RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/ACC/SAU/57 
17 March 2004 
 
 (04-1177) 
Working Party on the Accession 
of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA 
 
Submission from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  
 
Questionnaire on Information, Implementation and Administration of the  
Customs Valuation Agreement 
  
 The following submission, dated 15 March 2004, is being circulated at the request of the 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
  
_______________ 
 WT/ACC/SAU/57 
Page 2  
 
  
QUESTIONNAIRE
 
INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CUSTOMS 
VALUATION AGREEMENT 
1. Questions concerning Article 1: 
(a) Sales between related person: 
i. Are sales between related persons subject to special provisions? 
ii. Is the fact of intercompany prices prima facie considered as grounds for 
regarding the respective prices as being influenced? 
iii. What is the provision for giving the communication of the afore-mentioned 
grounds in writing if the importer so requests? (Article 1.2(a)) 
iv. How has Article 1.2 (b) been implemented? 
Answer:  
There is a provision in Article 1 of the Rules of Implementation of the GCC Common Customs Law 
which says that "no relationship, if any, shall ex ist between the seller and buyer which affects the 
transaction value." 
However, in practice, Saudi Arabia is following th e provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the 
Customs Valuation Agreement. 
 
(b) Price of lost or damaged goods: 
Are there any special provisions or practical arrangements concerning the valuation of 
lost or damaged goods? 
Answer:  
Article 57 of the GCC Customs Law deals with lost  goods. It says:" Customs taxes 'duties' shall be 
levied according to the contents of the customs declaration. Should physical inspection result in a 
difference (discrepancy) between the goods and what is stated in the customs declaration, customs 
taxes and duties shall be levied on the basis of this finding without prejudice to the customs' right to 
levy the applicable fines, when necessary, under the provisions herein" 
As for damaged goods, the value is estimated according to their condition at the time of registration of 
customs declaration, as provided by Article 18 of the GCC Common Customs Law. 
Question 2:  
How has the provision of Article 4 to allo w the importer an option to reverse the order 
of application of Articles 5 and 6 been implemented?  WT/ACC/SAU/57 
 Page 3 
 
 
 Answer:  
Article 1: "Bases of Customs Valuation": paragraph 4, of the Rules of Implementation of the GCC 
Common Customs Law provides that the importer ma y request that deductive value and computed 
value be applied in reverse sequen ce. The request shall be accepted. 
Question 3:  
 How has Article 5.2 been implemented? Answer:
 
Article 5.2 of the Custom Valuation Agreement h as been implemented vide Article 1: " Fourth 
Method: Deductive Value", paragraph 3, of the Rules of Implementation. 
Question 4:  
 How has Article 6.2 been implemented? Answer:
 
Article 6.2 is met in that the customs authoriti es in Saudi Arabia have no authority to compel 
producers of imported goods abroad to produce an y data for determining the customs value. 
Question 5:  
Questions concerning Article 7: 
(a) What provisions have been made for making  value determinations pursuant to Article 
7? 
(b) What is the provision for informing the importer of the customs value determined under 
Article 7? 
(c) Are the prohibitions found in Article 7.2 delineated? 
Answer:  
Article 1 of the Rules of Implementation of the GCC Common Customs Law provides for the 
following: 
(a) Article 1: "Flexible Valuation Methods" of the Rules of Implementation says that if the 
customs value of the imported goods cannot be determined under the first five methods, the 
customs value shall be determined using th e five methods with reasonable flexibility. 
(b) According to Article 1: 1 (2) of the Rules of Implementation, the importer will be furnished, 
upon request, with a written explanation of th e method applied for determining customs 
value. 
(c) Prohibitions found in Article 7.2 of the Customs Valuation Agreement are delineated in 
Article 1 of the Rules of Implementation: "F lexible Valuation Met hods": Imported goods may 
not be valued on the basis of". WT/ACC/SAU/57 
Page 4  
 
 Question 6:
 
 How have the options found in Article 8.2 been  handled? In the case of f.o.b application, 
are ex-factory prices also accepted? 
Answer:  
Article 1: 1(5) of the Rules of Implementation of the GCC Common Customs Law provides that 
freight, insurance and other relevant charges sha ll be included in the customs value (CIF basis). 
Question 7:  
 Where is the rate of exchange published, as required by Article 10? 
Answer:  
Foreign exchange rates are published in the bulletin  of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). 
Question 8:  
 What steps have been taken to ensure confidentiality, as required by Article 10? 
Answer:  
Article 1: 1 (4) of the Rules of Implemen tation contains provisions on confidentiality. 
Question 9:  
 Questions concerning Article 11: 
(a) What rights of appeal are open to the importer or any reason other person 
(b)  How is he to be informed of his right to further appeal? 
Answer:  
(a) According to Article 61 of the GCC Common Customs Law, the importer may appeal 
decisions on customs valuation to the Valuation Committee of the Customs Department. An 
appeal against the decision of the Committee lies to  the court. Article 1: 1(3) of the Rules of 
Implementation also refers to appeals. 
(b) Article 61 of the GCC Common Customs Law provid es that the importer shall be informed in 
writing of the decision on his appeal. Article 61 gives right of appeal to the court. 
Question 10:  
 Provide information on the publication, as required by Article 12, of: 
(a)  
 (i) The relevant national laws;  (ii) The regulations concerning the application of the Agreement;  WT/ACC/SAU/57 
 Page 5 
 
 
  (iii) The judicial decision and administrative rulings of general application relating 
to the Agreement; 
 (iv) General or specific laws being ref erred to in rules of implementation or 
application. 
 (b) Is the publication of further rules anti cipated? Which topics would they cover? 
Answer:  
Laws, regulations, judicial decisions, etc. ar e published in the Official Gazette. Rules of 
Implementation have also been published. Any future  rules also would be published in the Official 
Gazette. 
Question 11:  
Questions concerning Article 13 
(a) How is the obligation of Article 13 (last sentence) being dealt with in the respective 
legislation? 
(b) Have additional explanations been laid down? 
Answer:  
In case of delay or dispute concerning the determin ation of value, Article 62 (b) of the GCC Common 
Customs Law provides that goods can be cleared from customs upon a deposit. No additional explanations have been laid down. 
Question 12:
 
Questions concerning Article 16: 
(a) Does the respective national legislatio n contain a provision requiring customs 
authorities to give an explanation in writing as to how the customs value was 
determined? 
(b) Are there any further regulations concerning an above-mentioned request? WT/ACC/SAU/57 
Page 6  
 
 Answer:
 
(a) Yes, Article 1: 1 (2) of the Rules of Implementation provides that the importer may obtain, 
upon request, a written explanation as to how the customs value was determined. 
(b) No, there are no further regulations. 
Question 13:  
 How have the Interpretative Not es of the Agreement been included? 
Answer:  
According to Article 1: 1(8) of the Rules of Im plementation, the Customs Valuation Agreement shall 
be the reference for the interpretation and applica tion of the Rules of Implementation, thus including 
the Interpretative Notes. 
Question 14:  
 How have the provisions of the Decision of 26 April 1984 on the Treatment of Interest 
Charges in the Customs Value of Imported  Goods (Val/6/Rev.1) been implemented? 
Answer:  
Decision Nº 3.1 of the Customs Valuation Committee is being implemented according to the 
provisions of this decision. 
Question 15:  
For those countries applying paragraph 2 of the Decision of 24 September 1984 on the 
Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Software for Data Processing Equipment (Val/8), 
how have the provisions of this paragraph been implemented? 
Answer:  
Saudi Arabia has opted for paragraph 1 of Decision 4.1 of the Customs Valuation Committee. 
 
__________