G/VAL/N/1/RUS/5  
 
16 October 2019  
(19-6695) Page: 1/7 
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: English  
 
 NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE AGREEMENT ON  
IMPLEMENTATION OF AR TICLE VII OF THE GEN ERAL  
AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS  AND TRADE 1994  
RUSSIAN FEDERATION  
The following submission, dated 14 October  2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the Russian Federation.  
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The Russian Federation notifies the following legislation on customs valuation:  
- The Rules of the Application of the Reserve Method (method 6) in Deter mining the Customs 
Value of Goods, approved by Decision of the Collegium of the Eurasian Economic Commission 
No. 138 of 6 August 2019 . 
The above -mentioned document is authentic in the Russian language, and the English translation 
(attached) is for referenc e only by the Committee and Members of the World Trade Organization.  
The original version of these documents in the Russian language can be found on the following web -
site: https://docs.eaeunion.org/docs/ru -ru/01422670/clcd_08082019_138 . 
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  G/VAL/N/1/RUS/5  
 
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  UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION  
APPROVED  
by Decision of the Collegium  
of the Eurasian Economic Commission  
No. 13 8 of 6 August  2019  
The Rules of the Application of the Reserve Method ( method 6)  
in Determining the Customs Value of Goods  
 
1. These Rules are used in applying the reserve method (method 6) set by Article 45 of the Customs 
Code of the Eurasian Economic Union (hereafter - the Code).  
2. These Rules have been developed on the basis of the provisions of Chapter 5 of the Code, the 
Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, 
including explanatory notes thereto, as well as the documents of the Technical Committee on 
Customs Val uation of the World Customs Organisation in order to ensure uniform application of the 
reserve method (method 6).  
3. The reserve method (method 6) is applied if the customs value of goods imported into the customs 
territory of the Eurasian Economic Union ( hereafter - the Union) can not be determined in accordance 
with Articles 39, 41 - 44 of the Code due to the nonconformity of the circumstances of importation 
of goods being valued with the conditions for application of each of the methods set by Articles 39 , 
41 - 44 of the Code, and (or) due to lack of necessary information for application of those methods. 
For example, the importation of works of art and cultural property for their demonstration at 
exhibitions, the importation of products having no analogue s for testing, etc.  
The customs value of goods by application of the reserve method (method 6) is determined on the 
basis of information available on the customs territory of the Union by using reasonable methods 
compatible with the principles and provisi ons of Chapter 5 of the Code, and when determining it, 
reasonable flexibility is allowed when applying the methods for determining the customs value of 
goods, set by Articles 39, 41 - 44 of the Code.  
4. According to paragraph 3 of Article 45 of the Code, if it is possible to flexibly apply several methods 
for determining the customs value of goods, it is necessary to follow their consequent application.  
In this case, the decision on the flexible application of one method or another should be taken in 
each case on the basis of the available information that most fully meets the requirements of the 
relevant article of Chapter 5 of the Code, provided that this does not contradict to the provisions of 
paragraph 5 of Article 45 of the Code.  
5. When determining t he customs value of imported goods in accordance with Article 45 of the Code, 
in particular, the following is allowed:  
a)  to determine the customs value of the goods valued, the value of the transaction of identical 
or similar goods produced in a country other than the country in which the goods being valued 
were produced can be taken as a basis;  
b)  when determining the customs value of the goods being valued on the basis of the transaction 
value of identical or similar goods, a reasonable deviation from the requirements established 
by Articles 41 and 42 of the Code, respectively, is allowed, that goods identical or similar to 
the goods being valued must be sold for exportation to the customs territory of the Union and 
imported into the customs territory o f the Union in the same or in the corresponding period of 
time as the goods being valued, but not earlier than 90 days before importation into the 
customs territory of the Union of valued goods;  
c)  in order to determine the customs value of the goods bein g valued, the customs value of the 
goods identical or similar to the goods being valued determined in accordance with Articles  43 
and 44 of the Code may be taken as a basis,  
d)  in determining the customs value of the goods being valued in accordance with Article 43 of 
the Code, deviation from the period established by paragraph 3 of Article 43 of the Code is 
allowed;  G/VAL/N/1/RUS/5  
 
