WORLD TRADE G/L/2051
18November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5061)
REPORT OFTHE COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
TOTHE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
A. Background
1. Thisreport covers theyear1997. Itaddresses thework undertaken bytheCommittee on
Customs Valuation (theCommittee) inrespect oftheobjectives oftheAgreement, which are:toprovide
greater uniformity andcertainty intheimplementation oftheprovisions ofArticle VIIoftheGATT
1994; toestablish afair,uniform andneutral system forthevaluation ofgoods forcustoms purposes
thatprecludes theuseofarbitrary offictitious customs values; toensure thatthebasis forvaluation
ofgoods forcustoms purposes should, tothegreatest extent possible, bethetransaction value ofthe
goods being valued; andtosecure additional benefits fortheinternational tradeofdeveloping countries.
2. During theperiod under consideration, theCommittee hasheldtwoformal meetings, on
25April 1997 (G/VAL/M/5) and23October 1997 (G/VAL/M/6). The Committee elected
Mr.Tullio diPietro (Italy) asChairman andMr.Ernesto deLaGuardia (Argentina) asVice-Chairman
for1997.
3. Participation intheCommittee isopentoallWTO Members. Inaddition, Governments granted
observer status bytheWTO General Council attended Committee meetings asobservers. AttheApril
meeting, theCommittee granted observer status tothose organizations which hadhadobserver status
onanadhocbasis, namely UNCTAD andtheWCO, aswellastotheACP andtheIADB. The
Committee tooknoteofthefactthattheWorld Bank andtheIMFhadobserver status byvirtue of
theAgreements between these organizations andtheWTO.
4. TheCommittee 'srulesofprocedure, which wereapproved bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods,
arecontained inG/L/146.
B. Implementation oftheAgreement
5. TheCommittee examined thenational legislations ofsixMembers, fourofwhich havebeen
submitted during theperiod under consideration. TheCommittee concluded itsexamination ofthe
legislations ofBulgaria, Fiji,andLiechtenstein. Withrespect tothelegislations ofMexico, India and
Singapore, theCommittee tooknoteofthevarious points raised andtheexplanations furnished, and
agreed tocontinue theexamination.
6. Inconformity withArticle 20.1oftheAgreement, 51developing country Members aredelaying
application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement (seeAnnex). Understanding hasbeenreached inthe
Committee thatthetextsofthenational legislation ofthesedeveloping country Members willbesupplied
1ThisdocumentcancelsandreplacesdocumentG/VAL/12circulatedon6November1997inEnglish
only. Thenewsymbol isappropriate forcirculation asadocument tobeconsidered bytheCouncil
forTrade inGoods.G/L/205
Page2
totheCommitteebeforethedevelopingcountryMembersbeginapplyingtheprovisionsoftheAgreement
(G/VAL/5, para. B2(ii)).
7. Todate15Members havesubmitted communications indicating thattheirlegislation notified
undertheTokyoRoundCustomsValuationAgreementremainedvalidundertheWTOCustomsValuation
Agreement; inaddition 13Members havenotified either theircomplete national legislation oncustoms
valuation oramendments thereto; 38Members havenotyetmade anynotification (seeAnnex). The
Chairman oftheCommittee hasrepeatedly expressed concern thatanumber ofMembers havenot
yetcomplied withthenotification requirements, andurged those Members whohavenotyetdoneso
tosubmit theirnotifications without further delay.
8. TwoMembers havenotified theirapplication ofparagraph 2oftheDecision oftheCommittee
onCustoms Valuation onValuation ofCarrier-Media Bearing Software forDataProcessing Equipment
(SeeAnnex). These Members alsonotified theirapplication oftheDecision ontheTreatment ofInterest
Charges intheCustoms Value ofImported Goods.
9. TheCommittee tooknoteofaletter fromtheDirector oftheValuation Directorate oftheWCO,
circulated inG/VAL/W/12 providing explanation ofthecircumstances where thecostofsoftware
"imported" bysatellite mayformpartofthecustoms value ofimported goods. Thiswasinresponse
totheChairman 'sletter totheChairman oftheWCO Technical Committee circulated indocument
G/VAL/W/7. Ittooknoteofthediscussion intheTechnical Committee onthisissue anditsreferral
ofthismatter toappropriate experts, andagreed toconclude examination ofthisquestion. The
Committeealsoagreedtorectifytheterm"entretenimiento"intheSpanishtextoftheAgreementthrough
theissuance ofaProcès Verbal subsequently circulated indocument WT/Let/147. TheCommittee
alsotooknoteofthereport onthework oftheFourth (3-7March 1997) andFifth(6-10 October 1997)
Sessions oftheTechnical Committee oftheWCO.
