G/VAL/Q/GTM/4  
6 February  2023 
(23-0854) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE AGREEMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION  
OF ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT  
ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994  
RESPONSES FROM GUATEMALA TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UNITED STATES  
REGARDING DOCUMENT G/VAL/N/2/GTM/1  
GUATEMALA  
The following communication, dated 1 February 2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Guatemala.  
 
_______________  
 
 
Question on the response to Question 2 given in document G/VAL/Q/GTM/2  
 
Given that the RECAUCA regional lega l system gives the Customs Service the authority to assess 
whether or not the importer's request is appropriate, will Guatemala make a reservation in 
accordance with paragraph 3 of Annex III of the CVA, and notify it to the WTO?  
 
Response  
 
Guatemala submitted its reservation in 1995, in document WT/LET/24, pursuant to Annex III, 
paragraph 3, to the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement.  
 
Question on the response to Question 5 given in document G/VAL/Q/GTM/2  
 
Guatemala's response to question 5 in G /VAL/Q/GTM/1 provides an explanation of its response to 
question 6 on the Checklist of Issues in G/VAL/N/2/GTM/1. It indicates that when there is no 
information for a transaction on the costs in the country of export for transportation, loading, 
unloading,  handling or insurance, then normally applicable rates are used, and the normally 
applicable rates are determined "according to the study of tariffs that are normally applied by both 
transport and insurance companies registered with the Customs Service for  the movement of goods 
of the same class or kind".  
 
Commentary 21.1 of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation of the World Customs 
Organization provides: "3. The WTO Valuation Agreement establishes a system of valuation based 
on actual values, as opp osed to notional or estimated values. Article 8.3 provides that adjustments 
under Article 8 should be "made only on the basis of objective and quantifiable data". It follows that 
the deduction to take account of transport costs included in c. & f. and c.i. f. prices should be made 
on the basis of the actual costs. The actual costs would be those amounts ultimately paid to, for 
example, the international carrier or freight forwarder for the movement of those goods subject to 
the transaction."  
 
As 'normally ap plicable rates' are not actual costs, how does Guatemala's use of them comport with 
CVA Article 8.3 and Commentary 21.1?  
 G/VAL/Q/GTM/4  
- 2 - 
  Response  
 
The Valuation Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is based on the principle of good 
faith, which is why Article 1 entitles  the importer to demonstrate that the declared value is the 
transaction value, that is the price actually paid or payable for goods when sold for export to the 
country of importation.  
 
Our regional code, the Regulations of the Central American Un iform Customs Code (RECAUCA), 
states that customs valuation declarations shall be signed under oath, consequently the Customs 
Service of Guatemala, acting under the principle of good faith implicit in the Valuation Agreement, 
considers the elements set out  in Article 188, paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), to be actual costs.  
 
It should be pointed out that, to date, the Customs Service of Guatemala has not made any 
adjustments to imports based on the elements referred to in Article 8.2 (a), (b) and (c) of the 
Valuation Agreement.  
 
__________