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  e)  when determining the customs value of the goods being valued, the customs value of goods 
of the same class or type (not identical or simi lar) determined in accordance with Articles 43 
and 44 of the Code, as well as the customs value of goods of the same class or type (not 
identical or similar) determined in accordance with Articles 41 and 42 of the Code, may be 
taken as a basis.  
6. The pro visions of paragraph 5 of these Rules are not the exhaustive examples of the flexible 
application of methods for determining the customs value of goods established by Articles 39,  
41 - 44 of the Code. In determining the customs value of imported goods by the reserve method 
(method 6) other reasonable methods may be used, provided that they do not contradict to the 
provisions of paragraph 5 of Article 45 of the Code.  
So, in particular, examples of the application of the reserve method (method 6), based on t he 
principles and provisions of Chapter 5 of the Code, are:  
-  determination of the customs value of damaged goods by the reserve method (method 6), as 
established by the Regulation on Specifics of Application of Methods on Determination of 
Customs Value of the Goods Imported into the Common Customs Territory of the Customs 
Union, which Became Useless, Spoiled or Damaged due to Accident or Force Majeure, 
approved by the Decision of the Collegium of the Eurasian Economic Commission of 
25 June 2013 No. 145; 
-  determination of the customs value of illegally imported goods by the reserve method 
(method  6), as established by the Regulation on Specifics of Application of Methods on 
Determination of  Customs Value of Goods Moved through the Customs Borde r of the Customs 
Union with the Non Declaration, approved by the Decision of the Collegium of the Eurasian 
Economic Commission of 27 August 2013 No. 180.    
7. When determining the customs value of goods by the reserve method (method 6), taking into 
accoun t the provisions of subparagraph "a" of paragraph 5 of these Rules, identical or similar goods 
previously imported into the customs territory of the Union are considered, provided that factors 
affecting the cost of goods are comparable (for example, social  economic development of the 
countries of production, conditions of the transactions being compared, volume of consignments, 
delivery conditions, modes of transportation).  
8. When determining the customs value of goods by the reserve method (method 6), ta king into 
account the provisions of subparagraphs "b" and "d" of paragraph 5 of these Rules, a reasonable 
deviation from the time limits established by Articles 41 to 43 of the Code means using the time 
frame within an unchangeable or close to unchangeable  market conditions. So, for example, in 
relation to seasonal goods (outerwear, fresh fruits of a new crop, etc.), it is necessary to take into 
account the time of the year, the season, the period of mass ripening of fruits, the time of harvesting, 
etc.  
9. When determining the customs value of goods by the reserve method (method 6), taking into 
account the provisions of subparagraph "c" of paragraph 5 of these Rules, the customs value 
(accepted by the customs authority) of goods identical or similar to the goods being valued may be 
used, which meet the established criteria for identity (appearance, physical characteristics, quality, 
market reputation, manufacturer) or uniformity (physical characteristics, components made from 
the same materials, quality, mar ket reputation, trademark, producer, corresponding functions and 
commercial interchangeability) of goods.  
10. When determining the customs value of goods by the reserve method (method 6), taking into 
account the provisions of subparagraph "e" of paragraph  5 of these Rules, goods of the same class 
or type (not identical or similar) previously imported into the customs territory of the Union shall be 
considered if have the quality and reputation in the market, similar to the goods being valued due 
to the com bination of consumer properties that determine the corresponding price range.  
In this case, it is necessary to take into account the maximum possible similarity of goods; it is 
possible to use information about goods of the same class or type (which are no t identical or similar) 
only if there is no information about identical or similar goods.  G/VAL/N/1/RUS/5  
 
