G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3  
 
1 May 2014  
(14-2657)  Page: 1/9  
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL 
AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994 
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA  
The following submission, dated 14 April 2014, is be ing circulated at the request of the Delegation 
of the Republic of Moldova. 
_______________ 
The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Mold ova to the United Nations Office and other 
International Organizations in Geneva presents its compliments to the Secretariat of the World Trade Organization and has the honour to submit herewith a Notification of the Government 
of the Republic of Moldova pursuant to Arti cle 22 of the Agreement on implementation of 
Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. 
The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Mold ova to the United Nations Office and other 
International Organizations in Geneva avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Secretariat of 
the World Trade Organization the assurances of its highest consideration. 
In accordance with its obligations under Arti cle 22 of the Agreement on Implementation of 
Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, the Government of Republic of 
Moldova is pleased to notify its amendmen ts of the laws and regulations regarding 
customs valuation. 
The attached laws and regulation are unofficial English translation.  The Republic of Moldova 
hereby notifies the following legislation on customs valuation. 
List of laws and regulations attached 
 Legal Act 
1. Law No. 275 of 15 November 2013 on the amendment and completion of several 
legislative acts (Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova No. 291-296/801 of 
13 December 2013) 
2. Law No. 324 of 23 December 2013 on the amendment and completion of several 
legislative acts (Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova No. 320-321/871 of 
31 December 2013) 
3. Government Decision No. 1043 of 23 December 2013 on the amendment and completion 
of the Regulation on the Method of Declar ing the Customs Value of Goods brought into 
the territory of the Republic of Moldova (O fficial Gazette of the Republic of Moldova 
No. 304-310/1149 of 27 December 2002) 
 
_______________ 
 G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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LAW 
on the amendment and completion  of several legislative acts 
No. 275 of 15.11.2013  
Official Gazette No. 291-296/801 of 13.12.2013 
* * * 
Parliament enacts the present organic law. Article I  – Law No. 1380-XIII of 20 November 1997 on customs tariff (republished in 
Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, special edition of 1 January 2007) with further 
amendments, is completed as follows: 
1.  Article 5, paragraph (2) shall have the below content:  "(2)  The customs value of goods is determined by the customs authority according to the present 
law, international treaties ratified by the Republic of Moldova, as well as other regulatory 
documents enacted by the Government with the view of enforcement of those." 
2.  In Article 6, paragraph (2), the wording "according to the legislation and international 
agreements to which the Republic of Moldova is a part to" is replaced by the words "according to 
the present law and international treaties ratified by the Republic of Moldova". 
3.  Article 7, paragraph (3) shall have the following content:  "(3)  Shall the customs authority decide upon th e delay in determination of final customs value, 
the declarant is entitled to recover the goods from the customs, provided that a sufficient 
guarantee is deposited, that will cover the amount of import customs payments for these goods.  The procedure of delaying the determination of final customs value of goods is set 
forth by the Customs Service.  
The sufficient guarantee is provided  by a (financial) deposit or a guarantee letter issued by a bank 
agreed by the customs authority (bank guarant ee), or a guarantee of the customs broker.  
The present article defines that the sufficient gu arantee is made of the difference between the 
import customs payments calculated on the ba sis of the customs value of goods determined 
provisionally by the customs authority and the impo rt customs payments calculated on the basis of 
the customs value of goods declared by the declarant." 
After paragraph (3), the paragraphs (3
1)–(33) of the below content are being inserted:  
"(31)  If it was decided the delay in determining the final customs value of goods, the import 
customs payments calculated on the basis of the value announced by the declarant are 
transferred to the state budget, the sufficient gu arantee provided by a (financial) deposit is 
transferred to the treasury account for gu arantees, and the bank guarantee or the 
guarantee of the customs broker will be proce ssed in the customs house where the import is 
being cleared, prior to the release of goods into free circulation. 
