G/VAL/Q/GEO/ 2 
 
9 May 2022  
(23-3271) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF AGREEMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION  OF 
ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT  ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994  
REPLIES FROM GEORGIA TO QUESTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES  
REGARDING DOCUMENT G/VAL/N/1/ GEO/2  
GEORGIA  
The following communication, dated 8 May 2023 , is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of Georgia . 
 
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Question 1  
 
Article 38.2(b) provides, in part, that "Where a value cannot be determined for such condition or 
circumstance, t hat value shall be considered as indirect payment made by the buyer and therefore 
as part of the price actually paid or payable". If the value of the condition or consideration cannot 
be determined, how can the importer add it to the price actually paid or  payable?  
 
Response  
 
If the value of the condition or consideration cannot be determined the importer may provide a 
contract or any other document (such as a contract, letter, waybill. For an exhaustive list please 
consult the Valuation Manual as approved by the Order 21 -297/2022 of the Minister of Finance) .1 
Based on the provided information therein a determination is made within the scope of price actually 
paid or payable.  
 
Question 2  
 
Article 44.4 provides, in part, that "[h]owever, licence fees and intellectual property fees shall be 
included in the customs value of goods if the pieces of intellectual property are inseparable from the 
imported goods and this condition has been specified in the contract. Where the buyer pays the 
license fee to a third person, this shall be agreed with the buyer". Does Georgia consider these 
situations to be exceptions to the rule in Article 8.1(c) of the Customs Valuation Agreement (i.e., 
that in order to be added to the price actually paid or payable,  the royalties must be related to the 
imported goods and paid as a condition of sale)?   
 
Response  
 
Georgia does not consider these situations as an exception from the rules as provided for in the 
Customs Valuation Agreement. In order to be added to the pri ce actually paid or payable the royalties 
or license fees must be related to the specific customs operation concerning the goods in question.  
 
 
1 Link and Link. 
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  Question 3 
 
Article 44.9(g) provides that "costs incurred by the buyer for obtaining the right to distribute or s ell 
imported goods" shall not be included in the customs value if they are shown separately from the 
price actually paid or payable. Can Georgia please explain how this provision is consistent with 
paragraph 2 of the Interpretative Note to Article 1, Parag raph 1(c), which provides that "[p]ayments 
made by the buyer for the right to distribute or resell the imported goods shall not be added to the 
price actually paid or payable for the imported goods if such payments are not a condition of the 
sale for expor t to the country of importation of the imported goods"?  
 
Response  
 
The article provides a baseline for compliance with the Interpretative Note to Article 8 (supposedly 
there is a typo in the G/VAL/Q/GEO/1) allowing the Customs administration to disregard t he 
"payments made by the buyer for the right to distribute or resell the imported goods shall not be 
added to the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods if such payments are not a 
condition of the sale for export to the country of importatio n of the imported goods ". However the 
terms (indicating that the "rights to distribute or resell " are not a condition of the sale for export) 
need to be demonstrated to Customs satisfaction by the declarant.  
 
Question 4 
 
Is Article 45 intended to implement  CVA Committee Decision 4.1 on the Valuation of Carrier Media 
Bearing Software or is the intention to disregard the value of the carrier media when valuing software 
imported on carrier media?  
 
Response  
 
Yes, the article serves to implement the CVA Committee Decision 4.1 on the Valuation of the Carrier 
Media Bearing Software.  
 
Question 5 
 
Could Georgia please explain the process that an importer must use in order to benefit from Article 
46 (simplified procedure for determining the customs value of go ods)?  
 
Response  
 
The A rticle is applied for cases when valuation may be done in accordance with a pre -determined 
value that might be a contract or a special regulatory document. The buyer may amend the value 
at a later date by providing additional document ation correcting the pre -determined value.  
 
Question 6 
 
Could Georgia please explain how the entries in its customs valuation database are kept up to date 
to make sure old values are not used to compare with declared transaction values? Please also 
explain  what information about an identical or similar transaction is shared with the declarant when 
a declared value is being investigated.  
 
Response  
 
The customs valuation database is updated on daily basis by the designated unit responsible for 
upkeep and maintenance. At the same time when comparing the values of declared transactions 
against older values a of similar goods specific timeframe is being applied (filtered, considering the 
nature of the transaction) allowing an up -to-date comparison for the par ticular transaction. When 
customs value is being investigated no further information on identical or similar transaction is being 
shared with the declarant.  
 
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  Question 7  
 
Please clarify how many days a declarant is typically allowed to respond to a Reques t for Information 
or a Value Determination Questionnaire?  
 
Response  
 
The response should not be provided in less than 5 days or in more than 30 days after the request 
has been submitted with the declarant.  
 
Question 8  
 
Can Georgia please specify whether it has implemented Article 10 of the Customs Valuation 
Agreement on confidentiality and, if so, identify the implementing provision?  
 
Response  
 
Article 11 (Customs secret) of the Customs Code of Georgia enables compliance with the 
confidentiality a s provided for in Article 10 of the Customs Valuation Agreement.  
 
Question 9  
 
Has Georgia implemented all of the Interpretative Notes to the Agreement?  
 
Response  
 
Interpretative Notes to the Agreement are implemented and continu ous efforts are being made t o 
ensure a closer adherence to the provisions therein.  
 
Question 10  
 
When can we expect Georgia to submit its responses to the Checklist of Issues found in the Annex 
to the Decisions of the Committee on Customs Valuation in G/VAL/5?  
 
Response  
 
Customs department is carrying out a project related to the Customs Valuation Manual, the project 
seeks to refine related processes and procedures. In the view of the process the timeframe for the 
response to the Checklist has been updated and is expected to be completed during the Q3 of the 
current year.  
 
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