WORLD TRADE G/VAL/8/Add.2
13October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4413)
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 41.719 of2October 1997. Itupdates GATT document VAL/W/29/Rev.9, andWTO
documents G/VAL/W/4, G/VAL/8, andG/VAL/8/Add.1.
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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 withaview tofurthering 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.
II. SEMINARS
4. Three additional regional seminars were held:
- TheWCO organized aRegional Seminar inBrasilia, Brazil, from10to14March 1997. The
objective oftheSeminar wastoreview andfurther discuss theimplementation preparations by
thecountries oftheAmerica region, mostofwhom arenewsignatories totheWTO Valuation
Agreement. TheSeminar wasorganized bytheBrazilian Customs Administration withthe
collaboration oftheWCO andfinancial support from Japan. Itwasattended by60customs
officials from 9countries. TheSeminar focused ontheproblems experienced bycountries in
implementing theAgreement andtheirsolutions, taking account oftheexperience ofcountries
oftheregion already applying it.
- From 5to9May1997, aSeminar forCaribbean countries washeldattheCanadian Customs
College inRigaud, Quebec, Canada. TheSeminar wasorganized byCanada Revenue andthe
Canadian International Development Agency, andco-sponsored bytheU.S.Customs Service.
Thepurpose oftheSeminar wastodiscuss howbesttomake useofthefiveyeardelay period
granted todeveloping countries intheimplementation oftheAgreement. Itfocused onthe
principle provisions oftheWTO Agreement, valuation control, enforcement andpractical
considerations associated withthetransition totheAgreement. Seventeen countries participated
intheSeminar.G/VAL/8/Add.2
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- Anational seminar, organized bytheSecretariat andtheBurkina FasoCustoms Administration,
washeldinOuagadougou from 8to12September 1997. ItwasajointCustoms Valuation
/Enforcement seminar ledbytwoSecretariat officers. Afour-day presentation ontheprincipals
oftheAgreement andhowtofightvaluation fraud wasattended by45Divisional Inspectors
from Burkina FasoCustoms. Onthefifthday,asmall working party tackled specific issues
related toimplementing theAgreement, including anin-depth examination ofthedraftreform
oftheCustoms Code already prepared bytheBurkina FasoAdministration.
III. TRAINING COURSES
5. Oneadditional course washeldsince October 1996:
- From 26to30May1997, aTraining Course wasconducted inManila, Philippines forthe
ASEAN countries. TheTraining Course washeldinconsideration oftheASEAN 'splans to
accelerate theimplementation oftheAgreement. TheCourse provided practical training on
theapplication ofthevarious methods oftheAgreement. TheCourse wasfunded bytheJapanese
Customs Administration through theWCO 'sCustoms Co-operation Fund. Inaddition tothe
seven ASEAN Members, representatives ofCambodia, Laos andMyanmar alsoattended the
course thanks tothefinancial support oftheASEAN Secretariat. TwoWCO officials andone
officer from theJapanese Administration conducted theCourse.
TheWCO Secretariat iscurrently intheprocess ofupdating theTraining Course toreflect the
developments reached during theUruguay Round. With theaddition ofcourses onriskassessment
andpost-clearance verification, theTraining Course nowconsists of38lessons completed byinstructor 's
notes.
IV. OTHER TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES
6. Seven additional technical assistance activities were heldsince thelastreport:
- From 17to19March 1997, anofficer oftheValuation Directorate visited theCustoms
Administration ofVenezuela. Heheldwideranging discussions withtheimplementation team
onthenewlegislation which wasbeing drafted andontheapplication ofcertain provisions of
theAgreement, based ontheexperience ofcountries already applying theAgreement. Further
tovisits totheCaracas portandairport customs houses, anassessment ofthevaluation
organization wasalsomade.
- InMarch 1997, aJoint Valuation/Enforcement expert Mission visited theKenyan Customs
Administration inNairobi. Theprogramme forthevisitincluded ashort seminar ofthe
Agreement andaworkshop onimplementation withateam ofofficers. TheExpert Mission
teamalsometwithsenior officials intheMinistry ofFinance todiscuss various aspects ofKenya 's
implementation oftheAgreement.
- From 11to21May1997, aJoint Valuation/Enforcement expert Mission visited China with
theviewtoassisting theChinese Customs Administration inimplementing theWTO Valuation
Agreementandtohelpitcombatcommercialfraud.ThetwoWCOofficersconductedaworkshop
inBeijingforthecentralcustomsadministration,thecentralvaluationunitandtheBeijingcustoms
staff. Theyalsoledanational valuation seminar heldinQuingdao which dealtwiththetechnical
aspects ofvaluation andtherequirements forimplementing theWTO Agreement. Subsequent
tothatmission, recommendations were made withtheview toimproving theadministration
ofvaluation.G/VAL/8/Add.2
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- From 17to20May1997, amember oftheValuation Directorate conducted anexpert mission
toNouakchott (Mauritania). Thefirstpartofthemission wasathree-day theoretical seminar
ontheprinciples oftheWTO Valuation Agreement, forsenior managers fromtheMauritanian
Administration. Thispresentation wasfollowed byaone-day panel discussion bringing together
the10seminar participants mostconcerned withvaluation matters andattended bytheDirector-
General andDeputy Director-General ofMauritanian customs. Thegroup concluded that
accession totheAgreement anditsadequate application required anin-depth reform ofthe
Customs Code andtheAdministration 'sworking methods.
