RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/PSI/WP/W/3/Suppl.1
3October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4181)
Original: English Working Party onPreshipment Inspection
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ONNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
WITH THE AGREEMENT ONPRESHIPMENT INSPECTION
Communication from Ghana
Thefollowing communication, dated 26September 1997, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofGhana.
_______________
Asafollow-up toGhana 'spresentation onnational experience, theenclosed communication
isbeing submitted withtheobjective ofaddressing some oftheissues raised intheChairman 'sworking
paper andother issues being addressed inthediscussions oftheWorking Party.
"Following acareful study oftheChairman 'sWorking Paper, andthesubmissions made by
individual countries, aswellastheconcerns raised byvarious participating countries, during theformal
discussions intheWorking Party (WP) Ghana wishes tomake afurther contribution tothedeliberations
ofthisWorking Party.
Asnoted during thepresentation ofournational experience, PSIisaveryuseful trade and
fiscal,policyinstrumentwhichhasrecordedverysignificantall-roundgainsforoureconomy.However,
wealsodorecognize thatimprovements need tobemade, particularly inrelation totheissue of
complaints. Onemajor source ofcomplaint fromourimporters isCustoms Valuation. They consider
thatthese values should notbehigher thantheactual prices paidforthegoods. Whilst wemay
understand theirconcern, thePSIentities arenottoblame sincetheyareonlycarrying outthemandate
given them byourCustoms authorities touseaspecific valuation system forimport dutypurposes.
There havealsobeensome delays, admittedly, butoninvestigation, these aremainly dueto
actions andinactions ofexporters. Cases where delays areduetoactions ofPSIentities areusually
dealtwithbyoursupervisory authorities inGhana.
Ineffect therefore, werecognize thatthere isroom forimprovement. Wearetherefore
participating inthisWorking Party withapositive andopenmindtoseekagreeable solutions toenhance
theimplementation ofthisdelicately balanced agreement, andtocontribute positively toourcollective
effort tohelpstrengthen thisimportant agreement.
Tobegin with, wemayneedtoremind ourselves ofafewbasic points:
(a) ThatPrice Verification, where weensure thattransaction prices arenotsetbeyond
reasonable levels, isnotthesamethingasCustoms Valuation, where national customs
authorities laydown procedures fordetermining thevalue ofgoods forcustoms duty
purposes.
./.G/PSI/WP/W/3/Suppl.1
Page2
(b) Thatthereisalways therealpossibility thattransaction pricelevels could bedoubtful,
andthisrecognition liesbehind such concepts asDumping, Anti-Dumping, and
Countervailing actions. Ontheother hand, national obligations under theCustoms
Valuation Agreement should berecognized, andnotbesubjected tointerpretations
inthisforum.
Interms ofconcrete proposals inresponse toconcerns raised, Ghana believes thatthereisneed
forusercountries toengage theservices ofreputable companies whoshould berecognized byIFIA.
Thisisimportant toensure credibility, reliability andconfidentiality aswell. Besides Ghana supports
thecallforPSIentities toberepresented byaffiliates inallmajor exporting countries, andinrecognized
focal locations forother countries andterritories.
Ghana alsowishes topropose fortheconsideration oftheWorking Party torecommend acode
ofethics which should bebinding onallPSIentities. Thisobligation should bebacked upwithperiodic
auditing ofPSIentities toensure compliance notonlywiththePSIAgreement butalsowiththecode
ofethics andthecontract agreements ofthese companies withusercountries. Thismayeffectively
address suchcrucial concerns astransparency, confidentiality, neutrality andgeneral corporate good
behaviour which issues havebeenraised inthisforum.
Asregards concerns raised about earnings ofPSIentities andtheirneutrality, Ghana willbe
supportive ofmeasures toenhance neutrality byusing declared values asthebasisforcomputing their
earnings, rather thanrevised orassessed values.
Ontheissue ofnotifications, weconsider itimportant forusercountries toliveuptotheir
obligations bytaking theirnotifications andthepublication ofinformation seriously. There maybe
theneedhowever, foradvanced countries toconsider theprovision, onbilateral basis, ofsupport in
whatever form, toimprove thesituation regarding transparency interms ofnational regulations and
administrative directives.
Asregards theoperations oftheIndependent Entity, thenon-use ofthefacility should notbe
metwithanyhasty action atthisstage. Ghana issupportive ofproposals toallow thebusiness
community timetoadjust totheprocedures asprovided under theAgreement. Ghana onceagain wishes
toreassure theWorking Party thatusercountries aredetermined toliveuptotheirobligations by
monitoring thePSIentities toensure areliable andtransparent implementation ofthePSIAgreement."