G/VAL/W/225  
 
8 May 2013  
(13-2445)  Page: 1/39  
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: English/French/Spanish  
 
 
 CONSISTENCY OF INTERPRETATI ON AND APPLICATION OF  
ARTICLE 8.1(B)(IV) OF THE CUSTOMS VALUATION AGREEMENT OF THE WTO 
Communication from the WCO 
 The following submission, dated 3 May 2013, is being circulated at the request of the World 
Customs Organization. 
 
 
_______________ 
 
 
 I have the pleasure to address you in my capacity as Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs (TTA) of the World Customs Organization (WCO), in order to bring to your attention that at the 
36
th Session of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, held in Brussels from 
15 to 19 April 2013, we examined the question of "c onsistency of interpretation and application of 
Article 8.1(b)(iv) of the Customs Valuation Agr eement of the WTO", in their official language 
versions. 
 To illustrate, I attach copies of the docume nts that supported the work of the Technical 
Committee in this case. 
 As a conclusion of the discussions, I submit the case for the purpose of consideration and 
other purposes deemed to correspond, leaving the WCO TTA Directorate at your disposal. 
 
_______________ G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 2 - 
 
 
  
  
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE 
ON CUSTOMS VALUATION VT0875E1c  
 
O.Eng  
35th Session  
Brussels, 18 October 2012  
 
REPORT TO THE CUSTOMS CO-OPERATION COUNCIL ON 
THE 35TH SESSION OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
Opening remarks 
1. The Technical Committee on Customs Valuation ("Technical Committee") held its 
35th Session at the Headquarters of the World Customs Organization ("WCO") in Brussels from 
15 to 18 October 2012.  The session was chaired by Mr. O. AOUFI (Morocco).  The Chairperson extended a warm welcome to all delegates, especially those attending the Technical Committee for 
the first time. 
2. The Deputy Director also welcomed all delegates.   He explained that the Director for Tariff 
and Trade Affairs, Mr. Giuseppe FAVALE, was unabl e to attend the first day of the session but 
would attend from the second day.  He looked forward to Members' active participation during the 
week on an interesting Agenda an d anticipated a fruitful session. 
Agenda Item I:  ADOPTION OF AGENDA 
(a) Draft Agenda 
 Document VT0853E1d 
3. The Chairperson summarized the draft Agenda contained in Doc. VT0853E1d and invited the 
Technical Committee to comment.  He asked whether any Members wished to raise additional 
items under Agenda Item VIII, Other business. 
Summary of discussion 
4. The Delegate of the European Union (EU) ment ioned two issues he wished to raise under 
Agenda Item VIII, Other business:  (1) the current WCO policy on making available instruments of 
the Committee, and (2) the topic of global value ch ains, initiated by the Director-General of the 
WTO in 2011, which was currently being discussed in various fora. 
Conclusion  
5. The Agenda was adopted as proposed by the Chairperson, with the addition of the two 
"Other business" points proposed by the Delegate of the EU.  
(b) Suggested programme 
 Document VT0854E1a 
6. The Chairperson referred to Document VT0854E1a which set out the suggested programme 
of work.  He made proposals to amend the programm e to take account of the availability of certain 
delegates and speakers to discuss particular technical points. 
Conclusion 
7. The Technical Committee made no further suggestions and agreed to the suggested 
programme, with the amendments proposed by the Chairperson. G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 3 - 
 
 
  
 Agenda Item II:  ADOPTION OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE'S 35TH SESSION REPORT 
 Document VT0852E1b 
8. The Chairperson addressed the written comments submitted by Members, in respect of the 
draft Report issued in Document VT0852E1a.  These comments had been incorporated into 
Document VT0852E1b and summarized in a table at Annex E to that document.  He made 
reference to the paragraphs on which Members' had made written comments (other than minor editorial points) and invited the Technical Committee to adopt the final text, as amended. 
Conclusion 
9. The Technical Committee approved the amendmen ts proposed by Members, as indicated in 
Annex E to Doc. VT0852E1b.  The Report of the 34th Session was therefore adopted by the 
Technical Committee and would be reproduced in Document VT0852E1c. 
Agenda Item III:  REPORTS ON INTERSESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 
(a) Director's Report 
 Document VT0855E1a 
10. The Chairperson invited the Director to present the Director's Report, contained in 
Doc. VT0855E1a.  On behalf of the WCO, the Director welcomed four new Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO); the Russian Fede ration, Montenegro, Samoa and Vanuatu.  
He summarized the key intersessional activities detailed in the document and highlighted the 
discussions at the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation which included Members' allegations that some countries were applying "reference pricing" (the direct substitution of a declared value with a higher value taken from a database or other source).  He added that this was a serious issue 
which had been addressed in the new Revenue Pa ckage guidelines.  The WCO had also recently 
replied to a letter from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) expressing concerns about the direct application of "reference prices". 
11. The Director highlighted the WCO's recent training programme, which had involved valuation 
trainer accreditation workshops and joint worksh ops with the WTO.  These events had been 
appreciated by participants.  A partnership had also been forged with the Organisation for 
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and this would involve two joint workshops; one 
in Asia and one in Africa.  The WCO was planning a Revenue Package conference to take place in Africa next year for all three African Regions.  The Secretariat would also be participating in two transfer pricing conferences in the near future, one organized by the ICC in Montreal, Canada and 
one in Singapore, organized by a trade journal.  
12. The Director thanked Members for the recent updates to the Valuation Contact Point list and 
Index of Reference Materials and encouraged Memb ers to provide further updates, as required 
(see Agenda Items VII (a) and (b)).  
Summary of discussion 
13. In response to a question from a delegate, the Director explained that the Revenue Package 
conference, due to take place in Africa, was subject to receiving funding and would focus on 
Customs valuation and post-clearance audit (PCA).  He also clarified that the conferences in Montreal and Singapore were private sector events.  
14. In response to an intervention on "reference pricing", the Director said that it could be 
useful for Customs to have access to pricing information for risk assessment purposes but stressed 
that Customs could not arbitrarily change declared values, as this would be contrary to the WTO Valuation Agreement.  Techniques such as PCA were required to conduc t effective controls.  
Conclusion 
15. The Technical Committee took note of the Director's Report.  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 4 - 
 
 
  
 (b) WTO Committee on Customs Valuation report 
16. The representative of the WTO delivered the re port of the Committee on Customs Valuation 
(CCV) which had taken place on 10 May 2012.  The report covered, inter alia, information on ongoing reviews of valuation legislation and va rious concerns expressed by some Members in 
respect of the alleged misuse of valuation database s and application of "reference prices" by other 
Members.  
17. The representative mentioned that the Chairperson of the CCV had received a letter from 
the ICC, similar to the one received by the WC O, on the subject of "reference pricing".  
The Chairman of the CCV stated that he woul d hold informal consultations on the issue. 
18. A number of questions relating to Members' legislation on Customs valuation had also been 
discussed.  Following the meeting, a workshop ha d been held which included presentations from 
representatives of the WTO and WCO Secretariats on a variety of Customs valuation technical and 
control matters.  
19. Full details of the WTO report can be  found at Annex C to this Report.  
20. Following his report, the WTO representative gave an interesting presentation on the legal 
interpretation of the WTO Agreement.  A copy wo uld be available on the WCO Members' website.  
Conclusion 
21. The Technical Committee took note of the WTO's oral report. 
Agenda Item IV:  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, CAPACITY BUILDING AND CURRENT ISSUES 
(a) Report on the technical assistance/capacity building activities 
undertaken by the Secretariat and Members 
 Documents VT0856E1a and VT0870E1a 
Background 
22. In accordance with the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation's decision, the 
Secretariat had monitored and communicated the technical assistance/capacity building activities 
scheduled and/or delivered by Members in order to provide useful information to Members for planning purposes and to prevent duplication of effort. 
23. Since the last session, the Customs Administrations of Canada, the United States and Japan 
had provided information on their technical assistance activities.  This information, together with information about the technical assistance/capacity building activities undertaken and planned by the Secretariat, is reproduced in Annexes I and II to Document VT0870E1a. 
Conclusion 
24. The Chairperson thanked the countries having provided technical assistance.  The Technical 
Committee took note of the information presented in Annexes I and II to Document VT0870E1a. 
(b) Progress report on Members' application of the WTO Valuation 
Agreement  
 Document VT0857E1a 
Background 
25. In pursuance of a decision taken by the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, the 
Secretariat had monitored progress with the application of the WTO Valuation Agreement in various Member countries and published reports on the subject.  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 5 - 
 