(32)  If, within 30 calendar day since the recovery of goods from the customs the declarant will 
not present proving documents for the confirmation of their customs value, the customs authority proceeds with the enforcement of the guarantees, and the operation of placing the 
goods under customs regime is considered to be completed. G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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  (33)  If, during the import customs clearance it is ascertained that the customs value cannot be 
determined by applying the Article 11, even if the delay in determining the final customs 
value is operated, the customs authority will apply the provisions of the Articles 12–17 as 
set forth by the present law, and the custom s value determined in such way shall be 
considered as final." 
4.  Article 15 paragraph (1), letter c) is repealed. 5.  Article 17 paragraph (3), letter a) shall have the following content: 
"a)  selling price in the Republic of Moldova of the goods produced on the territory of the 
Republic of Moldova". 
6.  Article 17
1 shall have the following content: 
 Article 171.  Export customs value 
The value of the exported goods is determined on the basis of their contractual value, considering 
the expenses associated with their transportation until the border. 
 
 G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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L A W 
on amendment and completion of several legislative acts 
No. 324 of 23.12.2013  
Official Gazette No.320-321/871 of 31.12.2013 
* * * 
The Parliament passes this Organic Law.  Article XIII  – Law No. 1380-XIII of 20 November 1997 on Customs Tariff (republished in the 
Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, special issue of 1 January 2007), with further 
amendments, is amended as follows:  
1.  Article 2:  - In the definition "customs value of goods", the words "customs duties and other taxes" shall 
be replaced with the words "import duties";  
The definition "royalties" shall have the following content:  - " royalty  - payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of or transfer of the 
right to use, any copyright and/or related rights , including of literary, artistic or scientific 
work including cinematograph films and films or recordings for television or radio broadcasting, any patent, trademark, design or model, plan, software product, secret formula or process, for the use of or transfer of the right to use information concerning 
industrial, commercial or scientific experience."  
3.  Article 8:  - In paragraph (5), the words "customs taxes and other taxes" shall be replaced with the 
words "import duties";  
- In paragraph (6), the words "customs duties" shall be replaced with the words "import 
duties".  
4.  In Article 10 paragraph (1) letter a), the words "with the respective goods or" shall be 
replaced with the word "respective".  
5.  Article 11:  - In the title, the words "with the respective goods or" shall be replaced with the word 
"respective".  
In paragraph (1):  - In introductory part, "with the respective goods or" shall be replaced with the word 
"respective";  
- letter d) shall have the following content:  
"d)  the royalties and licence fees related to the goods to be valuated which the buyer 
must pay directly or indirectly as a condition of sale of the goods to be valuated if 
these royalties or licence fees were not added to the price actually paid or payable".  G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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  6.  In Article 17:  
Paragraph (1) shall have the following content:  "(1)  Where the customs value of goods cannot be determined through the sequence of methods 
specified in Articles 11,12,13,15 and 16, the customs value of goods shall be determined 
based on the data available on the customs territory through reasonable means compatible 
with the principles and general provisions of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs 
and Trade (GATT) and those of the Agreement on  Implementation of Article II of the General 
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade."  
Paragraph (2) is repealed.  14.  In Annex No.4 Chapter II:  The notes to Article 11 paragraph (1) letter d) shall have the following content:  
"1.  The royalties and licence fees shall include payments in respect to patents, factory marks or 
trademarks, and copyrights. For the purposes of determination of the customs value, the charges for the right to reproduce the goods in the country of importation of imported goods 
shall not be added to the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods.  
2.  In determining the customs value of imported goods, the royalty or licence fee shall be 
included into the price actually paid or payable, when this payment:  
–  is related to the goods being valued; and  
–  constitutes a condition of sale of these goods.  
3.  A royalty or licence fee in respect to the right to use a factory or trade mark, or to the right 
to sell these goods is only to be added to the price actually paid or payable for the imported 
goods where:  
a)  the royalty or licence fee refers to goods which are sold in the same state or which are 
subject only to minor processing after importation; and  
b)  the goods are marketed under the trade mark, affixed before or after importation, for 
which the royalty or licence fee is paid; and  
c)  the buyer is not free to obtain such goods from other suppliers unrel ated to the seller.  
