WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/31
24 July 2000
(00-3053)
Committee on Customs Valuation
COMMUNICATION BY EGYPT UNDER PARAGRAPH 1 OF ANNEX III
OF THE AGREEMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE VII OF
THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Decision
TAKING NOTE of the Government of Egypt’s request under Paragraph 1 of Annex III of the
Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994
(“WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation”), done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994, to extend its delay
in the application of the provisions of that Agreement;
RECOGNIZING that on 30 June 1995 , Egypt became a contracting party to the WTO
Agreement on Customs Valuation and invoked paragra ph 1 of Article 20 of that Agreement to delay
application of its provisions for a period of five years from the date of entry into force of the
Agreement on 30 June 1995, and was therefore scheduled to apply the provisions of that Agreement
by 30 June 2000;
CONSIDERING Egypt has made substantial efforts to implement the provisions of the WTO
Agreement on Customs Valuation;
CONSIDERING also that Egypt has and continues to receive technical assistance in support
of implementation and application of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation, which is
contributing significantly towards achieving that objective;
NOTING Egypt’s long-standing commitment and considerable efforts in reforming and
modernizing its customs administration;
NOTING also Egypt’s objective of ensuring the effective implementation and administration
of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation;
NOTING that Egypt’s authorities have established a detailed work program1, involving the
relevant ministries and agency, to enable the elaboration and approval of its legislation and the
completion of its domestic administrative and legal procedures, including training, dissemination ofinformation, and other actions, for implementing and applying the WTO Agreement on Customs
Valuation;
NOTING that Egypt currently values goods on the basis of officially established minimum
values only for sugar classified under HS heading 17.01.
NOTING also Egypt’s intention not to apply such minimum values to additional products
during the requested extension in the delay of its application of the WTO Agreement on Customs
Valuation and Egypt’s intention not to apply official established minimum values to any products
after the expiration of this requested period of delay;
                                                     
1See attached Annex – Work ProgrammeG/VAL/31
Page 2
NOTING  that the Government of Egypt will implement and apply by 30 June 2001,
Paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Software for Data Processing
Equipment2;
NOTING, that the Government of Egypt does not use or plan to use preshipment inspection
services in customs administration and valuation;
RECOGNIZING Egypt’s indication that this would be a single request for an extension to
delay its implementation of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation;
Members, acting pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 1 of Annex III of the WTO
Agreement on Customs Valuation,
DECIDE, in view of the exceptional circumstances set out above, that:1. Subject to the terms and conditions set out hereunder, Egypt may delay further the
application of the provisions of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation for a
period not extending beyond 30 June 2001.
2. The Government of Egypt shall report by 30 January 2001 to the Committee on
Customs Valuation on the progress in fulfilling the work program in Attachment 1and the status of its implementation of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation,
as well as the terms and conditions of this Decision.
3. The Government of Egypt will, by 30 July 2000, publish and make publically
available the basis, criteria and other relevant information for determining theminimum values for sugar classified under HS 17.01.
4. The Government of Egypt will publish and make publically available any
amendments or changes to the above-mentioned basis, criteria and other relevant
information 60 days before implementing such changes, and will not apply such
changes to importations entering its customs territory prior to the completion of this
60 day notification period;
5. This Decision shall not prejudice the rights and obligations of Egypt under the WTO
Agreements, in particular those rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement on
Customs Valuation.
                                                     
2G/VAL/5.G/VAL/31
Page 3
WORK PROGRAMME DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD
Activity N° of months needed 01/07/2000 – 30/06/2001
Legislative amendments and
issuance of regulations, decreesand instructions6 01/07/2000 – 31/12/2000
Restructuring the organizational
framework of the customs
valuation, legal affairs and
reviews department4 01/09/2000 – 31/12/2000
Setting the necessary training
programs for the customs
valuation employees as follows:
• Providing scientific training
material and trainers
• Preparing the training sites
and providing them with the
necessary equipments
• Tackling the theoretical and
practical phases of the
training programs that has
to be provided to around5000 employees3
3
801/09/2000 – 30/11/2000
01/01/2001 – 31/03/2001
01/10/2000 – 31/05/2001
• Assessing the final results
of the training andembarking upon the
implementation of the
agreement1 31/05/2001 – 30/06/2001
Obtaining the necessary
financing for training and
equipments (faxes, scanners,
internet, modems, etc.)The length of this period depends upon the technical and financial
assistance accorded to Egypt by developed countries
Preparing and publishing thecustoms formats necessary forimplementing the agreement6 01/11/2000 –30/04/2001
Creating the necessary linkages
amongst the Egyptian revenue
bodies, i.e. customs, sales, taxes
for data exchange purposesThe length of this period depends upon the availability of financial
resources and technical assistance accorded
Setting an information mediaprogram for the various bodies
dealing with the customs6 01/11/2000 – 30/04/2001
Establishing a data bank that
could help in implementing the
agreement4 01/01/2001 – 30/04/2001
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