 
  
 26. During the intersession, the Secretariat had published Document VT0857E1a which invited 
Customs administrations to send it information on the progress made with regard to the 
application of the WTO Valuation Agreement in their respective countries.  
27. No Member had submitted written comments in response to Document VT0857E1a.  
However, the Republic of Korea had proposed giving a presentation at the 35th Session on the 
following topic:  "Customs Valuation Information System".  
Presentation by Korea 
28. Since 2003, the Customs valuation of goods in Ko rea had been entrusted to an organization 
called the "Customs Valuation & Classification Institut e".  It consisted of six Divisions, one of which 
was the Customs Valuation Division. The latter primarily performed the following missions: 
- pre-audit to determine the valuation; 
- information concerning exchange rates and general expenses; and 
- collection and circulation of Customs valuation information. 
29. In 2007, the Institute had set up the "Customs Valuation Information System – (CUVIS)" 
internet service to consolidate Customs valuation information throughout all the Customs offices 
and to serve as a Customs valuation learning platform for Customs officers as well as private sector operators.  The CUVIS database was accessible to authorized Customs auditors and limited 
access was granted to private sector operators. 
30. The Institute planned to update and improv e the effectiveness of "CUVIS" as a risk 
management tool by permitting, inter alia , cross-referenced searches using one or more risk 
indicators included in the database. 
Summary of discussion 
31. Following the presentation, the delegates congratulated the speaker and sought further 
details, especially with respect to the sources of the data contained in the CUVIS database, the 
final decision in terms of Customs valuation and the exercise of the right to appeal by private 
sector operators.  With regard to the sources of information entered in the CUVIS database, the speaker explained that he had not been invo lved in the development of the system and 
consequently did not possess enough information on this topic.  In response to the second 
question, the speaker pointed out that there were three levels of decision-making in terms of Customs valuation in Korea, those being CUVIS, the Directorate General of Customs and the governing Ministry.  These three bodies held regular consultations to determine the Customs 
valuation of goods. The final decision neverthele ss rested with CUVIS.  The speaker concluded by 
stating that private sector operators could exercise the right of appeal with regard to the determination of the Customs valuation.  All appeals relating to Customs valuation decisions were 
referred to a judicial body specialized in Customs matters. 
Conclusion 
32. The Technical Committee took note of the progress made with regard to the application of 
the WTO Valuation Agreement as well as of the useful information contained in the presentation 
given by Korea. 
(c) Revenue Package 
 Document VT0867E1a 
33. The Chairperson invited the Secretariat to provide an update on the work undertaken in 
respect of the Revenue Package programme.  The Director underlined that undervaluation and 
misdeclarations of goods descriptions were serious issues facing Customs administrations; 
incorrect valuation could occur in different ways; e.g. by the non-incorporation of certain fees 
(e.g. dutiable royalties) and the use of false in voices (under-invoicing and over-invoicing).  
Under-invoicing also had implications for the calculation of VAT and direct taxes.  Under-invoicing 
was particularly prevalent in countries wher e high rates of Customs duties existed.  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 6 - 
 
 
  
 34. The Secretariat gave a presentation on the structure of the new Practical Guidelines for 
Valuation Control and the PCA Guidelines.  These new materials had been endorsed by the Policy 
Commission and Council Sessions in June 2012 and were available via the Members' website, along with other new material on classification and origin.  Topics of particular interest were 
highlighted, such as the use of a valuation database as a risk assessment tool, informal trade, 
second hand goods and the use of private inspection agencies (PSI).  The Guidelines were supplemented by three case studies on selected Members' valuation control programmes (Brazil, 
India and Mauritius).  Members were encouraged to access and share the new materials.  
Summary of discussion 
35. General discussions took place following the presentation.  Delegates appreciated the work 
of the Secretariat and welcomed the new material.  
36. Interest was shown in the development and use of valuation databases.  The Director said 
that these could be effective. Comparison of import and export values for certain goods could also be useful as a means to identify possible irregularities.  Consideration was currently being given to 
the various ways in which revenue loss could be measured, using such statistical means.   
37. Delegates acknowledged that PCA was the best valuation control mechanism, but it was 
pointed out that this was difficult to implement, particularly in developing countries where a large 
informal trade sector existed.  
38. The Delegates of Benin and Nigeria identified the progress they had made in reducing the 
reliance on private sector inspection companies.  The assistance of the Secretariat in this regard had been especially appreciated.  
39. The Delegate of Brazil mentioned the Indira information exchange system used by four 
South American countries.  This system allowed users to access automatically the data produced in each of the participating countries and had produced very good results.   
40. On behalf of Morocco, the Chairperson proposed that his Administration would make a 
presentation at the next session on the topic of valuation of second hand goods.  
41. Other points raised under the Agenda item included the need to work closely with the 
judiciary and the need for effective training for Customs officers in areas such as valuation and 
PCA.  
Conclusion 
42. The Technical Committee took note of the presentation and discussions.   
Agenda Item V:  SPECIFIC TECHNICAL QUESTIONS 
(a) Study on royalties and licence fees: 
 -  Draft Advisory Opinion submitted by Brazil 
Background 
43. The Chairperson summarized the background to this case and referred to a draft Advisory 
Opinion which had been prepared prior to the 34th Session, with the co-operation of Brazil.  
The draft is contained in the Annex to Document VT0836E1a.  He mentioned that Brazil had 
recently submitted written responses to questions raised by Members at the previous session (circulated as a non-paper during the 35
th Session).  
Summary of discussion 
44. At the invitation of the Chairperson, the De legate of Brazil summarized and supplemented 
the information provided in the non-paper.  He confirmed that, in Brazil's opinion, a sale had taken place between the manufacturer ("MAN") and th e importer ("IMP"), even though no sales G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 7 - 
 
 
  
