WORLD TRADE G/VAL/10
8January 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0023)
Committee onCustoms Valuation
SECOND ANNUAL REVIEW OFTHE IMPLEMENTATION AND
OPERATION OFTHE AGREEMENT ONIMPLEMENTATION
OFARTICLE VIIOFTHE GENERAL AGREEMENT
ONTARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Background Document bytheSecretariat
Article 23oftheAgreement onImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGeneral Agreement on
Tariffs andTrade 1994 provides that"theCommittee shallreview annually theimplementation and
operation ofthisAgreement taking intoaccount theobjectives thereof".
Themainobjectives oftheAgreement arethose listed intheGeneral Introductory Commentary.
Theannual review oftheCommittee should cover theimplementation andoperation oftheAgreement
inthelightofitsobjectives andspecific obligations.
Atitsmeeting on25October 1996, theCommittee conducted itssecond annual review onthe
basis ofdocument G/VAL/W/13. Thepresent document takes intoaccount thepoints made during
thatreview andthework oftheCommittee atthatmeeting.
Theinformation contained inthisdocument covers theperiod from 1January to
31December 1996.G/VAL/10
Page2
Thecontents ofthisdocument areasfollows:
Page
1. Members, delayed applications, reservations andobserver status 3
2. Officers oftheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation 8
3. Meetings oftheCommittee 8
4. National legislation presented 8
5. Amendments, interpretations andrectifications ofthe
textoftheagreement 9
6. Other decisions taken bytheCommittee 9
7. Technical assistance 9
8. Report bytheTechnical Committee onCustoms Valuation 10
9. Consultation anddispute settlement 10
10. Annual report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods 10G/VAL/10
Page3
1. MEMBERS, DELAYED APPLICATIONS, RESERVATIONS AND OBSERVER STATUS
(a) Members (127)
Angola
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
EC
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvador
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
GermanyGhana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Rep.of
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Macau
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Netherlands
NewZealand
NicaraguaNigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Papua NewGuinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Rwanda
Saint KittsandNevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Spain
SriLanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad andTobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
ZimbabweG/VAL/10
Page4
(b) Delayed Application andReservations1
Theprovisions forspecial anddifferential treatment available fordeveloping country
Members havebeeninvoked asfollows:
(i) Article 20.1(delayed application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement)
Bangladesh
Bolivia
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvador
Gabon
Ghana
Guatemala
Honduras
Indonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Kenya
KuwaitMadagascar
Malaysia
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco2
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Pakistan
Paraguay
Peru2
Philippines
Senegal
Singapore
SriLanka
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
1Forthetextofthecommunications received from these Members, refer todocuments WT/Let/1/Rev.1, dated 2March
1995; WT/Let /1/Rev.2, dated22May1995; WT/Let /19,dated15June1995; WT/Let /24,dated28June1995; WT/Let /28,
dated 21August 1995; WT/Let/29, dated 23August 1995; WT/Let/36, dated 8November 1995; WT/Let/41, dated 20
November 1995; WT/Let/48, dated 20December 1995; WT/Let/72, dated 11April 1996; WT/Let/78, dated 26April
1996; WT/Let/82, dated 10May1996; WT/Let/85, dated 28May1996; WT/Let/106, dated 20August 1996; WT/Let/108,
dated 23September 1996; WT/Let/112, dated 30September 1996.
