RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/HRV/19
29July1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3001)
Original: English
ACCESSION OFCROATIA
Communication from Croatia
Thefollowing information onCustoms Valuation hasbeen received from theMinistry of
Economic Affairs oftheRepublic ofCroatia.
_______________
IMPLEMENTATIONANDADMINISTRATIONOFTHECUSTOMSVALUATIONAGREEMENT
Theprovisions ofcustoms valuation arecontained intheCustoms ActoftheRepublic ofCroatia
(Articles 36-48) intheStatute ontheConditions andMethod ofDetermining Tariff Bases asthe
implementing regulation (Statute).
BothRegulations wereassumed fromtheformer Yugoslavia andarebased ontheAgreement
ontheImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT because theformer Yugoslavia wasacontracting
party tothementioned Agreement from 1973.
Thevalue ofgoods representing thecustoms value isthecontract price (transactional value)
which means theprice actual paidortobepaid.
Thesalesofrelated persons aresubject toArticles 9and10oftheStatute. Intercompany prices
arenotconsidered prima facieasground forregarding therespective prices asbeing influenced only
ifthebuyer proves thatsuchaprice approximates toeither ofthefollowing prices occurring atthe
same timeorabout thesame time:
- thecontract price ofanidentical orsimilar goods agreed uponbyparties whoarenot
connected;
- thecustoms value ofanidentical orsimilar goods determined pursuant toArticle 38
oftheCustoms Act.
Theprovision corresponding totheArticle 1.2(a) oftheAgreement counterparts toArticle
236Paragraph 2and3oftheAct:
(2) "Ifitisestablished thatthedeclaration hasnotbeenaccurately completed, thecustoms
office shallreturn thedeclaration, together withtheenclosed documentation, tothe
person submitting them withanoteregarding theinaccuracies found."
(3) "Iftheperson submitting thedeclaration doesnotagree withthefindings ofthecustoms
office regarding theinaccuracies found, thecustoms office maypassadecision toreject
thedeclaration asinaccurate."
Article 1.2(b) hasbeenimplemented byArticle 10oftheStatute.WT/ACC/HRV/19
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Provisions concerning thevaluation oflostordamaged goods arecontained inArticle 47,
Paragraph 2oftheActandinArticle 31oftheStatute.
According totheArticle 39Paragraph 2oftheAct,theimporter maysubmit therequest to
thecustoms authorities fordetermining thecustoms value irrespective oftheestablished order ofthe
Paragraph 1ofthesame Article, which counterpart totheArticles 5and6oftheAgreement.
Article 5.2oftheAgreement hasbeenimplemented bytheArticle 39Paragraph 1oftheAct
andbyArticle 13oftheStatute. Article 6.2oftheAgreement hasnotbeenimplemented inaway
introduced intheAgreement, butArticle 14oftheStatute corresponds tothisArticle.
Article 40oftheActandArticle 16oftheStatute have been made formaking value
determinationspursuanttoArticle7oftheAgreement.Wedonothaveaspecialprovisionsforinforming
theimporter ofthecustoms valuation determined under Article 7,butinallcases when thecustoms
valuation isdetermined inaccordance withtheprovisions oftheAct,other thaninArticle 36ofthe
Act(Article 1oftheAgreement), customs authorities mustmake areport inawritten formandgive
ittothecustoms brokers orimporter, whomayappel (Article 241Paragraph 2:"Ifthecustoms office
found outduring examination thatthedataonthegoods stated indeclaration andthedocuments enclosed
withit,donotmatch thecondition ofthegoods..., theoffice shallestablish itsfindings inareport
andshallpresent onecopyofittotheperson submitting thedeclaration.
Prohibitions found inArticle 7.2oftheAgreement aredelineated inArticle 40oftheAct,
except those from Article 7.2(b) and(f).
Regarding options found inArticle 8.2allthementioned costswhich havebeenmade abroad
areinclude incustoms value. Inthecaseoff.o.b. application ex-factory prices arealsoaccepted and
thecustoms authorities willaccept asthecustoms value thecontracted price, without adding costs
mentioned inArticle 8.2oftheAgreement.
Therateofexchange ispublished indaily newspapers, publication "Customs News" andit
isalsoavailable tothecustoms brokers inthecustoms offices.
Customs documentation which contains information forthepurposes ofcustoms valuation is
available onlytotheimporters ortheircustoms brokers andissaved incustoms archives which are
treated asconfidential.
Theperson submitting thecustoms declaration (importer orcustoms broker) hastherightof
appeal against anydecision ofthecustoms authority regarding customs value, quality, quantity orkind
ofthegoods andclassification under aCustoms Tariff. Theappeal against thecustoms report orthe
decision must besubmit tothecustoms authorities (Articles 242-243oftheAct).
Therelevant national lawsandregulations concerning theapplication oftheAgreement have
beenpublished inCroatian Official Gazette. Thejudicial decisions andadministrative rulings, aswell
astheinstructions oftheCustoms Directorate, havebeenpublished inapublication "Customs News"
intended forallpersons involved incustoms procedures.
TheArticle 13oftheAgreement fullycounterparts tothearticle 249oftheActwhich gives
opportunity totheperson submitting thedeclaration (importer orcustoms broker) towithdraw goods
fromcustoms ifpaystheamount ofcustoms dutybased ofthedataavailable. Person whopayed customs
dutyonsuchawaymustsubmit tothecustoms authorities thedocuments containing proper information
about customs value, within 30daysofthedateonwhich thedatarequired toestablish thevalue and
nolaterthanthree months afterthedayofimport.WT/ACC/HRV/19
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Customs procedure isasortofadministrative procedure regulated bytheLawonAdministrative
Procedure. According tothisLaw,inalladministrative procedures, decision ofthecompetent authorities
mustbemade inawritten form. Apart fromthistheActcontains Article 235Paragraphs 2and3and
Article 241Paragraph 2requiring customs authorities togiveanexplanation inwriting howthecustoms
value wasdetermined.
Some oftheInterpretative Notes oftheAgreement areincluded intheprovisions oftheStatute
(e.g.Note toarticle 2isincluded inArticle 12oftheStatute etc.)
Wearenotfamiliar withtheprovisions oftheDecision of26April 1984 ontheTreatment
ofInterests Charges intheCustoms Value ofImported Goods (Val/6/Rev.1), sowearenotableto
givetheresponse onthisquestion.