RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/PSI/WP/W/8
2July1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2752)
Working Party onPreshipment Inspection
DATA RELATED TOPRESHIPMENT INSPECTION
Proposed survey bytheChairman
TheChairman oftheWorking Party onPreshipment Inspection hascirculated thefollowing
letter toallMembers.
_______________
"Iwrite inmycapacity asChairman oftheWorking Party onPreshipment Inspection tokindly
requestthatyouforwardtothecompetenttechnicalministry/departmentinyourGovernment,theattached
questionnaire, forcompletion. Thecompleted questionnaire should bereturned toMs.Janet Chakarian,
Market Access Division, attheWorld Trade Organization, by31August 1997.
"Asyouknow,theWorkingPartywasestablishedon13November1996bytheGeneralCouncil
toconduct thereview oftheWTO Agreement onPreshipment Inspection provided forinArticle 6
therein. Theterms ofreference oftheWorking Party are:
'toconduct thereview provided forunder Article 6oftheAgreement onPreshipment Inspection
andtoreporttotheGeneralCouncilthroughtheCouncilforTradeinGoodsinDecember1997.'
"Atthefirstmeeting oftheWorking Party, inFebruary 1997, Irequested delegations toprovide
submissions oftheirindividual national experiences withthePSIAgreement. Since then, onlyfour
suchsubmissions havebeenreceived. Inorder toconduct acredible, data-based review, Ibelieve
thattheWorking Party isinneedofclear, uniform, andmost importantly, verifiable dataonwhich
toassess thePSIAgreement anditsfunctioning. Given Members 'sensitivities inthisareaoftrade
policy, andyetthelimited number ofnational experiences received, aswellasthedearth offactual
dataonthesubject ofPSI,theWorking Party hasauthorized metoconduct thissurvey ofallMember
governments.
"Insum, therefore, please notethattheresults ofthereview oftheAgreement totheGeneral
Council, inDecember, willbemade onthebasisoftheWorking Party'sfourtrack approach. These
are:(i)formal discussions intheWorking Party; (ii)informal consultations withallinterested parties;
(iii)national submissions byMembers; and,(iv)returns from theattached questionnaire."
./.G/PSI/WP/W/8
Page2
Questionnaire: Preshipment Inspection (PSI) Survey
Please provide responses, anddatawhere required, tothefollowing items:
1. Total value ofimports perannum (lastfiveyears forwhich dataareavailable)
(a) Total value ofpreshipment inspected imports perannum (lastfiveyears forwhich data
areavailable)
(b) Percentage ofpreshipment inspected imports usedasabasis ofremuneration ofPSI
entities
2. On-site presence ofPSIentity inimporting country (answer yesorno)
3. Statecustoms valuation method used(Brussels Valuation Definition, Transaction Value, other)
4. Listnational Departments/Ministries dealing withpreshipment inspection andPSIentities
5. (a) Total number ofcomplaints made byuserMembers tothePSIentity
(b) Total number ofcomplaints made byexporters tothePSIentity
6. (a) Average customs clearance timepre-PSI
(b) Average customs clearance timepost-PSI
7. Total number ofmisclassifications thathavebeenreclassified byPSIentity
8. (a) Value ofcustoms revenue pre-PSI (lastfiveyears forwhich dataareavailable)
(b) Value ofcustoms revenue post-PSI (lastfiveyears forwhich dataareavailable)
9. Types oftechnical assistance provided bythePSIentity (such asdevelopment ofdatabases,
training, compliance withtechnical regulations andstandards, etc.)