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  When determining the customs value using the reserve method (method 6), taking into account the 
provisions of subparagraph "e" of paragraph 5 of these Rules, the prov isions of paragraphs 7 and 8 
of these Rules in relation to the comparability of factors and market conditions shall also apply.  
11. When determining the customs value of goods by the reserve method (method 6), the 
requirements of Chapter 5 of the Code on documentary confirmation of the customs value of goods 
and information related to its determination must be met.     
12. If in de termining the customs value of goods by the reserve method (method 6), information on 
identical or similar goods, goods of the same class or type (not identical or similar), is used, the 
sources of such information should contain information that allows co rrelation of such the goods with 
the goods being valued (in particular, information such as a description of the goods, their technical 
characteristics, commercial names and other characteristics depending on the type of goods).  
13. Subject to the requirem ents set by paragraph 4 of Article 45 of the Code, to determine the 
customs value of the goods being valued on the basis of the customs value of previously imported 
goods accepted by the customs authority, the information stated in the customs declaration,  
including the customs value declaration (if filled out), regarding previously imported goods, is used.  
14. When determining the customs value of goods by the reserve method (method 6), price data 
from neutral sources of information (catalogues of indepen dent firms; publications containing a 
detailed description of a specific product and a clear definition of the price structure; published, 
including on the Internet, or distributed, official price lists for goods or trade offers of firms for the 
supply of specific goods and prices), as well as stock quotes (stock price indices) and data from the 
assessment reports carried out by organizations (individuals) engaged in the evaluation activity, 
may be used.   
15. When using the price data specified in paragrap h 14 of these Rules, the following must be 
considered:  
a)  price data related to goods that are identical or similar with the goods being valued is mostly 
used;  
b)  in the absence of price data for identical or similar goods, data on goods of the same clas s or 
type (which are not identical or similar) can be used only if such the goods have quality and 
market reputation that are similar to the goods being valued due to a set of consumer 
properties that determine the appropriate price range, as indicated in paragraph 10 of these 
Rules;  
c)  price data from neutral sources of information is used only if such data reflects current offers 
for the sale of goods for export to the customs territory of the Union within the limits of 
unchangeable or close to unchangea ble market conditions;  
d)  when using neutral sources of information, various economic factors are taken into account, 
including countries of production, volume of consignments, delivery conditions, modes of 
transportation and other factors affecting the v alue of the goods;  
e)  the use of price data does not contradict the provisions of paragraph 5 of Article 45 of the 
Code.  
16. When applying the reserve method (method 6), it is not allowed to use average price data for 
generalized groups of goods (for exam ple, women's shoes, men's suits, perfumes, grape wine, etc.).  
17. Chapter 5 of the Code does not establish any special requirements for sources of information 
used in determining the customs value of goods, but paragraph 1 of Article 45 of the Code establi shes 
the condition that the customs value of goods is determined on the basis of information available on 
the customs territory of the Union. Thus, the mere fact of using information from sources of states 
that are not members of the Union does not preclud e the use of these sources to determine the 
customs value of goods, but provided that such information is available on the customs territory of 
the Union and it is possible to verify its accuracy.   
 
 G/VAL/N/1/RUS/5  
 
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  Examples for the reserve method (method 6)  
Example 1.  The product "Harley -Davidson motorcycle" is temporarily imported into the customs 
territory of the Union to demonstrate the new model at the exhibition.  
The declarant did not conclude a contract for the carriage (transportation) of imported goods with 
the carrier.  
The method for the value of the transaction of imported goods (method 1) is not applicable, since 
the imported goods are not subject to a sales contract, and there is no information on the expenses 
associated with the transportation of goods which  should be included in the customs value of goods 
in accordance with Article 40 of the Code.  
The method for transaction value of identical goods (method 2), the method for transaction value of 
similar goods (method 3), the deduction method (method 4) and t he computed method (method 5) 
are not applicable because the necessary information is not available for applying these methods.  
The declarant has a proforma invoice issued by the supplier in connection with the shipment of this 
product. The declarant also has information on standard (average) tariffs for the transportation of 
goods along a similar route provided by the carrier (logistics company).  
The customs value is determined by the declarant by the reserve method (method 6) by flexible 
application of th e method according to the value of the transaction of imported goods (method 1), 
using the information on the price of the goods specified in the proforma invoice as a basis and 
adding the amount of transport costs determined based on available information  on standard 
(average) tariffs for the transportation of goods.  
Example 2.  Equipment for the production of dough products (croissants), placed under the customs 
procedure of a free customs zone in a member state of the Union, put into operation and used by  a 
resident of a free economic zone to implement an agreement on activities in the territory of a free 
economic zone, which after 5 years will be exported beyond its borders and placed under the customs 
procedure for release for domestic consumption.  
The equipment is not sold by a third -party organization, but is taken out by a resident organization 
of the free economic zone into the rest of the customs territory of the Union in its own warehouse.  
There is no sales contract, and therefore the method for th e value of the transaction of imported 
goods (method 1) is not applicable.  
The method for transaction value of identical goods (method 2), the method for transaction value of 
similar goods (method 3) and the method of deduction (method 4) are not applicable, since there is 
no necessary information about equipment with a similar degree of wear.  
The information necessary to determine the customs value of the equipment by the computed 
method (method 5) is also missing.  
The equipment has been operated in the territory of the free economic zone for 5 years.  
The declarant has a report on the assessment carried out in accordance with the legislation of the 
Member State of the Union on valuation activities in order to determine the value of this equipment, 
which allows determining the customs value of the equipment by flexible application of the method 
according to the value of the transaction of imported goods (method 1).  
The customs value is determined by the declarant by the reserve method (method 6) usin g, as a 
basis, the information on the value of the goods specified in the valuation report conducted by the 
person carrying out the valuation activity.  
Example 3.  Organization "A" forms the authorized (share) capital (fund). Organization "B", as a co -
found er of organization "A", transfers a new MAN truck as a contribution to the authorized (share) 
capital (fund).  G/VAL/N/1/RUS/5  
 
