity todiscuss andreview thedraftlegislation
ofthesixcountries forming theUDEAC Customs Union. About 20officers participated in
thediscussion. Thecomments oftheWCO Secretariat were adopted bythisworking group.
Subsequently, these comments wereconveyed totheUDEAC Valuation Committee which met
inMalabo (Equatorial Guinea) from10-13 November 1997. TheUDEAC legislation wasfinally
approved bytheUDEAC Heads ofStates inJanuary 1998.
- Anexpert mission organized bytheSecretariat andtheCustoms Administration ofHaiti took
place atPort-au-Prince, from12-18 December 1997. Thepurpose ofthemission wasanational
Valuation/Enforcement seminar, ledbytwoSecretariat officials. Theparticipants attended a
four-day meeting ontheprinciples oftheValuation Agreement andrelated enforcement measures.
Onthefifthday,asmall working party tackled concrete measures fortheimplementation of
theAgreement.
- From 15-17 December 1997, anofficer from theValuation Sub-Directorate participated ina
Market Access Workshop organized bytheWTO Secretariat inWindhoek, Namibia. The
workshop,whichwasattendedbyalmostalloftheEnglish-speakingcountriesinAfrica,examined
anumber ofMarket Access issues, including customs valuation andpreshipment inspection.
- From 19-23 January 1998, amember oftheValuation Sub-Directorate oftheWCO andanofficer
fromRevenue Canada conducted anExpert Mission toTanzania. ThefirstpartofthemissionG/VAL/8/Add.3
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consisted ofatwo-day Valuation seminar. Itwasfollowed byathree-day workshop on
implementation ofpreparations. Discussions focused ontheimpact oftheWTO Valuation
Agreementoncustomsrevenues,legislationdevelopment,proceduresandorganizationalstructure
forproper implementation oftheWTO Valuation system. Participants hadtheopportunity to
examine problems associated withtheimplementation oftheAgreement andtodevelop solutions.
Twenty-six officers from theTanzania Customs Administration attended theworkshop.
- AjointWCO/WTO Workshop ontheimplementation oftheGATT/WTO Valuation Agreement
wasconducted from4-6February 1998inCasablanca, Morocco. Theworkshop wasprompted
bythedecision made bytheMoroccan Administration tofullyapply theAgreement inJuly1998.
Theworkshop wascomprised oftwoparts. Thefirstpartwasdevoted toreviewing thedraft
Moroccan legislation which subsequently hadtobesubmitted fortheParliament 'sapproval.
Thesecond partoftheworkshop concentrated onassessing theunderstanding oftheprovisions
oftheAgreement bywayofpractical exercises doneby30participants insixvarious groups.
Theprogramme waswelcomed andappreciated bytheparticipants andtheMoroccan
Administration.
- Anexpert mission organized bytheSecretariat andtheCustoms Administration ofTogo took
place atLomé, from 9-13 February 1998. Thepurpose ofthemission wasanational
Valuation/Enforcement seminar, ledbytwoSecretariat officials. Afive-day meeting onthe
principles oftheValuation Agreement andrelated measures wasattended by54officials
(inspectors andcontrollers).
- From 9-13February 1998, amember oftheValuation Sub-Directorate andanofficer fromthe
Japanese Customs Administration conducted anExpert Mission toBangladesh. Athree-day
seminar ontheWTO Valuation Agreement washeldandatwo-day workshop wasdevoted to
implementation preparation. Themission wastimely astheBangladesh Customs Administration
hasjustdrafted itsamended legislation. Areview ofthedrafted legislation wascarried out.
Thirty-five senior customs officials fromBangladesh Customs participated intheprogramme.
- Ajoint Valuation/Enforcement Workshop wasconducted bytwoWCO officers from
16-20 February 1998, inPretoria, South Africa. Itfocused onthepractical application ofthe
Agreement asseveral participants camefromlong-standing Contracting Parties totheAgreement.
Participants examined certain practical difficulties confronted bythese countries. Adiscussion
ofcertain recent decisions oftheTechnical Committee onCustoms Valuation wasalsoheldfor
informativepurposes.NewsignatoriestotheWTOAgreementalsohadtheopportunitytodiscuss
theirimplementation preparations andtakeadvantage oftheexperience ofcountries applying
theAgreement. About 30officers attended theworkshop.
- From 16-20 February 1998, amember oftheValuation Sub-Directorate andanofficer from
theJapanese Customs Administration conducted anExpert Mission toPakistan. Twodayswere
devoted torecalling theprovisions oftheAgreement andtheremaining timewasspent discussing
issues associated withtheimplementation oftheAgreement. Thirty-one senior officials ofthe
Central Board ofRevenue andregional Customs houses participated intheseminar andthe
workshop. TwoDirectors fromtheExport Promotion Bureau, sixtrade representatives from
sixmajor regions ofPakistan andaGeneral Secretary oftheKarachi Customs Agent Group
alsoparticipated intheseminar. Participants discussed theimpact oftheWTO Valuation
Agreementoncustomsrevenues,issuesoflegislationdevelopment,proceduresandorganizational
structure foraproper implementation oftheWTO valuation system. Participants alsoattempted
todevelop possible solutions tothevarious questions raised.G/VAL/8/Add.3
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- AnExpert Mission organized bytheSecretariat andtheCustoms Administration ofSenegal took
place atDakar, from16-20 March 1998. Thepurpose ofthemission wasanational Valuation/
Enforcement seminar, ledbytwoSecretariat officials. Afive-day meeting ontheprinciples
oftheValuation Agreement andrelated enforcement measures wasattended by41senior- and
middle-management officials from theAdministration.
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