4.  Where the goods are bought from a person and the royalty or licence fee is paid to a third 
party, their payment is deemed as a condition of sale of goods. These provisions are also applied within a multinational group when the seller or a person related to him/her requires the buyer to make the respective payment when the goods are bought from a member of 
the group and the royalty has to be paid to another member of the same group. Similarly, 
the same rule shall apply when the seller is th e recipient of a licence of royalty's addressee 
and the latter controls the conditions of sale.  
5.  Where the seller-buyer contract does not stipulate expressly the obligation to pay the 
royalties and licence fees, the payment may be an implicit condition of sale if the buyer could not buy the goods from the seller and if the seller cannot sell the goods without the 
payment of royalties made by the buyer to the licence holder.  
6.  Where the amount of a royalty or licence f ee is calculated regardless of the price of the 
imported goods, the payment of that royalty or  licence fee shall be related to the goods to 
be valued.  
7.  For the purpose of Article 11 paragraph (1) letter d), the country of residence of the 
recipient of the payment of the royalty or licence fee shall not be taken into consideration."  
In paragraph 2, Article 11, of the section "additi onal provisions", after the words "costs of the 
means of support" shall be introduce the text "provided that this amount is distinguished from the 
cost or amount of the support in question".  G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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DECISION 
on the amendment and completion of the Re gulation on the Method of Declaring the 
Customs Value of Goods brought into the territory of the Republic of Moldova 
No. 1043 of 23.12.2013  
Official Gazette No.304-310/1149 of 27.12.2013 
* * * 
The Government DECIDES:  
The Regulation on the Method of Declaring the Cu stoms Value of Goods brought into the territory 
of the Republic of Moldova, enacted by th e Government Decision No. 600 of 14 May 2002 
(Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, 2002, No. 66-68, Article 697), with further 
completions and amendments, is amended and completed as follows: 
1. Point 8, letter c) is completed with a new paragraph as follows:  "If the transportation is ensured by the buyer's transport mean, the transportation costs until the 
place of introduction shall be calculated by  the declarant, according to the amount of 
transportation costs used for the same modes of transportation and will be included into the customs value."  
2.  Points 13 and 14 of the Regulation shall have the below content:  
"13.  With the view of confirming the customs value of the imported goods, the declarant shall 
present to the customs authority the following do cuments, in line with the requirements set 
in paragraph (1) Article 7 of the Law No. 1380-XIII of 20 November 1997 on customs tariff:  
a)  the contract associated with the import transaction and its additional agreements 
(shall such be concluded); 
b)  the invoice or the pro forma invoice (for the conditionally valuable transactions);  
c)  bank payment documents or other payment documents in case of preliminary 
payment;  
d)  transportation documents that have accompanied the goods:  CMR (international 
waybill), Carnet TIR, Transit declaration (T1), Air bill, bill of lading, Waybill for the 
international railway freight transportation; 
e)  contract (order) for transportation services or the waybill, shall they be required by 
the shipment conditions;  
f)  insurance policy and/or insurance contract  of the goods, shall those be insured either 
according to the shipment conditions, or upon the initiative of the declarant. 
The declarant, upon own initiative, is entitled to  submit also other documents, with the view of 
confirming the announced customs value. 
