G/L/1160  
 
3 November  2016 
(16-6032) Page: 1/3 
   
 
 REPORT (201 6) OF THE COMMITTEE O N CUSTOMS VALUATION  
 TO THE COUNCIL FOR T RADE IN GOODS  
A. Background  
1. The Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 (the Agreement) entered into force on 1 January 1995. Thi s report covers the year 2016 
and addresses the work undertaken by the Committee on Customs Valuation (the Committee) in 
respect of the objectives of the Agreement. These are: to provide greater uniformity and certainty in 
the implementation of the provisi ons of Article VII of the GATT 1994; to establish a fair, uniform and 
neutral system for the valuation of goods for customs purposes that precludes the use of arbitrary o r 
fictitious customs values; to ensure that the basis for valuation of goods for custo ms purposes 
should, to the greatest extent possible, be the transaction value of the goods being valued; and to 
secure additional benefits for the international trade of developing countries.  
2. During the period under consideration, the Committee held two formal meetings:  on 
25 April 2016 (G/VAL/M/ 62) under the Vice-Chairmanship of Ms. Joanna Cheung 
(Hong  Kong,  China) , and on 31 October 201 6 (G/VAL/M/ 63, (to be issued) ) under the Chairmanship 
of Dr Yasser Korani (Egypt)  who was elected  by the Committee in July 2016 . 
3. Participation in the Committee is open to all WTO Members. In addition, Governments granted 
observer status by the WTO General Council attended Committee meetings as observers. At the 
April 1997 meeting, the Committee granted observer status to those organizations which had had 
observer status on an ad hoc  basis, namely UNCTAD and the WCO, as well as to the ACP and the 
IADB. The Committee took note of the fact that the World Bank and the IMF had observer status by 
virtue of the Agreements betw een these organizations and the WTO.  
4. The Committee's rules of procedure, which were approved by the Council for Trade in Goods, 
are contained in document G/L/146.  
B. Implementation of the Agreement  
5. During the period under review, no developing country M ember maintained delayed 
application of the provisions of the Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article 20.1 of the 
Agreement. At the time of circulation of this report, no Member maintain ed an extension of the delay 
period in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1, Annex III.  As a result of its Accession to 
the WTO, Yemen will start fully implementing the Agreement by 31 December 2016 .1 
6. To date, 9 6 Members have notified their national legislation on customs valuation, including 
16 Members which have submitted communications indicating that their legislation notified under the 
Tokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreement remained valid under the WTO Customs Valuation 
Agreement (both figures count the European  Union as one). In addition, 65 Member s have provided 
responses to the check list of issues. There are 35 Members which have not yet made any of these 
two notifications  (see document G/VAL/W/232 /Rev.5). 
C. Activities of the Committee  
7. At the meeting of  25 April  2016, the Committee:  
                                                
1 See paragraphs 108 -115 of the Report of the Working Party on t he Accession o f Yemen t o the WTO, 
WT/ACC/YEM/42.  G/L/1160  
 
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  - took note of a report by a representative of the World Customs Organization on the activities 
of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation  at its 42nd session , which was held from 
18 to 22 April  2016; 
 
-  agreed to continue its review of the national legisl ations of the Kingdom of Bahrain; Belize;  
Cabo Verde; Colombia; Ecuador; Gambia; Guinea; Honduras; Montenegro;  Nepal; Nicaragua; 
Nigeria; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Sri Lanka; and Ukraine. In addition, the  Committee 
concluded  the review of the national l egislation  of Mali, Moldova and South  Africa;  
 
- took note of the summary information prepared by the Secretariat contained in document s 
G/VAL/W/5/Rev.2 5 and G/V AL/W/5/Rev.25/C orr.1, which relates to the Decision on the 
"Treatment of Interest Charges in t he Customs Value of Imported Goods" and the Decision 
on "Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Software for Data Processing Equipment" ; 
 