- From 2to4June1997, aMarket Access Workshop ontheWTO customs related issues was
heldinCartagena, Colombia. Itwasorganized incollaboration withtheEconomic Commission
forLatinAmerican(SELA)whichfundedtheevent.TwoWCOrepresentativesgavepresentations
ontheWTO Valuation, Preshipment andOrigin Agreements. Thediscussions alsoincluded
theimplementation plans undertaken bythecountries oftheregion. TheWorkshop gathered
28officers from 19countries.
- Attherequest oftheAdministration ofPanama, AWCO officer undertook amission inPanama
City, from 5to6June1997. Themission wastimely asPanama haddecided toapply the
Agreement asfrom 1January 1997. Theprogramme included apresentation tothe
implementation team ofthecomparative study onlegislation, regulation andadministrative
practices asPanama wished totakeadvantage oftheexperience ofthelongstanding Contracting
parties totheAgreement. Discussions were alsoheldonthevaluation ofimported newand
second-hand motor vehicles which represents aconcern forPanama.
- AMarket Access Workshop washeldfrom16to18July1997, inAbidjan, Côted'Ivoire. It
wasorganized andfunded bytheWTO Secretariat. Thirty-six customs andtrade officers from
18francophone African countries attended. Theobjective oftheprogramme wastomonitor
theprogress achieved bycountries intheimplementation oftheWTO Valuation andPreshipment
Agreements. Aprogress report wasalsomade oftheOrigin andTariff Schedules issues. A
WCO officer gave apresentation onthecomparative study onlegislation, regulation and
administrative practices. TheWCO 'sposition inrespect ofpreshipment inspection wasalso
recalled.
V. WCO document 41.719 alsoadded anewsection listing training facilities which include customs
valuation, available initsMember countries. Itdescribes general training courses oncustoms organized
onaregular basis byanumber ofdeveloped countries. Asapartoftraining incustoms lawsand
procedures, these courses cover customs valuation, particularly theWTO Agreement. Fordetails on
these courses, theWCO suggests direct contact withthecountry organizing thecourse orwiththe
WCO should beestablished. Inmostcases, thetraining courses listed below areprovided freeofcharge
andsome hostcountries bearthetravelling expenses offoreign officials toandfromcourses andother
expenses suchasboard andlodging. Apart formthespecial training courses organized specially for
theofficials ofdeveloping countries, customs administrations ofsome countries alsoadmit foreign
trainees intheregular training courses fortheirownofficials. Information canalsobeobtained from
theWCO.
- Australian Government policy istodirect training towards aspecific country ofregion. The
target areaatpresent istheSouth Pacific region. Requests forassistance withvaluation training
obtainingmaterialsmaybeacceptedfromindividualcountriesotherthanthoseintheSouthPacific
region. Each request isdealtwithonitsmerits andmetwhere possible.
- TheCustoms Administration ofAustria organizes courses forcustoms officers fromdeveloping
countries ofAfrica intheframework ofaspecial training seminar. Special emphasis isgivenG/VAL/8/Add.2
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toproblems ofvaluation. Seminars areconducted inEnglish andareofabout twomonths
duration. Onemajor subject included intheseminar istheWTO Agreement anditscomparison
withtheBDV.
- TheCustoms Administration ofFinland organizes aspecial training course forcustoms officers
ofdeveloping countries which isheldevery other year. Thecourse isconducted inEnglish
andisofabout twomonths duration. Thesubject-matter ofthecourse willchange periodically
andwillbelimited toaspecific areaofcustoms.
- TheCustoms Administration ofFrance arranges acustoms course ofoneyearduration. About
two-thirds ofthesyllabus isidentical withthatofthepreliminary training course forFrench
Customs inspectors, theremainder being intended specifically forforeign trainees mostly coming
fromFrench-speaking developing countries withwhich France hasconcluded technical assistance
orco-operation agreements. Some participants come romother countries particularly nLatin
America.
- Germany holds normally oneortwocustoms courses eachyearformiddle andsenior-level
customs officers ofdeveloping countries. These courses areofthree tofourmonths duration
andareheldinEnglish, French orSpanish. Customs valuation istinthesyllabus.
- Japan conducts atwo-month course formiddle-level customs officers fromdeveloping countries.
Thecourse isconducted inEnglish covering every aspect ofcustoms administration through
lectures, seminars andobservation tours. Customs valuation isoneofthesubject covered by
thecourse.
- Switzerland holds acustoms training course forthesupervisory/management levelofficers of
thedeveloping countries. Conducted intheFrench language thecourse isabout twomonths
duration. Customs valuation iscovered bythecourse.
- TheUnited States Customs Service hasinstituted training courses ontheGATT Code tobegiven
byUnitedStatesCustomsinstructorswhotraveltothecountrywhichrequeststechnicalassistance.
Thelanguage ofinstruction isEnglish. However simultaneous interpretation could bearranged
under special circumstances withadvance notice andiffunding isprovided.
- Under mutually agreed terms, theEuropean Community provides technical advice andother
assistance oncustoms matters, including valuation under theWTO Agreement. Thelanguages
usedcanbeEnglish, French, Spanish orother Community languages. Requests forsuch
assistance should beaddressed totheEuropean Community.