14.  Shall the customs authority ascertain prov ed discrepancies between the data from the 
documents set forth in pct.13 to the present Regula tion or if the Customs Integrated Information 
System identifies the risk of undervaluation by  comparing the customs value of goods to be 
valuated with the customs value of the identic or  similar goods, according to the paragraph (2) 
Article 7 of the Law No. 1380-XIII of 20 November  1997 on customs tariff, the customs authority 
will request in written to the declarant the non-cumulative submission and only of those G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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  documents that are associated with the import transaction of those goods that could justify the 
announced customs value, as follows: 
a)  Any possible agreement between the buyer and seller that influences the customs value of 
goods; 
b)  Contracts with third persons referring to indirect transactions;  
c)  Commercial correspondence maintained with the view of concluding and negotiating the 
price, shall such correspondence be maintained;  
d)  Invoices for clearances to third persons, for the benefit of the buyer, if they result from the 
concluded contracts or other documents;  
e)  Accounting documents of the buyer, such as tr ansfer of assets by the exporter or seller, or 
for obtaining information regarding the commissions, profit or general expenses, using the 
deductive method and of calculated value (oth ers than the ones set by pct.13 of the given 
Regulation); 
f)  Documents confirming the ownership over th e commercial entities involved in transactions, 
for excluding a potential interconnection between the seller and buyer as set by the 
Article 11 paragraph (6) of the Law No. 1380-XIII of 20 November 1997 on customs tariff; 
g)  Contract, on the basis of which the intellectual right was surrendered;  
h)  authenticated copy of the export declaration; 
i)  Payment documents for the transportation costs; j)  Catalogues, price lists of the producing companies/seller;  k)  Certificate of origin, certificate of quality issued by the producer;  
l)  Packing list.  
If the declarant does not hold some of the docu ments that were additionally requested by the 
customs authority, the declarant will record this situation on the written request. 
The declarant, upon own initiative, is entitled to  present also other documents, with the view of 
confirming the announced customs value." 
3.  A new point 15
1 of the below content is being added: 
"151.  If, within the timeframe set by Article 199 paragraph (1) of the Customs Code of the 
Republic of Moldova No. 1149-XIV of 20 July 2000, the method of transaction value of the 
given goods or of the price actually paid or payable cannot be applied as set by the Article 11 paragraph (4) of the Law on customs tariff of 20 November 1997, the customs 
authority will register the reason of non-accepting the first method in the rubric "Remarks of 
the customs house" from the customs value declaration form or on its verso." 
4.  A new Point 19
1 of below content is being added: 
"191. Provided that the customs value of the goods cannot be determined by applying 
consecutively the customs valuation methods set forth in Articles 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16 of the Law No. 1380-XIII on customs tariff of 20 November 1997, according to the Article 17 of 
the same law, the customs value of goods is determined by the fall-back method. 
The customs authority shall record in the rubric "Remarks of the customs house" of the customs value declaration form or on its verso, the reasons of non-acceptance of the previous valuation methods. 
The valuation of goods by fall-back method is ba sed on the basic principles of determination of 
customs value applicable to methods set by Articles 11–16 of the Law No. 1380-XIII on customs tariff of 20 November 1997, but supported by a reasonable flexibility in application, according to 
the Interpretative Norms to Article 7 of this Law,  observing the sequence in applying the customs 
valuation methods set by Article 10 of the Law on customs tariff. 
When determining the customs value applying the fall-back method with the flexible application of 
the transaction value method, the adjustment of the declared value with the main elements 
characteristic to this method set forth in Article 11 paragraph (1) of the Law No. 1380-XIII on customs tariff shall be taken into consideration.   G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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  The customs value determined by applying the fall-back method will be generally based on the 
previously determined customs values.  The customs authority will compare the value of the identical goods, then of the similar goods, and, in  case of non-existence of those, of the goods of 
the same class or type, using the selection criteria set by Customs Integrated Information System. 
With the view of selecting the identical or similar goods, shall be taken into consideration the 
transactions for which the customs value has been accepted on the basis of transaction value.  
If the customs authority has identified values for the identical or similar goods with the goods to 
be valued, for determining the customs value and wi th the view of avoiding fictive or arbitrary 
values, they shall be adjusted according to the commercial level or quantity, according to the Interpretative Norms to the Article 12 and 13 from the Annex No. 4 to the Law No. 1380-XIII of 20 November 1997 on customs tariff.  
When recording its remarks in line with the proc edure set in pct.19 of the given Regulation, the 
customs authority shall specify the transaction with the identical or similar goods (the registration number and the date of the customs declaration) that acted as basis for the customs valuation.  