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  The method for the value of the transaction of imported goods (method 1) is not applicable, since 
there is no sales contract.  
The method for the t ransaction value of identical goods (method 2), the method for the transaction 
value of similar goods (method 3), the deduction method (method 4) and the computed method 
(method 5) are not applicable when determining the customs value of goods, because the  necessary 
information is unavailable for application of these methods.  
When considering the possibility of a flexible application of the method of the transaction value of 
similar goods (method 3), when determining the customs value using the reserve meth od 
(method  6), information on the cost of a previously imported car was taken into account. When 
analysing such information, it was found that 6 months before the import of the vehicle being valued 
into the customs territory of the Union, a new Scania truc k was imported. When comparing the 
estimated and previously imported cars, it was found that both cars were made in the same country, 
have the same engine power, wheel formula, cab type, composition, and have the same market 
reputation.  
The conclusion abou t approximately the same reputation in the market was made based on the 
analysis of the information contained on the Internet, in particular, based on the following:  
-  the volume of sales of trucks of these brands in the domestic market is approximately t he 
same;  
-  the trucks are sold in the domestic market at approximately the same prices (they are in the 
same price range);  
-  these car brands are considered as direct competitors.  
Based on this information, the customs value of the MAN truck was determin ed using the reserve 
method (method 6) by flexible application of the method of the transaction value of similar goods 
(method 3).  
In this case, the flexibility of applying the method at the transaction value of similar goods 
(method  3) means the deviation  from the requirement established by Article 42 of the Code that 
similar goods must be sold for import into the customs territory of the Union and imported into the 
customs territory of the Union in the same or the corresponding time period as the goods be ing 
valued, but not earlier than 90 calendar days before the valued goods are imported into the customs 
territory of the Union.  
Due to the lack of information on the import into the customs territory of the Union of a vehicle 
manufactured by the same manuf acturer as the MAN truck, the customs value of a previously 
imported Scania vehicle, which has approximately the same reputation in the market, is accepted 
as the basis for determining the customs value of the goods being valued.  
Example 4.  A women's dress  by Louis Vuitton is imported in order to organize shows 
(demonstrations) as a part of Fashion Week.  
The product was created by a design studio and produced in a single copy, has exclusive properties 
and, therefore, has no close analogues.  
The method for the value of the transaction of imported goods (method 1) is not applicable, since 
the contract under which the dress is imported into the customs territory of the Union does not 
provide for the transfer of goods with the payment of a certain amount of mon ey (price of the good) 
for it.  
The method for transaction value of identical goods (method 2) and the method for transaction value 
of similar goods (method 3) are not applicable, since due to the specific properties of the goods 
there is no information abo ut goods that meet the established criteria for identity or uniformity.  
The deduction method (method 4) is not applicable, since the goods are imported into the customs 
territory of the Union for the first time and their sale in the customs territory of th e Union is not 
done.  G/VAL/N/1/RUS/5  
 
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  The computed method (method 5) is not applicable due to the lack of necessary information.  
In the contract, according to which the dress is imported into the customs territory of the Union, 
there is no information about the value of th e imported goods. In addition, there is no information 
on the cost of identical or similar goods.  
The customs value is determined by the declarant by the reserve method (method 6) based on 
information about the value of the transaction of goods of the same  class or type, taking into account 
the provisions of Articles 41 and 42 of the Code.  
When choosing the basis for determining the customs value of goods, information was taken into 
account about the country of its production, brand, including the manufactu rer of goods of a high 
price category (luxury brand), as well as about a single copy of the goods in question.  
 
 
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