2Theinvocat ionofthespecialprovisionsavailablefordevelopingcountryMember sunder theCustomsValuationAgreement
1979 shallcontinue toapply under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement forthedeveloping country Member concerned
(WT/L/38).G/VAL/10
Page5
(ii) Article 20.2(delayed application ofthecomputed value method)
Bangladesh
Bolivia
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvador
Gabon
Guatemala
Honduras
Indonesia
Jamaica
Kenya
Kuwait
Madagascar
MalaysiaMali
Malta
Mauritania
Mexico2
Morocco2
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Pakistan
Peru2
Philippines
Senegal
Singapore
SriLanka
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey2
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
(iii) Annex III,paragraph 2(reservation concerning minimum values)
Bangladesh
Burkina Faso
Chile
Colombia
Côted'Ivoire
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Gabon
Guatemala
IndonesiaJamaica
Kenya
Madagascar
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritania
Myanmar
Pakistan
Paraguay
Peru2Philippines
Singapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
_______________
2Theinvocation ofthespecial provisions available fordeveloping country Members under theCustoms Valuation
Agreement 1979 shallcontinue toapply under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement forthedeveloping country Member
concerned (WT/L/38).G/VAL/10
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(iv) Annex III,paragraph 3(reservation concerning reversal ofsequential order ofArticles
5and6)
Argentina2
Bangladesh
Brazil2
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvadorGabon
Guatemala
Honduras
India2
Indonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Kenya
Madagascar
Malawi2
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico2
Morocco2
MyanmarNicaragua
Pakistan
Peru2
Philippines
Singapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey2
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe2
(v) Annex III,paragraph 4(reservation concerning application ofArticle 5.2whether or
nottheimporter sorequests)
Argentina2
Bangladesh
Brazil2
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvador
GabonGuatemala
Honduras
India2
Indonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Kenya
Madagascar
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico2
Morocco2
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Nigeria
PakistanPeru2
Philippines
Singapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey2
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe2
_______________
2Theinvocat ionofthespecialprovisionsavailablefordevelopingcountryMember sunder theTokyo Round Customs
ValuationAgreement shallcontinuetoapplyunder theWTOCustomsValuationAgreement forthedevelopingcountryMember
concerned (WT/L/38).G/VAL/10
Page7
(c) Observer Governments (33)
Albania
Algeria
Armenia
Belarus
Cambodia
China
Congo
Croatia
Estonia
Former Yugoslav Rep. of
MacedoniaGeorgia
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyz Rep.
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova
Mongolia
Nepal
Niger
Oman
PanamaRussian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Seychelles
Sudan
Taipei, Chinese
Tonga
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
VietNam
Zaire
(d) Observer International Organizations
World Customs Organization
IMF
UNCTADG/VAL/10
Page8
2. OFFICERS OFTHE WTO COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
Chairman: Mr.P.Palecka(Czech Republic)
Vice-Chairman: Mr.M.Baumbach (Brazil)
3. MEETINGS OFTHE COMMITTEE
During thereporting period, theCommittee hasheldtwomeetings on25April 1996 andon
25October 1996. Theminutes ofthese meetings arecontained indocuments G/VAL/M/3 and
G/VAL/M/4 (tobeissued), respectively.
4. NATIONAL LEGISLATION PRESENTED
(i) Texts ofnational legislation
Article 22oftheAgreement requires eachMember toinform theCommittee ofany
changes initslawsandregulations relevant totheAgreement andintheadministration ofsuch
laws andregulations. Atitsfirstmeeting, theCommittee agreed onprocedures forthe
notification ofnational legislation (G/VAL/M/1, paragraphs 29-35, 71and72).
During thereporting period, thefollowing communications andtexts have been
submitted:
Argentina G/VAL/N/1/ARG/1
Canada G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1
Czech Republic G/VAL/N/1/CZE/1
Cyprus G/VAL/N/1/CYP/1
Ecuador G/VAL/N/1/ECU/2/Rev.1
European Communities G/VAL/N/1/EEC/Rev.1
Hong Kong G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1
India G/VAL/N/1/IND/1 and2
Japan G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1
Macau G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1
Norway G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1
Slovak Republic G/VAL/N/1/SVK/1
Slovenia G/VAL/N/1/SVN/1
South Africa G/VAL/N/1/ZAF
Turkey G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1
United States G/VAL/N/1/USA/1
(ii) Checklist ofissues
Atitsfirstmeeting,theCommitteeagreedonproceduresforthesubmissionofachecklist
ofissues (G/VAL/M/1, paragraphs 36-39).
During thereporting period, thefollowing communication hasbeensubmitted:
Czech Republic C/VAL/N/1/CZE/2G/VAL/10
Page9
(iii) Examination ofnational legislation
Atitsmeeting of25April 1996, theCommittee pursued itsexamination ofvarious
communications andimplementing legislations. TheCommittee agreed toconclude the
examination ofthelegislations ofCanada (G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1) andtheEuropean Communities
(G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1). Itcontinued examination ofthelegislation ofMexico
(VAL/1/Add.25/Suppl.1, 2and3),andinitiated examination ofthelegislations ofIndia
(G/VAL/N/1/IND/2) andSlovenia (G/VAL/N/1/SVN/1). TheCommittee wasinformed that
fiveMembers, Hong Kong (G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1), Japan (G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1), Norway
(G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1), theSlovak Republic (G/VAL/N/1/SVK/1) andtheUnited States
(G/VAL/N/1/USA/1), hadsubmitted communications indicating thattheirlegislation notified
under theTokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreement remained validunder theWTO Customs
Valuation Agreement.