When determining the customs value by applying the fall-back method, as valuation basis shall be 
used the authentic information that does not contravene to the Article 17 paragraph (3) of the Law on customs tariff, such as:  producers'/sellers' commercial price offers (price lists); catalogues 
containing the detailed description of the goods; stock exchange lists; data on the acceptable 
levels of commissions, discounts, benefits, carrier tariffs. 
In case of failure to identify the transactions wi th the previously imported identic or similar goods 
within the Customs Integrated Information Syst em, with the view of determining the customs 
value, the customs authority will use also the information about the prices on the internal market 
of the Republic of Moldova for the identical or simi lar goods, or for the goods of the same class or 
type defined by the Law on customs tariff, adjust ed with the deductions allowed by the Article 15 
and observing the conditions mentioned in the Article 17 of the Agreement on the application of 
the Article VII of GATT 1994 and Article 17 paragraph (3) of the Law on customs tariff.  
The customs authority will store in the Customs Integrated Information System and will use during 
the customs valuation also the information on the customs value of goods determined on the basis 
of the prices on the internal market of the Republ ic of Moldova for the identical or similar goods, 
such prices being subject to update."  
5.  In point 21, the wording "Customs Department" is replaced by the wording "Customs 
Service". 
6.  The Regulation is completed with two new Points 24 and 25, as follows: 
"24.  For the importation of used goods, when it is impossible to determine the customs 
value by the consecutive application of the methods set forth by the Articles 11-16 of the 
Law on customs tariff, the fall-back method shall be used. When determining the customs value of the used means of transport (except for the ones prohibited as per Article 20 of the 
Customs Code of the Republic of No. 1149-XIV  of 20 July 2000) by applying the fall-back 
method, the customs authority will use the available information about the offers on the external market (for the goods intended for export):  updated specialized websites and catalogues such as SCHWACKE.  The value of identical goods identified on the external 
markets shall be adjusted, depending on the bran d, model, degree of depreciation, technical 
status, and namely: year of production, mileage, technical supply, previous involvement in traffic accidents, flooding or any other damages at the moment of introduction. Customs 
authority will register in the Act of physical inspection the key characteristics of the valuated 
mean of transport.  
Shall be taken into consideration the level of acceptable discount (10%) and the transportation 
expenses until the place of introduction to the cust oms territory of the Republic of Moldova, as set 
by the Article 11 paragraph (1) of the Law on customs tariff. 
When determining the customs value of the used equipment (except for the one prohibited as per 
Article 20 of the Customs Code of the Repub lic of Moldova No. 1149-XIV of 20 July 2000) by G/VAL/N/1/MDA/3 
 
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  applying the fall-back method, the customs authority will determine its customs value depending 
of the brand, model, year of production, degree of depreciation (technical status), costs of the 
dismounting, packing, transportation.  
Upon own initiative, the declarant may present to the customs authority other documents, with the 
view of determining the customs value of used means of transport or equipment. 
25.  On the basis of the Article 8 paragraph (3) of Law No. 1380-XIII of 20 November 1997 on 
customs tariff, in case of importations of goods operated by the residents of jurisdictions where 
the international transparency standards are not being followed, according to the list enacted by 
the Decision of the Management Board of the Na tional Bank of Moldova No. 91 of 2 May 2013, or 
by the residents of free economic zones, or by free zones, for accepting the announced customs 
value, additionally to the documents set in pct.13 and pct.14 of the present Regulation, the 
customs authority is entitled to request the submissi on of invoice(s) and copy of export declaration 
from the state of export that confirm the value ch ain of price formation – from the producer – until 
the moment of importation."  
7.  Annex to the Regulation on declaration of cu stoms value of goods introduced to the territory 
of the Republic of Moldova:  
- the wording "Customs Department" is replaced by the wording "Customs Service"; 
- in the Form DVV-1 Method 1, the items 9 (a) and 15 are amended as follows: 
"9(a).  There are royalties or licence rights connected to the imported goods that the 
buyer shall pay directly or indirectly, as a condition for selling the valuated goods";  
"15.   Royalties and licence rights (see position 9(a))".  
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