RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/W/63
31 March 2000
(00-1328)
Committee on Customs Valuation
PRESHIPMENT INSPECTION
Note from the Secretariat
At its meeting of 12 and 25 November and 17 December 1999, the Committee on Customs
Valuation agreed that the Secretariat would prepar e, in advance of each regular meeting of the
Committee, a document indicating the situation with regard to countries using preshipment inspection
(PSI) regimes.  This document is the first presenti ng this information which is compiled exceptionally
for the WTO by the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA) Pre-Shipment Inspection
Committee in response to a request by the WTO.   The table below presents this information as at17 March 2000.
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COUNTRY TYPE MANDATED IFIA
PSI MEMBERS*SPLIT
Angola FOREX/CUSTOMS SGS -
Argentina CUSTOMS BIVAC, CONTROL
UNION, ITS,
INSPECTORATE, SGSIMPORTERS
CHOICE
Bangladesh CUSTOMS BIVAC, ITS,
INSPECTORATEGEOGRAPHICAL
Benin FOREX/CUSTOMS BIVAC -
Bolivia CUSTOMS INSPECTORATE, SGS IMPORTERS
CHOICE
Burkina Faso CUSTOMS SGS -
Burundi FOREX SGS -
Cameroon CUSTOMS SGS -
Central African Rep. CUSTOMS SGS -
Comoros FOREX/CUSTOMS COTECNA -
Congo CUSTOMS BIVAC -
Côte d'Ivoire CUSTOMS SGS -
Dem. Rep. of Congo CUSTOMS SGS -
Ecuador CUSTOMS BIVAC, COTECNA,
ITS, SGSIMPORTERS
CHOICE
Ethiopia FOREX/CUSTOMS SGS -
Gambia CUSTOMS BIVAC -
Georgia CUSTOMS ITS -
Ghana1FOREX/CUSTOMS GSBV, COTECNA,
ITS, SGSGEOGRAPHICAL
Guinea CUSTOMS SGS -
Iran2QUALITY/QUANTITY BIVAC, COTECNA,
INSPECTORATE, ITS,
OMIC, SGSIMPORTERS
CHOICE
Iran3CUSTOMS SGS -
Kenya CUSTOMS BIVAC, COTECNA,
SGS-
Liberia CUSTOMS BIVAC -
Madagascar FOREX/CUSTOMS BIVAC -
Malawi CUSTOMS SGS -
Mauritania CUSTOMS SGS -
Mali FOREX/CUSTOMS SGS
Mexico4CUSTOMS BIVAC, ITS, SGS IMPORTERS
CHOICE
Mozambique FOREX/CUSTOMS ITS -
                                                     
1 Existing programme ends on 31 March.  As from 1 April a new programme commences covering
physical inspection by GSBV and GSL on arrival in Ghana and PSI support on valuation and classification.
GSBV & GSL are joint ventures with BIVAC and COTECNA respectively.
2 Only covers quality and quantity of importer's contractual specifications.
3 Voluntary programme at importers' discretion (for trade facilitation): may be undertaken
simultaneously with the quality/quantity programme.
4 Only goods of certain categories and origins published in Article 10 of the "Agreement on Automatic
Imported Advice" are subject to PSI if their unit value is inferior to estimated prices published by the
Government.G/VAL/W/63
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COUNTRY TYPE MANDATED IFIA
PSI MEMBERS*SPLIT
Niger FOREX/CUSTOMS COTECNA -
Nigeria FOREX/CUSTOMS BIVAC, COTECNA,
ITS, SGSGEOGRAPHICAL
Peru CUSTOMS BIVAC, COTECNA,
SGSIMPORTERS
CHOICE
Philippines5CUSTOMS SGS -
Rwanda CUSTOMS SGS -
Senegal CUSTOMS BIVAC, SGS IMPORTERS
CHOICE
Sierra Leone CUSTOMS BIVAC -
Tanzania CUSTOMS COTECNA -
Togo FOREX/CUSTOMS COTECNA -
Uganda CUSTOMS ITS -
Uzbekistan CUSTOMS ITS -
Zanzibar FOREX SGS -
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5 Contracts expires on 31 March.
* Non Members of the IFIA PSI Committee are additionally operating in Argentina and Iran.