Atthemeeting of25October, theCommittee agreed toconclude theexamination of
thelegislations oftheCzech Republic (G/VAL/N/1/CZE/1), Macau (G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1),
Slovenia (G/VAL/W/9 andG/VAL/W/10), andSouth Africa (G/VAL/N/1/ZAF). Itcontinued
examination ofthelegislations ofMexico, andIndia (G/VAL/W/8). TheCommittee was
informed thatBrazil (G/VAL/N/1/BRZ/1) hadsubmitted acommunication indicating thatits
legislation notified under theTokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreement remained validunder
theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement. TheCommittee tooknoteofthecommunication
fromtheCzechRepubliccontainingitsresponsestotheChecklistofIssues(G/VAL/N/1/CZE/2).
(iv) Information ontheapplication oftheCommittee Decisions
Information ontheapplication oftheDecision ontheTreatment ofInterest Charges
intheCustoms Value ofImported Goods andofparagraph 2oftheDecision ontheValuation
ofCarrier Media Bearing Software forDataProcessing Equipment (G/VAL/5), made available
byMembers, issummarized indocument G/VAL/W/5/Rev.1.
5. AMENDMENTS, INTERPRETATIONS AND RECTIFICATIONS OFTHETEXT OFTHE
AGREEMENT
Atitsfirstmeeting on12May1995, theCommittee adopted thedecisions relating tothe
interpretation oftheAgreement, which hadpreviously beenadopted bytheTokyo Round Committee
(G/VAL/M/1, paragraphs 66-67). Thedecisions werereproduced indocument G/VAL/5. Nonew
decisions relating tointerpretation oftheAgreement were adopted during thereporting period.
6. OTHER DECISIONS TAKEN BYTHE COMMITTEE
Atitsfirstmeeting on12May1995, theCommittee adopted otherdecisions which arecontained
indocument G/VAL/5. TheCommittee alsoadopted decisions thatwere referred bytheMinisters
atMarrakesh totheCommittee foradoption. Thetextsofthedecisions arecontained indocument
G/VAL/1. Noother decisions were adopted during thereporting period.
7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Technical assistance aimed athelping countries intheirpreparations fortheapplication ofthe
Agreement hascontinued tobeamatter ofhighpriority toMembers, theCommittee onCustoms
Valuation andtheTechnical Committee. Technical assistance isbeing made available tobothdeveloping
country Members andother developing countries interested intheAgreement.G/VAL/10
Page10
InformationontechnicalassistanceactivitiesiscontainedindocumentG/VAL/8whichreproduces
information contained inWCO document 40.582.
8. REPORT BYTHE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
Meetings oftheTechnical Committee
Therepresentative oftheWorld Customs Organization (WCO) presented detailed oralreports
ontheSecond andThird Sessions oftheTechnical Committee onCustoms Valuation, heldon
4-8March 1996 and30September-4 October 1996, respectively.
TheCommittee onCustoms Valuation tooknoteofthese reports andexpressed appreciation
forthecontinued valuable work oftheTechnical Committee.
9. CONSULTATION AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
TheCommittee tooknoteoftherequest forconsultations bytheEuropean Communities
(WT/DS53/1), Norway (WT/DS53/2) andSwitzerland (WT/DS53/3) with Mexico pursuant to
ArticleXXII:1oftheGATT1994andArticle4oftheUnderstandingonRulesandProceduresGoverning
theSettlement ofDisputes, concerning theMexican Customs LawandtheResolution establishing the
general rulesgoverning theapplication ofthecustoms provisions oftheNorth American FreeTrade
Agreement. TheCommittee alsotooknoteoftherequest forconsultations bytheUnited States with
Argentina under Article 19oftheCustoms Valuation Agreement, Article 4oftheUnderstanding on
Rules andProcedures Governing theSettlement ofDisputes, Article XXII:1 oftheGATT 1994, and
Article 14oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade onmeasures affecting imports offootwear,
textiles, apparel andother items.
10. ANNUAL REPORT TOTHE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS (G/VAL/W/11)
TheCommittee adopted itsannual report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods inaccordance with
therequirements ofArticle 23oftheAgreement (G/L/121).