RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/VAL/W/18
26May1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2192)
Original: English Committee onCustoms Valuation
PROPOSAL FROM THE UNITED STATES ONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
INCUSTOMS VALUATION -THE NEED FOR ACOOPERATIVE APPROACH
Thefollowing communication, which wascirculated informally atthemeeting oftheCommittee
onCustoms Valuation on24April 1997, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent Mission oftheUnited
States.
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Inthepastyear, wehaveconducted informal consultations concerning valuation withmany
developing country members whohavedelayed application oftheprovisions ofthisAgreement pursuant
toArticle 20.Itisapparent thatthetechnical assistance requirements related topreparing for
implementation oftheAgreement areoften unique foreachofthese developing country Members,
being quite dependent upon legalandstructural factors thatvaryfrom Member toMember.
Inthisregard,wehavealsoconsultedinformallywithseveraldevelopedcountryWTOMembers
thatprovidetechnicalassistancerelatedtoimplementationoftheValuationAgreement.Thishasbrought
about discussions related totheneedtoavoid redundancy, tobring about better cohesion oftechnical
assistance efforts, andtoensure fulleffectiveness ofsuch technical assistance asitrelates to
implementation oftheAgreement.
ItisclearthattheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation mustbegin togiveattention tothe
matter oftechnical assistance, working collectively, onmutually agreed terms, toensure acertain
cohesion andeffectiveness totheoperation ofArticle 20oftheAgreement.
TheroleoftheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation
Itmustbestressed thatthisisnotatechnical issue; rather, itisamatter related tothesuccessful
operation ofaWTO Agreement andthefurtherance ofitsobjectives. Most important, itisamatter
involving WTO obligations.
There isnosuggestion thattheWTO Committee itselfbecome involved intheactual conducting
oftechnical assistance programs. Instead, weobserve thatitistheresponsibility oftheWTO Committee
toprovide thenecessary leadership andtoengage incooperative efforts toachieve theobjectives of
thisAgreement -which include asimple, equitable, andmostofall,uniform implementation ofvaluation
procedures. Working together inthisfashion willensure thattheexpertise represented bytheCCC’s
Technical Committee willbestassist usinmeeting ourobjectives under theAgreement.
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Theimportant roleofeffective technical expertise
There arefourfundamental elements thatneedtobeaddressed inthecontext ofdeveloping
andproviding technical assistance related toimplementation oftheCustoms Valuation Agreement:
(1)thelevel ofunderstanding oftheprovisions oftheAgreement; (2)thestatutory orregulatory
framework related toprocedures anddocumentary requirements; (3)theadministrative organizational
structure; and(4)theexistence ofeffective administrative verification procedures, utilizing "good
customs practices." Itiswithin thescope ofthese fourbasic elements thatthesituations andlevel
ofexpertise anddevelopment varyfrom Member toMember.
Foreachofthese elements, though, there isextensive technical expertise available, residing
notonlyunder theauspices oftheTechnical Committee attheCCC, butalsowithin individual developed
country Members andunder theumbrella ofsome regional arrangements.
Assessment ofindividual needs asafirststep
Inorder toensure themost efficient andeffective useoftechnical assistance, thefirststep
mustbeanassessment ofthese fourelements, based ontheneeds oftherecipient. Thiscanbestbe
donecooperatively, through means suchasaquestionnaire orevenan"on-site" assessment withexperts
working together intheMember seeking technical assistance. Based onthiscooperative determination
ofneeds, itcanthenbedetermined astothemostefficient andeffective method toprovide andutilize
theappropriatetechnicalassistance,whetherdeliveredthroughtheexpertiserepresentedbytheTechnical
Committee attheCCC, onaregional basis, orthrough anindividual developed country Member.
Amethod toproceed
TheUnited States proposes:
- TheWTOCommitteeonCustomsValuationestablishaninformalworkgroup,tofurtherdevelop
theappropriate course ofaction, functioning asaninformal policy steering group ontechnical
assistance efforts related toimplementation oftheAgreement.
- Inconjunction withtheestablishment oftheinformal workgroup, theChairman should conduct
informal consultations withbothdeveloped anddeveloping country Members astothemost
efficient waytoproceed cooperatively inbringing cohesion andefficiency totechnical assistance
efforts.
- TheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation request theTechnical Committee attheCCC to
prepare, before thenextmeeting oftheWTO Committee, thetechnical aspects ofanefficient
methodology forassessing theindividual needs ofdeveloping country Members withregard
totechnical assistance inpreparing forimplementation oftheAgreement ’sprovisions.