10. AttheApril meeting, theCommittee discussed aproposal bytheUnited States indocument
G/VAL/W/18 ontechnical assistance activities. Three informal meetings weresubsequently heldto
allow further discussion aswellastoimprove awareness andunderstanding ofthetechnical activities
carried outorbeing carried outbyinternational organizations andMembers either bilaterally or
regionally. AttheOctober meeting, theCommittee agreed toengage inamore active rolewithregard
totechnical assistance activities initially bydiscussing technical assistance needs andactivities aimed
atimplementation oftheAgreement inamore systematic andformal manner. Oneoftheaimsofthis
work istostreamline andtailor technical assistance activities totheparticular needs ofeachdeveloping
countryMember.ArequestforinformationwascirculatedbytheChairmantoallMembers(G/VAL/11)
forcompletion andsubsequent review.G/L/205
Page3
ANNEX
(i) Members whohaveindicated thattheirlegislation remains valid under theWTO Customs
ValuationAgreementinaccordancewiththedecisiontakenbytheCommittee(G/VAL/M/1)(15)
Australia (G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1) NewZealand (G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1)
Argentina (G/VAL/N/1/ARG/1) Norway (G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1)
Brazil (G/VAL/N/1/BRZ/1) Romania (G/VAL/N/1/ROM/1)
Hong Kong, China (G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1) SlovakRepublic(G/VAL/N/1/SVK/1)
Hungary (G/VAL/N/1/HUN/1) Switzerland (G/VAL/N/1/CHE/1)
Japan (G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1) Turkey (G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1)
Korea (G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1) United States (G/VAL/N/1/USA/1)
Zimbabwe (G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1)
(ii) Members whohavesubmitted theirlegislations oramendments inaccordance withArticles 22.1
and22.2oftheAgreement (13)
Bulgaria (G/VAL/N/1/BLG/1) Liechtenstein (G/VAL/N/1/LIE/1)
Canada (G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1) Macau (G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1)
Czech Republic (G/VAL/N/1/CZE/1) Mexico(VAL/1/Add.25/Suppl.1/Rev.1,
European Communities (G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1) Suppl.2, andSuppl.3)
Fiji(G/VAL/N/1/FJI/1) Slovenia (G/VAL/N/1/SVN/1)
Iceland (G/VAL/N/1/ISL/1) Singapore (G/VAL/N/1/SGP/1)
India (G/VAL/N/1/IND/ 2) South Africa (G/VAL/N/1/ZAF)
(iii) Members delaying application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement inaccordance withArticle
20.1oftheAgreement (51)
Bahrain (WT/Let/149) Kuwait (WT/Let/72)
Bangladesh (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Madagascar (WT/Let/85)
Bolivia (WT/Let/48) Malaysia (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Brunei Darussalam (WT/Let/36) Mali(WT/Let/78)
Burkina Faso(WT/Let/19) Malta (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Burundi (WT/Let/24) Mauritania (WT/Let/82)
Cameroon (WT/Let/41) Mauritius (WT/Let/1/Rev.2)
Central African Republic (WT/Let/19) Morocco (Decision inWT/L/38)
Chile (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Myanmar (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Colombia (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Nicaragua (WT/Let/29)
Costa Rica(WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Nigeria (WT/Let/106)
Côted'Ivoire (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Pakistan (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Cuba (WT/Let/19) Paraguay (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Djibouti (WT/Let/108) Peru(Decision inWT/L/38)
Dominican Republic (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Philippines (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Ecuador (WT/Let/72) Senegal (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Egypt (WT/Let/19) SriLanka (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
ElSalvador (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Thailand (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Gabon (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Togo (WT/Let/19)
Ghana (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Tunisia (WT/Let/1/Rev.2)
Guatemala (WT/Let/24) Uganda (WT/Let/108)
Honduras (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) United Arab Emirates (WT/Let/72)
Indonesia (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Uruguay (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Israel (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Venezuela (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Jamaica (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Zambia (WT/Let/28)
Kenya (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)G/L/205
Page4
(iv) Members whohavemade nonotifications (38)
Antigua &Barbuda Malawi
Angola Maldives
Barbados Mongolia
Belize Mozambique
Benin Namibia
Botswana Niger
Chad Papua NewGuinea
Congo Poland
Cyprus Qatar
Democratic Republic ofCongo Rwanda
Dominica Saint Kitts&Nevis
Ethiopia Saint Lucia
Gambia Saint Vincent &Grenadines
Grenada Sierra Leone
Guinea Bissau Solomon Islands
Guinea, Rep.of Suriname
Guyana Swaziland
Haiti Tanzania
Lesotho Trinidad &Tobago
(v) Members whohavenotified theirapplication ofparagraph 2ofthedecision oftheCommittee
onCustoms Valuation onValuation ofCarrier Media Bearing Software forDataProcessing
Equipment
Brunei Darussalam (G/VAL/N/3/BRN/1)
Singapore (G/VAL/N/3/SGP/1)