 agreement existed. He said that MAN had drawn up invoices related to the goods bought by IMP 
and that, from Brazil's point of view, it was possible to consider that the supply agreement 
between OWNER and MAN operated, in practice, like a sales agreement between MAN and IMP.  
He added that, in Brazil's opinion, it was not necessary to split this case into two versions of the 
Advisory Opinion as proposed by Japan at the last session (Japan had proposed that a version in 
which OWNER and MAN were related parties should also be examined).  The Delegate pointed out that if MAN and OWNER were related parties, which was not the case, the characterization of the 
royalties as a condition of sale could be easily demonstrated by Customs without the need to 
publish an Advisory Opinion for this purpose, particularly after the publication of Commentary 25.1 ("Third Party Royalties and Licence Fees – General Commentary"). 
45. Some delegates indicated their interest in continuing discussion of this case with a view to 
reaching a conclusion.  One delegate sought further clarification of certain information and 
suggested that perhaps the case should indicate that the licensor ("OWNER") was the seller of the 
goods.  Another delegate suggested that the case  should not indicate that OWNER was a buying 
agent according to the non-paper because it would lead to the addition of a new point for 
discussion on whether or not OWNER was a buyi ng agent on the basis of Commentary 17.1. 
46. In response, the Delegate of Brazil stated that  some changes could be made to the text and 
reiterated that no sale had taken place between MAN and OWNER. 
Conclusion 
47. It was agreed that Brazil would work on this ca se with the Secretariat.  A revised version of 
the draft would then be uploaded to the WCO's Club de la Réforme platform where informal 
discussions could take place.  In response to a suggestion from the ICC, it was agreed that it could 
give its opinion on this case.     
(b) Related party transactions under the Agreement and Transfer Pricing 
 Documents VT0859E1a and VT0871E1a 
Background 
48. At the 33rd Session, the Committee had started to re-examine a simplified version of the 
case study submitted by the United States.  During the 34th Session, Members had discussed the 
case and agreed certain modifications to the text. 
Summary of discussion 
49. The Chairperson announced that the latest revised draft of the transfer pricing study was in 
the Annex to Doc. VT0871E1a. 
50. The Committed started with preliminary discussions to clarify the written comments and 
continued with a detailed discussion on the text.  Members suggested new text for several 
paragraphs, and, for example, the discussions on paragraph 11 were about the Advance Pricing 
Agreement (APA) and the fact the transfer pricing st udy should be approved by the tax authorities. 
51. Members agreed on the need to take into account several paragraph proposals and to 
modify the conclusion.  The Delegate of the United States mentioned that the case was 
hypothetical and the proposals could be incorporated into the text. 
52. During the discussions, the Observer for the OECD explained the relevance of the case to 
Customs and tax authorities and made comments on the requirements of transfer pricing studies, 
on the Transaction Net Margin Method (TNMM) and on Advance Price Agreements (APA).  
He mentioned his availability to work with the Secretariat and Members to improve the draft. 
53. Finally, delegates highlighted the importance of th e case and were in favour of continuing to 
work on the draft.  It was then decided that the United States would work with the Secretariat and 
the OECD during the intersession to incorporate the comments and present the case again at the 36
th Session. G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 8 - 
 
 
  
 Conclusion  
54. The Technical Committee agreed to continue to ex amine the revised draft of this case study.  
Members were once more invited to participate in the discussions by sending written comments directly to the Secretariat (e-mail:  valuation@wcoomd.org) or by joining the Customs Valuation – 
Transfer Pricing group in the WCO community website "Club de la Réforme" 
http://club.wcoomd.org/en/user/login. 
(c) Valuation of industrial waste - Case presented by Belarus 
 Documents VT0860E1a and VT0872E1b 
Background 
55. During the intersession, the Customs Administrations of Ecuador, the United States, Japan, 
Singapore, Uruguay and Venezuela had communicate d written comments in response to the text 
concerning the facts of the transaction of the question under examination, as reproduced in the 
Annex to Doc. VT0860E1a. 
56. To comply with the ICC INCOTERM definition of  CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) used in 
the above text setting out the facts of the transaction and taking into account the relevant 
comments made to this end by Ecuador and 
57. Uruguay during the intersession, the Secretariat had updated the said text by incorporating 
an amount for the cost of the insurance linked to the transport of the goods to the place of 
importation. 
58. However, Uruguay's proposal which consisted of amending the title of the document, opting 
for the title:  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 8.2 (a) OF  THE AGREEMENT, as well as certain paragraphs 
of the text setting out the facts of the transact ion had been submitted for consideration by the 
Technical Committee.  In effect, Uruguay considered, correctly, that at the current stage of examination of the question submitted by Belarus, there was no longer any justification for the 
expression "valuation of industrial waste" in the current title. 
Summary of discussion 
59. Some delegates agreed that the title of th e question submitted by Belarus should be 
replaced by:  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 8.2 (a ) OF THE AGREEMENT.  Insofar as Commentary 
21.1 had already resolved the question of the de duction of transport costs in the Free-On-Board 
(f.o.b.) system of Customs valuation, the Technical Committee had decided to focus on the examination of the question only in the context of  a CIF system of Customs valuation at its next 
session. 
60. The Secretariat was invited to work with the Delegate of Belarus to improve the text as 
regarded the facts of the transaction set out in A nnex I to Doc. VT0872E1b and to tailor its content 
to the current title, taking account of the relevant comments made by Members at the 35
th 
Session. 
61. Despite the clarification provided by the Repres entative of the ICC in his presentation on 
INCOTERMS, two different viewpoints had emerged within the Technical Committee concerning the 
issue of determining the Customs value in the case under examination. 
(a) First point of view:  
62. According to the legislation of the country of importation, the delivery expenses to the place 
of importation in the country of destination of th e goods set out in Article 8.2 (a), (b) and (c) of 
the Agreement had to be added to the price actually  paid or payable for the goods, if they had not 
been included in the price of the goods. G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 9 - 
 
 
  
 63. In keeping with the CIF conditions of sale, the price actually paid by the buyer of 1,000 c.u. 
CIF included the cost of the goods, the transport costs and the costs of insurance required for the 
delivery of the goods to the place of importation.   
64. Some delegates maintained that the price actually paid by the buyer of 1,000 c.u. CIF 
constituted the Customs value of the imported goods and that no other adjustment was required in 
accordance with the provisions of Article 8.2 (a) of the Agreement. 
(b) Second point of view:  
65. Some delegates considered that the fact that additional transport costs had been incurred by 
the seller should be taken into account under Article 8.2 (a) of the Agreement.   
66. The delegates supporting this second viewpoint stressed the fact that unlike paragraph 1 of 
Article 8, paragraph 2 did not specify any condit ions for adjustments, apart from the provision 
concerning the CIF-based system of valuation, which had to be provided for in the national 
legislation.  Accordingly, paragraph 2 did not stip ulate that the transport or insurance costs should 
only be added in respect of the imported goods if they were borne by the seller.  Furthermore, and 
most importantly, they felt that it was the actual transport costs, which in this particular case were 
the 600 c.u. paid to the air carrier, that should be taken into consideration for the Customs valuation.   The Customs value should consequently amount to 1,300 c.u.  
Conclusion 
67. On the proposal of the Chairperson, the Technical Committee decided to pursue the 
examination of the case presented by Belarus at its 36th Session.  It asked the Secretariat to work 
with Belarus during the intersession to improve the facts of the transaction set out in Annex I to 
Doc. VT0872E1b. 
(d) Valuation treatment of distribution fees and payments based on 
projected net profits:  submitted by Singapore 
 Documents VT0861E1a and VT0868E1a 
Background 
68. The Chairperson mentioned that, as agreed at its 34th Session, the two cases presented by 
Singapore had been combined into one case with th e title:  "Valuation treatment of distribution 
fees and payments based on projected net profits". 
69. During the intersession, Singapore had provided the Importer Sales Agreement (reproduced 
in the Annex to Document VT0861E1a).  The Chairperson referred to the written comments 
received by the delegations, reproduced in the Annexes to Document VT0868E1a. 
Summary of discussion 
70. The ICC gave a presentation on Distribution Agreements.  The ICC presented the key 
provisions of such framework contracts which he lped Members obtain a better understanding of 
the case. 
71. The Chairperson invited Members to take the floor and the discussions started by 
commenting on the case in the Annex to Document VT0861.  Several delegates mentioned the 
need to modify and clarify certain paragraphs of the case. 
72. A delegate commented that in such transactions a separate sales agreement might not exist 
and that the distribution agreement would be the only contract.  It was mentioned that prices 
could be set in different ways, such as target prices, and that a case by case analysis was 
necessary to verify if the distribution fees we re related to the goods.  Answering a Member's 
question, the ICC delegate mentioned that in a contract between related parties the cost related to 
risks was lower and that the risk premium to be added was consequently lower. G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 10 - 
 
 
  