- discussed  a proposal by Uruguay (G/VAL/W/241/Rev.1) to update the Decision on the 
Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Sof tware fo r Data Processing Equipment, as well as a 
related proposal by Switzerland (G/VAL/W/254)  and agreed to revert back to the issue at the 
next meeting ; 
 
- took note of technical assistance activities carried out by both the WCO and WTO Secretariats;  
 
- discussed the alleged used by Armenia of a reference price system in connection with the 
valuation of goods and agreed to revert back to the issue at the next meeting;  
 
- discussed the Ukraine Resolution No. 724, which referred to the use of benchmarks fo r 
customs valuation of goods in the system of risk management  and agreed to revert back to 
the issue at the next meeting ; 
- agreed to retain o n the agenda the implementation issue relating to Paragraph 12 of the 
Doha Ministerial Declaration, which relates to Customs Cooperation ; 
 
-  took note of a Secretariat document updating the status of notifications on preshipment 
inspection that was circulated in document G/PSI/N/1/Rev. 2/Add. 2, as well as of an updated 
report by the International Federation of Inspect ion Agencies (IFIA) as circulated in 
document s G/VAL/W/63/Rev.1 8 and G/VAL/W/63/Rev.18/Corr.1;  
 
- looked again at questions raised by the United States on Indonesia's p reshipment inspection 
programme.  
  
8. At the meeting  of 31 October  2016, the Committee : 
- concluded the review of the national legislations of Ecuador and Ukraine, and agreed to 
 continue its review of the national legisla tions of the Kingdom of Bahrain; Belize;  Cabo 
 Verde; Colombia; The Gambia; Guinea; Honduras; Montenegro; Nepal;  Nicaragua ; Nigeria; 
 Russian Federation; Rwanda , and Sri Lanka, as well as the Solomon Islands, which it 
 examined for the first time at this meeting .  The Committee took note of the notification by 
 Kazakhstan of its  response to the Checklist of Issues (G/VAL/N/2/ KAZ/1 ); 
 
- took note of the summary information prepared by the Secretariat contained in document 
G/VAL/W/5/Rev.2 6, which relates to the Decision on the "Treatment of Interest Charges in 
the Customs Value of Imported Goods" and the Decision on "Valuation o f Carrier Media 
Bearing Software for Data Processing Equipment ; 
 
- discussed a proposal by Uruguay (G/VAL/W/241/Rev.1) to update the Decision on the 
Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Software fo r Data Processing Equipment, as well as a 
propos al by Switzer land (G/VAL/W/254);  
 
- took note of technical assistance activities carried out by both the WCO and 
WTO Secretariats;  
 
- discussed the alleged used by Armenia of a reference price system in connection with the 
valuation of goods ; G/L/1160  
 
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- took note of the statem ents made under the agenda item "Abolition of the Resolution of the 
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "O n the Use of Benchmarks for Customs Valuation of Goods 
in the System of Risk Management" No. 724 dated 16 September 2015 ", included at the 
request of Ukra ine; 
- took note of  the statements made under the agenda item "P akistan's Determination of 
Customs Values of Paper ", included at the request of Thailand ; 
 
- agreed to retain o n the agenda the implementation issue relating to Paragraph 12 of the 
Doha Minist erial Declaration, which relates to Customs Cooperation ; 
 
- took note of a Secretariat document updating the status of notifications on preshipment 
inspection that was circulated in document G/PSI/N/1/Rev.2 /Add. 3, as well as an updated 
report by the Intern ational Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA) as circulated in 
document G/VAL/W/63/Rev.19 ; 
- looked again at questions raised by the United States on Indonesia's preshipment inspection 
programme;  
 
- adopted  the draft Annual Review of the Implementation and Operation of the Customs 
Valuation Agreement (G/VAL/W/ 293), and requested the Secretariat to update it to take 
account of the 31 October meeting;  and 
 
- adopted the draft Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods (G/VAL/W/ 292), and 
requested the Secretariat to update it to take account of the 31 October meeting . 
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