 73. The Delegate of Singapore replied by stating that the Importer Sales Agreement, available in 
the Annex to Document VT0861, was indeed the only agreement.  There was no other sales 
agreement, only invoices.  Singapore agreed to wo rk with the Secretariat to take into account the 
comments received and improve the text for the next session. 
Conclusion 
74. The Committee decided to continue the examination of the case submitted by Singapore at 
its next session.  The Secretariat would work with Singapore during the intersession. 
(e) Treatment of bonus payments in the direct selling industry (Request 
from Thailand) 
 Documents VT0862E1b and VT0873E1b 
Background 
75. During the intersession, the Customs Administrations of Canada, Singapore and Venezuela 
had communicated written comments in response to the text concerning the facts of the transaction of the question under examination, as set out in the Annex to Document VT0862E1b, 
and to the additional documents relating to the four agreements on direct sales made available to 
Members. 
76. At the 35
th Session of the Technical Committee, the Delegate of Thailand took the floor, 
initially to provide the corrections as set out in (a), (b) and (c) below and subsequently to correct 
some information he had provided at the 34th Session: 
(a) It was most likely that Importer I was a controlled and related agent of a multinational 
corporation (MNC), although according to the contract, Importer I was not the agent of a 
multinational direct selling group. 
(b) The statement that this direct selling group was different from others was an analysis, not a 
fact. However, it was a case by case analysis and the Thailand Administration wished to 
change the title of this case, if the Committee agreed, to "Treatment of bonus payments in a 
direct selling company".  
(c) Importer I could change the bonus percentage or create a new incentive to give the 
independent distributors greater incentives to buy or encourage their downline distributors 
to buy the imported goods.  Importer I merely needed to inform the multinational direct selling group of this modification or initiative. It was important to note that not all bonus payments were modified, however few bonus payments had never been changed and this 
type of bonus payment was the same or almost the same in most countries.  
They accounted for 25 to 30% of the resale price of imported goods.  It was this type of bonus payment that the Thailand Administration thought formed part of the Customs value. 
77. The Delegate then thanked Canada, Singapore and Venezuela and replied to the written 
comments communicated by these Members during the intersession.  The full text of his speech was distributed to all Members at the 35
th Session of the Technical Committee in the form of a 
non-paper.  In brief, the non-paper specified that not all of the bonus payments paid to 
independent distributors should be added to the de clared values, but only those that were related 
to imported goods and which formed a condition of sale agreed upon before the importation.  The importer did not make this type of bonus pa yment from its own account, but rather from an 
MNC account that had merely been opened in the importer's name.  The supporting information 
was derived from the importer's income statements submitted to the Revenue Department and the other set of income statements submitted to the Parent MNC, which showed steady discrepancies 
over several consecutive years. 
Summary of discussion 
78. Several Members of the Technical Committee felt that the bonus payments made by the 
importer to independent distributors in the country of importation and internationally could not 
form part of the Customs value.  According to th e Note to Article 1, paragraph 2 and Paragraph 1 
(b), point 2, these fees should be considered to be expenses for marketing activities undertaken G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 11 - 
 
 
  
 by the importer on its own account, even though by agreement with the seller and even if the 
seller or multinational direct selling group could be deemed to benefit therefrom.   
79. The bonuses paid by the importer to the indepe ndent distributors could not be deemed to be 
proceeds (or a sum of money) of the resale of the goods that accrued directly or indirectly to the 
seller within the meaning of Article 8.1 (d) of the Agreement.  
80. Finally, nor could these payments made after importation constitute a condition of sale of 
the imported goods within the meaning of paragraph 7 of Annex III to the Agreement. 
81. Some delegates sought further clarification of the information provided by Thailand in 
response to the questions posed by Members in order to determine whether or not certain elements of bonuses paid at the national and/or  international level could be added to the price 
actually paid or payable for Customs valuation purposes.  
82. The Delegate of Thailand undertook to consult his Customs Administration in order to 
provide, at a later stage, further information concerning the facts of the case under examination.  
83. At the request of the Chairperson, the ICC proposed giving a presentation on "Bonus 
payments in the direct selling industry" at the 36
th Session of the Technical Committee on Customs 
Valuation.   
Conclusion 
84. The Technical Committee took note of the Delegate of Thailand's undertaking and agreed to 
continue examining this technical question submitted by Thailand at its 36th Session.    
(f) Application of WTO Decision 4.1 (Valuation of carrier media bearing 
software for data processing equipment) for "pen drives" (Submitted by 
Uruguay) 
Background 
85. The Chairperson introduced this question submitted by Uruguay, summarized in 
Document VT0863E1a.  In response, comments had been received from Japan, Singapore, 
Uruguay and Venezuela which are reproduced in the Annexes to Document VT0874E1a.   
Summary of discussion 
86. The Delegate of Uruguay agreed with the Secretariat's proposal to amend the title of this 
case to reflect the Harmonized System description of the goods in question; namely, "USB flash drives".  He said the question to consider was whether the Technical Committee should deal with 
the matter or whether the issue should be referred to the WTO for consideration.  He suggested it 
might be worthwhile taking into account all such devices designed solely to transfer data from one 
place to another, rather than only USB flash drives. 
87. One delegate queried the extent to which these devices were shipped with software 
pre-loaded; if this did not occur, there might not be  an issue to solve.  He considered that it was 
premature for the Technical Committee to refer the matter to the WTO and agreed that it would be useful to widen the scope to take into account other devices in this category.  Other delegates 
favoured referring the matter to the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation with a view to 
proposing an update to WTO Decision 4.1.   
88. The ICC pointed out that a flash drive could be used as a software delivery mechanism as an 
alternative to a digital download, particularly in territories where limitations existed to downloading 
via the internet.  They added that all flash drives contained encryption software required to make 
the device function and offered to provide more information, including trends on current usage of these devices.    G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 12 - 
 
 
  
 89. It was generally agreed that Decision 4.1 in its present form did not cover USB flash drives 
due to the presence of integrated circuitry (exp licitly excluded from the definition of carrier 
media).  One delegate considered that the definiti on in the second paragraph of Decision 4.1 was 
effectively obsolete when applied to modern  forms of software and carrier media.  
90. The Deputy Director stated that the Secretariat would be willing to work further on this issue 
and provide a new working document, taking into account comments and views expressed by delegates.  The input offered by the ICC would also be welcome.   
Conclusion 
91. The Chairperson confirmed that the Secretaria t would draft an updated working document 
for further discussion at the next Session.  
Agenda Item VI:  QUESTIONS RAISED DURING THE INTERSESSION 
(a) Consistency of interpretation and application of Article 8.1 (b) (iv) - 
Request by Uruguay 
Background 
92. The Chairperson introduced this new question submitted by Uruguay, summarized in 
Document VT0869E1a.  He gave the floor to the Delegate of Uruguay who provided background to the case.  It had been identified that the punctuation in the Spanish version of Article 8.1 (b) (iv) 
of the Agreement was different to the English and French versions, resulting in a potentially 
different interpretation of the meaning of this provision.  He considered that this error should be addressed and corrected in order to align the text in all three languages.   
Summary of discussion 
93. One delegate suggested that this matter should be referred to the WTO Committee on 
Customs Valuation, proposing alignment of the text, and recalled a previous occasion when this action had been taken by the Technical Committee. Several delegates supported this proposal.   
94. The Deputy Director reminded the Technical Committee that this item had been raised 
during the intersession by Uruguay and, as such, the Technical Committee typically would decide whether it wished to place this matter on the Agenda of the Committee's next Session.  It was not 
therefore necessary at this stage to make a final determination on how the Technical Committee 
should act in this case.  In terms of a possible referral to the WTO, it would be preferable for the Secretariat to conduct research in order to determine the correct procedural approach.  
95. The Delegate of Uruguay read a draft letter which had been prepared for possible dispatch 
to the WTO.  After further reflection, some delegates considered that it would be appropriate to 
put the question on the Agenda for the next session.   
Conclusion 
96. The Technical Committee agreed that the Secretariat would research this issue further and 
prepare a working document listing the possible course s of action, to be discussed in the form of a 
technical question at the next session. 
Agenda Item VII:  ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 
(a) List of Member Contact Points  
Background  
97. As requested by the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, the Secretariat had 
continued to update the list of Contact Points on Valuation Matters. G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 13 - 
 
 
  
 98. During the intersession, the Customs Administra tions of Belgium, the United States, Peru 
and Venezuela had provided new details for their national Contact Points on Valuation Matters, in 
response to Document VT0864E1a.  The updated list of  all the national Contact Points on Valuation 
Matters was available on the WCO Members' Web site. 
Conclusion 
99. The Technical Committee took note of the report on the list of Contact Points on Valuation 
Matters. 
(b) Report on changes to the Index of Reference Materials  
Background 
100.  Pursuant to the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation's instructions, the Secretariat 
was continuing its review of the Index of Reference Materials on Customs Valuation and was 
constantly updating it based on information received from Members.  This information was 
currently available via the WCO Members' Web site  and contained contributions provided by 50 
Members. 
101.  During the intersession, the Customs Administrations of the United States, Ecuador and 
Venezuela had submitted new informat ion in response to Doc. VT0865E1a. 
Conclusion 
102.  The Technical Committee took note of the re port on changes to the Index of Reference 
Materials. 
(c) Review of the Conspect us of Reference Materials 
103.  The Secretariat had, in accordance with established procedure, updated the Conspectus of 
Technical Valuation Questions used to record items of a technical nature raised within the 
Technical Committee on Customs Valuation.  All comments made by Members during the Committee's 33
rd Session regarding drafting changes and typographical corrections had been 
included in the updated version, provided to Members in the Annex to Document VT0866E1a.  
This Agenda item closed with the Technical Committee approving the duly updated Conspectus. 
Agenda Item VIII: OTHER BUSINESS 
104.  The Delegate of the EU raised two issues under this Agenda item: 
(a) The Delegate of the EU commented that users were experiencing difficulties accessing the 
instruments and documents of the Technical Committee and asked whether the Secretariat could consider ways to improve this service.  In response, the Deputy Director stated that 
he understood the concern and pointed out that this was connected with the broader WCO 
publications issue being considered by the Finance Committee.  
(b) The Delegate of the EU referred to an initiative of the WTO concerning the global added 
value chain and said that this topic might be of interest and relevance to the Technical 
Committee.  In response, the Deputy Director noted that at the request of the Director-General of the WTO, the WTO's paper on this to pic, entitled "Measuring trade in value added 
and its implications for understanding global imbalances", had been made available to 
Members via the WCO Members' website. 
Agenda Item IX:  PROGRAMME OF FUTURE WORK 
105.  The Deputy Director proposed adopting the following Agenda items for the 36th Session: 
- Adoption of the Technical Committee's 35th Session Report; 
- Reports on intersessional developments: G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 14 - 
 
 
  
  - Director's report; and 
 - WTO Committee on Customs Valuation report. 
- Technical assistance/capacity building: 
- Report on technical assistance/capacity building activities undertaken by the 
Secretariat and Members; 
- Progress reports from developing country Members on practical application of the 
WTO Valuation Agreement; 
- Revenue Package: 
- Presentation by Morocco. 
- Specific technical questions:  - Study on royalties and licence fees: draft Advisory Opinion submitted by Brazil; 
 - Related Party transactions under the Agreement and Transfer Pricing; 
- [Application of Article 8.2 (a) of the Agreement]: submitted by Belarus. New title to be 
determined; 
- Valuation treatment of distribution fees an d payments based on projected net profits: 
submitted by Singapore;  
- Treatment of bonus payments:  submitted by Thailand; 
- Application of WTO Decision 4.1 (Valuation of carrier Media bearing Software for data 
processing equipment) for USB flash drives – submitted by Uruguay; and 
- Consistency of interpretation and application of Article 8.1 (b) (iv) – submitted by 
Uruguay. 
- Questions raised during the intersession (as appropriate); 
- Other business; and - Programme of future work, Dates of next meeting. 
Agenda Item X:  DATES OF NEXT MEETING 
106.  The Deputy Director announced that the dates for the 36th Session of the Technical 
Committee on Customs Valuation were set for 15 to 19 April 2013.   
Concluding remarks 
107.  The Director thanked the Technical Committee for the high level of discussions during the 
week and thanked the Chairperson for the profession al way in which he had chaired the meeting.  
The Chairperson joined the Director in thanking the interpreters, support staff and Secretariat for 
making the meeting a success, before formally closing the Session.  
O. AOUFI, 
Chairperson. 
 
  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 15 - 
 
 
  
 Table of Contents 
Agenda 
Item 
Number Subject Paragraphs 
I. Adoption of Agenda   
 (a) Draft Agenda 3-5 
 (b) Suggested programme 6-7 
II. Adoption of the Technical Committee's 34th Session Report  8-9 
III. Reports on intersessional developments   
 (a) Director's report 10-15 
 (b) WTO Committee on Customs Valuation report 16-21 
IV. Technical assistance, capacity building and current issues  
 (a) Report on the technical assist ance/capacity buil ding activities 
undertaken by the Secretariat and Members 22-24 
 (b) Progress report on Members' application of the WTO Valuation 
Agreement Presentation by Korea  
25-32 
 (c) Revenue Package: 
 - Practical Guidelines  for Valuation control 33-42 
V. Specific tech nical questions  
 (a) Study on royalties and licence fees:  
 - Draft Advisory Opinion submitted by Brazil 43-47 
 (b) Related party transactions under the Agreement and Transfer Pricing 48-54 
 (c) Valuation of industrial waste:  submitted by Belarus 55-61 
 (d) Valuation treatment of distribu tion fees and pa yments based on 
projected net profits:  submitted by Singapore  62-68 
 (e) Treatment of bonus payments :  submitted by Thailand 69-78 
 Administrative and Marketing Support Services Agreement  Exclusive 
Distribution & Trademark Sublicensing Agreement  Product Supply Agreement  
Master Computer Softwa re License Agreement    
 (f) Application of WTO Decision 4.1 (Valuation of carrier Media bearing 
Software for data processing equipm ent) for pen drives: submitted by 
Uruguay 79-85 
VI. Questions raised during the intersession  
 (a) Consistency of interpretation an d application of Article 8.1 b) iv) – 
Request by Uruguay 86-90 
VII. Administrative measures  
 (a) List of Member Contact Points 91-93 
 (b) Index of Reference Materials 94-96 
 (c) Review of the Conspectus of Reference Materials 97 
VIII. Other business 98 
IX. Programme of future work 99- 
X. Dates of next meeting 100-101 
 
 G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 16 - 
 
 
  
 LIST OF DELEGATES/LISTE DES DELEGUES/LISTA DE DELEGADOS 
CHAIRPERSON/PRESIDENT/ 
PRESIDENTE  Mr. O. AOUFI 
Chef du Service du Contrôle de la Valeur Administration des Douanes et Impôts Indirects o.aoufi@douane.gov.ma  
 
WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
AFGHANISTAN/AFGANISTÁN  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Dr. A. JAVID 
Commercial Attaché – Embassy and Mission of Afghanistan info@embassyafghanistan.be 
ANGOLA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. E. BURITY Customs Officer  –  Angola Customs eveburity@alfandega.gv.ao 
 
Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente  
Dr. J. NETO Customs Value Technician – Angola Customs joneto@alfandega.gv.ao 
ARGENTINA/ARGENTINE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Dr. H.O. VICENTE Director de Tecnica y Valoracini Aduanera Ministerio de Economica y Finanzas Publicas hvicen@mecon.gov.ar 
BELARUS/BÉLARUS/BELARÚS  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. K. PETROVSKY Deputy Head of the Department State Customs Committee petrovsky@tut.by 
BELGIUM/BELGIQUE/BÉLGICA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. C. PECQUEREAU Premier Attache des Finances – SPF Finances Chantal.pecquereau@minfin.fed.be  
Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
M. P. DEVOLDER 
Expert Fiscal – FOD Financien patrick.devolder@minfin.fed.be  
BENIN/BÉNIN  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. M. LAOUROU Inspecteur des Douanes et Chef du Service aux Usagers Direction Générale des Doua nes et Droits Indirects 
marcellinl2002@yahoo.fr  
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA/BO SNIE ET HERZEGOVINE/BOSN ĺA Y HERZEGOV ĺNA 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. D. MUSEMIC 
Expert associate for Customs Valuation – Customs Section ITA BIH Indirect taxation authority Bosnia and Herzegovina dzeman.musemic@uino.gov.ba 
BRAZIL/BRESIL/BRASIL  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. R. FARIA Tax Auditor of the Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil General Coordination of Customs Administration rodrigo.ferri@receita.fazenda.gov.br G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 17 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
BULGARIA/BULGARIE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. A. GEORGIEV 
Junior Expert – National Customs Agency Alexander.Georgiev@customs.bg 
BURKINA FASO  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. Y. TOE Chef  de Service Origine et Valeur Direction Générale des Douanes issouftoe@yahoo.fr  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mme. C. ZOURE Attaché Ambassade du Burkina clazoure1@yahoo.fr; amabssade.burkina@skynet.be 
CANADA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. J.-F. BEDARD Conseiller principal en matière de programme Canada Border Services Agency – Agence  des Services Frontaliers du Canada 
Jean-FrancoisH.Bedard@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca 
CHINA/CHINE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. S. DONG First Secretary – Mission of China to the EU dongshihu@skynet.be  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mrs. X. YAN Section Chief – China Customs yanxiaoli@customs.gov.cn  Mrs. Z. ZHANG Division Chief – China Customs zhangzheng@customs.gov.cn 
CHILE/CHILI  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. G. VILLARROEL Servicio de Aduanas de Chile gvillarroel@aduana.cl 
COMOROS/COMORES/COMORAS  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. A. OUSSOUF Chef de la cellule vérification différée Direction Générale des Douanes Union des Comores dir.cooperation@douanes.km; rapascala@yahoo.fr  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. S. I. ABDALLAH Receveur Centre douanier petit.ibrahim@yahoo.fr 
COSTA RICA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. S. VINOCOUR Ministre Conseiller Sergio.vinocour@costaricaembassy.be G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 18 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
COTE D'IVOIRE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. I TOURE 
Directeur de l'Analyse du Risque et de la Valeur Douanes Côte d'Ivoire Idriss_touret@yahoo.fr  
Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. K. LOUKOU 
Sous-directeur des Enquêtes Douanières Douanes Côte d'Ivoire jloukoff@yahoo.fr 
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO/REPUBL IQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO/REPÚBLICA 
DEMOCRÁTICA DEL CONGO  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
M. C. LUTALADIO MBUTA 
Directeur General Adjoint  Direction Générale des Douanes et Accises Carlut2000@yahoo.fr  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
M.J. NGOY KATSHELEWA 
Directeur de la Valeur 
Direction Générale des Douanes et Accises jeanngoyk@yahoo.fr 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/REPUBLIQUE DOMINI CAINE/REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA (LA) 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. R.E. RUIZ GONZALEZ 
Ministre Conseiller – Ambassade de la République Dominicaine eruizrd@gmail.com; c.diaz@dga.do 
EGYPT/EGYPTE/EGIPTO  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. MOHAMED IBRAHIM SAIED Head of Section – Egyptian Customs Authority elshorbagy2007@yahoo.com  Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes 
Mr. YOUSSEF TAAWFIEK Tariff Officer – Egyptian Customs Authority y.taawfiek@customs.gov.eg 
EUROPEAN UNION/UNION EUROPEENNE/UNIÓN EUROPEA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. J. MALONE European Commission John.Malone@ec.europa.eu 
 
Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes 
Mr. M. NIVOLO European Commission Marco.nivolo@ec.europa.eu 
FINLAND/FINLANDE/FINLANDIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. A. KAUHNEN Senior Customs Officer – Finnish  National Board of Customs 
anne.kauhanen@tulli.fi 
FRANCE/FRANCIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. V. DELALANDE Expert – DGDDI virginie.delalande@douane.finances.gouv.fr 
GABON/GABÓN 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
M.R.R. BIRINDA Conseiller Douanier – Ambassade du Gabon romainrogerbir@yahoo.fr G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 19 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
GERMANY/ALLEMAGNE/ALEMANIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. G. STICKER 
Federal Ministry of Finance Guido.Sticker@bmf.bund.de 
GHANA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. M. MACBRUCE Assistant Commissioner Valuation  Ghana Revenue Authority - Customs Division m2macbruce@yahoo.co.uk  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. J.B. KISSI Principal Collector Ghana Revenue Authority - Customs Division kissibismark@gmail.com 
HAITI/HAÏTI/HAITÍ 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
M. J.H. NELSON Chef de Service Administration Générale des Douanes herbynelson@yahoo.fr  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Ms. M.B. VALENTIN Assistant chef de section Administration Générale des Douanes beatricevalentin@yahoo.com 
HONG KONG, CHINA/HONG KONG, CHINE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. W.C. WAI Chief Trade Controls Officer – Hong Kong Customs & Excise wc_wai@customs.gov.hk  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. W.K. CHOI Senior Inspector – Hong Kong Customs & Excise chris_wk_choi@customs.gov.hk 
INDIA/INDE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Dr. RAJENDRA SINGH Additional Commissioner – Directorate of Valuation, Mumbai rajendrasingh18@gmail.com  
Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. R. MEENA 
Second Secretary (Trade) - Embassy of India – Brussels ss.trade@indembassy.be 
INDONESIA/INDONESIE 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. T.A. KUSUMANDARI Head of Valuation I Section Directorate General of Customs and Excise triandrini@gmail.com  Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes 
Mrs. A. ISKANDAR Customs Attaché - Indonesian Embassy anitaiskandar@yahoo.com G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 20 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
IRAN (Islamic Republic of)/(République is lamique d')/(la República Islámica del) 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. A. JAFAR 
Head of value office of Teheran Customs  Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration e_vali@irica.org  
Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes 
Mr. R. KOOHESTANI 
Directeur General of Value Office Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration e_vali@irica.org 
JAPAN/JAPON/JAPÓN  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. H. ODA Section Chief (Customs Valuation) – Ministry of Finance hidenori.oda@mof.go.jp  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. S. YAMAMOTO Senior Valuation Specialist – Tokyo Customs tyo-gyomu-hyoka-cent er@customs.go.jp 
 
Mr. Y. USUTANI First Secretary – Embassy of Japan  yukitomo.usutani@mofa.go.jp 
KENYA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. P. AHAGO Senior Assistant Commissioner – Kenya Revenue Authority Pamela.Ahago@kra.go.ke 
KOREA (REPUBLIC OF)/COREE (RÉPUBLIQUE DE)/COREA (REPÚBLICA DE) 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. H-Y. JO Team Manager – Korea Customs Service statpp@customs.go.kr  Mr. T.K. SUNG Customs Attaché – Korean Embassy 
KUWAIT,THE STATE OF/KOWEÏT, ÉTAT DU/KUWAIT, ESTADO DE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. M. ALRASHIDI Ass. Head Customs Affairs Office  Kuwait General Administration of Customs Nadm_111@hotmail.com 
LESOTHO  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. G. OLESYA Trade and Investment – Lesotho Embassy Trade.investment.lesothoembassy@gmail.com 
LIBYA/LIBYE/LIBIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. M. A.A. AL HEGAGI Customs Attaché Embassy of Libya 
MADAGASCAR  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
M. X. RAZANAMAHERY Attaché douanier à Bruxelles Direction Générale des Douanes de Madagascar 
razanamahery@madagascar-embassy.eu G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 21 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
MALAYSIA/MALAISIE/MALASIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. S. MOHAMMAD 
Minister Counsellor (Customs) – Embassy of Malaysia customsmy@skynet.be  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. A. S. IDRIS First Secretary (Customs) - Embassy of Malaysia customsmy@skynet.be 
MEXICO/MEXIQUE/MÉXICO 
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. F.X. GIL LEYVA ZAMBADA Minister - General Customs Administration of Mexico Fxavier.gil@sat.gob.mx  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. D. RIOS Counselor - Mexican Customs danrios1@hotmail.com 
MOLDOVA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. E. FRUMUSACHI Head of the Customs Revenues and Valuation Division Customs House Chisinau – Customs Service  edfrumusachiémail.ru 
MOROCCO/MAROC/MARRUECOS  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mme. L. KEMMOUS Chef du Bureau des Etudes Sectorielles 
Administration des Douanes et Impôts Indirects 
l.kemmou@douane.gov.ma 
NETHERLANDS/PAYS-BAS/PA ĺSES BAJOS  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. J. BIRKHOFF 
Ministry of Finance j.j.birkhoff@minfin.nl 
NEW ZEALAND/NOUVELLE-ZELANDE/NUEVA ZELANDIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. M. ROSEINGRAVE Customs Counsellor – New Zealand Embassy nzcsbrussels@skynet.be 
NIGERIA/NIGÉRIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. P.A. OCHIBA Deputy Comptroller of Customs - Nigeria Customs Service ochibapa@yahoo.com  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. F.N. ALLANAH Deputy Comptroller of Customs - Nigeria Customs Service frankallanah@yahoo.com 
 
Mrs. E.C. AYO Assistant Comptroller of Cust oms – Nigeria Customs Service 
frankallanah@yahoo.com  Mr. I. MAIKARFI maikarfi_ibrahim@yahoo.com 
NORWAY/NORVEGE/NORUEGA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. K.J. EIKELAND Senior Adviser - Norwegian Dire ctorate of Customs and Excise 
krij@toll.no G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 22 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
PARAGUAY  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. I. ESTIGARRIBIA FRETES 
Departamento de Valoración Aduanera – JEFE DEPARTAMENTO A.I.S.P iestigarribia@aduana.gov.py 
PERU/PEROU  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. L.E. ARROYO OMONTE Professional III of the Valuation Division – SUNAT larroyoo@sunat.gob.pe 
PHILIPPINES/FILIPINAS  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. R. MERENCILLA Chief Customs Operation Offi cer – Bureau of Customs 
boyp_168@yahoo.com 
 
Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente  
Mr. R.J.C. TORRALBA Acting COO (Customs Operation O fficer) V – Bure au of Customs 
rizal0619@yahoo.com 
POLAND/POLOGNE/POLONIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. A. SZARKOWSKA Senior Expert – Polish Customs Service – Ministry of Finance 
Agnieszka.Szarkowska@mofnet.gov.pl 
PORTUGAL  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. C. NEVES ADELINO Customs Advisor – Ministry of Finance Excise and Customs Authority Cristina.Neves.Adelino@at.gov.pt 
ROMANIA/ROUMANIE/RUMANIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. V. URECHE Counsellor – National Customs Authority valeria.ureche@customs.ro 
RUSSIAN FEDERATION/RUSSIE (FEDERATION DE)/RUSIA (FEDERACIÓN DE)  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. L. BONDAR Head of the Division on Customs Valuation The Finance Ministry of the Russian Federation p1470_bl@minfin.ru  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente 
Mr. A. ARTEMIEV Consultant of the division on customs valuation The Finance Ministry of the Russian Federation Shirokov.ofc@mail.ru  Mr. A. SEN Customs Attaché in Belgium sen_customs@yahoo.com 
SAUDI ARABIA/ARABIE SAOUDITE/ARABIA SAUDITA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. S.M. ALHARBI DG Valuation Dept. – Saudi Arabia Customs conventions@customs.gov.sa  
SENEGAL  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
M. A. SOW NGOM Chef Bureau Origine et Valeur 
Direction générale des Douanes 
sowgom_douane2007@yahoo.fr G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 23 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
SERBIA/SERBIE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. N. NENADIC 
Senior Customs Advisor – Custom s Administration of Serbia 
nenadicn@carina.rs   Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente  
Ms. S. ZIVANOVIC Advisor – Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia snezana.zivanovic@mfin.gov.rs 
SINGAPORE/SINGAPOUR  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. D. FOO Head Tariffs and Trade Services - Singapore Customs customs_international@customs.gov.sg   Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente  
Mr. B. LIM Assistant Head Tariffs and Trad e Services - Singapore Customs 
customs_international@customs.gov.sg 
SOUTH AFRICA/AFRIQUE DU SUD  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. C. LEBEPE Customs Counsellor – SA Revenue Service eurosars@skynet.be 
SPAIN/ESPAGNE/ESPAÑA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
M. A. ALARCON CAÑONES Inspector Asesor antonio.alarconc@correo.aeat.es 
SRI LANKA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. M.M.M RISHAFY Deputy Director of Customs - Sri Lanka Customs rishafy09@yahoo.com  Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente  
Mr. M.R. RAJMOHAN Deputy Director of Customs – Policy Planning Sri Lanka Customs rajmahal@sltnet.lk 
SUDAN/SOUDAN  
Alternate/Suppléant/Suplente  
Mr. M.H. GANO Deputy Director of Tariffs – Sudan Customs Authority badrsinarirw@gmail.com 
SWAZILAND/SWAZILANDIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. G.T. DLAMINI-ZWANE Customs Attaché – Embassy of Swaziland treasurezw@yahoo.co.uk 
SWEDEN/SUEDE/SUECIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. J.B. OLSSON Customs Adviser – Swedish Customs jan.olsson@tullverket.se 
SWITZERLAND/SUISSE/SUIZA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
M. P. KRAUER Adjoint à la Direction Générale des Douanes 
Direction générale des douanes 
peter.krauer@ezv.admin.ch 
CHINESE TAIPEI  
Delegate/Délégué/Deleg ado Mr. K.C. CHEN 
Counsellor – Mission of the TPKM to the WTO 
kenchen@mail.mof.gov.tw G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 24 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
THAILAND/THAILANDE/TAILANDIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. T. SUVARNAMANI 
Customs Technical Officer (Valuation) - Thai Customs Department terdsak@post.harvard.edu  Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes  
Dr. ONWALAN KLONGSUNGSORN Customs Technical Officer (Valuation) - Thai Customs Department onwalan.kss@gmail.com 
TOGO  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. D. BARRIGAH BENISSAN Directeur du Contentieux et de la Valeur – Douanes Togolaises barrigah2000@yahoo.fr  Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes 
Mr. P.F. ABOUZI Inspecteur – Douanes Togolaises Abkfp1@yahoo.fr 
TUNISIA/TUNISIE/TUNEZ  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mrs. R. BEN KHELIFA EPSE AMRI Directeur (Direction de la Valeur ), Direction Générale des Douanes 
Osmane113@yahoo.fr 
TURKEY/TURQUIE/TURQU ĺA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. E. ERTURK 
Head of Department  Ministry of Customs and Trade – Directorate general of customs 
erturk@gumruk.gov.tr 
UKRAINE/UCRANIA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. V. SUVOROV 
State Customs Service of Ukraine Vladyslav.suvorov@gmail.com  Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes  
Mr. Y. BIELKIN Counsellor (Customs matters) – Mission to the EU e.belkin@ukraine-eu.be 
UNITED KINGDOM/ROYAUME-UNIS/REINO UNIDO  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. J. MITCHELL Valuation policy adviser - HM Revenue and Customs john.mitchell1@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk 
UNITED STATES/ETATS-UNIS/ESTADOS UNIDOS  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. Y. GULIS Attorney-advisor – US CBP Yuliya.Gulis@dhs.gov 
URUGUAY  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. G. MANES Sub Director Nacional – Direccion Nacional de Aduanas gmanes@aduanas.gub.uy G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 25 - 
 
 
  
 WCO/WTO MEMBERS/MEMBRES DE L'OM D/OMC/MIEMBROS DE LA OMA/OMC 
VENEZUELA  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Ms. A. ALTUVE 
Jefe Division de Estudios e investigaciones del Valor de la Gerencia del Valor-Seniat – Gerencia del Valor-Intendencia Nacional de Aduanas acaltuve@seniat.gob.ve  
Alternates/Suppléants/Suplentes  
Mrs. P. MARHENA 
Professional Aduanero y tributario Gerencia del Valor – Intendencia nacional de Aduanas-Seniat 
pmarchen@seniat.gob.ve 
ZAMBIA/ZAMBIE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. E. SIGANDE Assistant Commissioner – North – Zambia Revenue Authority  SigandeE@zra.org.zm 
ZIMBABWE  
Delegate/Délégué/Delegado  
Mr. S. MPOFU Technical Services Manager – ZIMRA SMPofu2@zimra.co.zw 
 
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ORGANISATIO NS INTERNATIONALES ORGANIZACIONES 
INTERNACIONALES 
ASAPRA - (INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CUSTOMS BROKERS/ASSOCIATION AMERICAINE 
DES AGENTS EN DOUANE/ASOCIACIÓN INTERN ACIONAL DE AGENTES PROFESIONALES DE 
ADUANA) 
Mr. G. GAMBARO 
Representative ASAPRA Sec.tecnica@mail.adau.com.uy  
 
Mr. H. GALVÁN  
Representative ASAPRA Sec.tecnica@mail.adau.com.uy  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 26 - 
 
 
  
 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ORGANISATIO NS INTERNATIONALES ORGANIZACIONES 
INTERNACIONALES 
ICC – CCI - INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE 
INTERNATIONALE/CÁMARA DE COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL  
Mr. J.M. SALVA 
ICC Representative salva@dsavocats.com  
Mr. K. VANHEUSDEN 
ICC Representative  Mrs. P. VAN DER SCHUEREN ICC Representative   Mrs. M. PERRICK ICC Representative   Mr. J. BESCEC ICC Representative jbescec@microsoft.com   Mr. W. VAN HOEYMISSEN ICC Representative Vanhoeymissen.w@pg.com   Mr. MW. METHENITIS ICC Representative   Mr. M. NEVILLE ICC Representative MNEVILLE@itctradelaw.com  
 
Mr. T. KERR ICC Representative 
OECD – ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT/OCDE – 
ORGANISATION DE COOPERATION ET DE DEVELOPPEMENT ECONOMIQUE  
Mr. C. CLAVEY 
OECD Representative colin.clavey@oecd.org 
COMMUNAUTE ECONOMIQUE ET MONETAIRE DE L'AFRIQUE CENTRALE/ECONOMIC AND 
MONETARY COMMUNITY OF  CENTRAL AFRICA  
Mr. D. NDOUBA GOUDOU 
Directeur de l'Union Douanière legoudoux@yahoo.fr  Mr. J.V. YAKETE-KOSSI Chef de Projet Contrô le et Facilitation 
yaketekossijerry@yahoo.fr 
WTO/OMC – WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION/ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU 
COMMERCE/ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO  
Mr. R. SANTANA World Trade Organization Roy.Santana@wto.org 
 
SECRETARIAT/SECRETARIA 
TARIFF AND TRADE AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE/DIRECTION DES QUESTIONS TARIFAIRES ET 
COMMERCIALES/DIRECCIÓN DE ARANCELES Y DE ASUNTOS COMERCIALES 
Director 
Mr. G. FAVALE Deputy Director 
Mr. C. CLARK G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 27 - 
 
 
  
 SECRETARIAT/SECRETARIA 
VALUATION SUB-DIRECTORATE/SOUS-DIRECTION DE LA VALEUR/SUBDIRECCIÓN DEL VALOR 
Technical Officers 
Mr. I. CREMER 
Mr. L. MACEDO Technical Attachés 
Mr. R. SOKI KEKE 
INTERPRETERS/INTERPRÈTES/INTÉRPRETES 
Mme. P. MANIN Mme. P. LÓPEZ NOVELLA Mr. J.-F. MICHEL Mme. G. SANZ Mme. M. PIERA MARIN Mr. J. REGUERAS Mme. I. BIOUD Mr. J. AMARI Mme. D. ZUGRAVESCU 
 G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 28 - 
 
 
  
 REPORT BY THE WTO COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
TO THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
16 October 2012 
The Committee on Customs Valuation held its last meeting on 10 May 2012, and it will hold its 
second meeting next week, on Thursday 25 October 2012.   
The minutes of the May meeting were circulated in document G/VAL/M/53 and can be downloaded 
from the WTO's website, documents on-line section.   The agenda of this meeting was very similar 
to the meeting that took place in October 2011.   
On the first agenda item, Mr Ian Cremer -from th e WCO Secretariat- presented a report of the 34th 
Session of the Technical Committee.   
One of the most important tasks of the Committee is to undertake a review of Members' laws, 
regulations and administrative procedures on customs valuation.  Members must also submit 
responses to a check list of issues.  This function  stems from Article 22 of the Agreement, which is 
complemented by a Decision on notifications that was adopted by the WTO Committee on Customs 
Valuation in 1995.   
The Committee continued its review on the legislations of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Belize, 
Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, Tunisia, and 
Ukraine.  In addition, new notifications were received from Ecuador (checklist of issues) and 
Rwanda (both the check list of issues and nation al legislation).  The review process by the 
Committee is based on a series of written questions and answers, all of which are publicly available through the WTO website.  The procedures remain outstanding for all those Members and 
limited progress was made on most of them.  The procedures will only be deemed concluded once 
all questions have been answered and there are no more issues pending.   
No progress was made with respect to the following Members:  Kingdom of Bahrain, Belize, 
Nigeria, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tunisia.   The lack of progress is explained either by 
the lack of written answers or because the relevant delegate was absent from the meeting. 
There was some degree of progress on the following files: 
Cambodia had submitted additional replies to the questions by the United States, as well as the 
replies to the Check-list of issues in October last year.  Based on those documents, the US 
delegation expressed its concern about Cambodia's implementation of Article 13 of the Agreement, 
which provides importers with the ability to withdraw their goods in case where a determination on 
the final customs valuation was delayed.  The United States noted that Article 18(b) of Cambodia's 
Customs Law allowed its Customs to refuse to release the goods until evidence attesting to the correctness of the declaration had been received.   
China:  The United States submitted questions in October 2011 requesting clarification on two 
aspects of China's customs valuation practices.  In  response to these questions, the delegation of 
China:  1) confirmed that the transaction value was the basis for customs valuation; and 2) denied 
the reports that it was still using reference pricing.  The Chinese delegate sought additional 
information about the source of those reports and recalled that China had provided an administrative review and appeal procedure for traders where the issue could be addressed appropriately.  The Chinese delegate indicated that  it will provide written answers as soon they 
were received them from capital 
Costa Rica:  The United States submitted written questions to Costa Rica.  One of these questions 
was whether its database was used solely as a risk assessment tool or it was also used to establish 
reference prices.  The WCO Secretariat noted that they had been contacted by the Costa Rica 
Customs Administration in this respect.  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 29 - 
 
 
  
 Ecuador:  The United States announced that it would be submitting questions and noted that 
Ecuador's responses to the checklist of issues made reference to several pieces of legislation that 
had not been notified.  
Rwanda:  The United States and the European Un ion took the floor to thank Rwanda for making 
the effort to notify both its legislation and the responses to the checklist of issues.  Delegations 
announced that they would be submitting questions to Rwanda.  
Thailand:  Delegations renewed their concern on "Section 11 bis", which allowed Customs to use 
reference prices in determining customs value and wanted to know whether it had been repealed 
from Thailand's legislation.  The Thai delegate indicated that Thailand had never exercised such right, which would be in violation of the Agreemen t.  He also noted that the Customs department 
had submitted a proposal to remove section 11 bis from the Customs Act.  He announced that the 
draft legal amendment was under consideration by the Council of State. 
Ukraine:  The European Union, Switzerland and th e United States took the floor to express their 
concern with respect to Ukraine's customs practices.  These delegations considered that Ukraine 
was using its customs valuation database as a means to set reference prices.  These delegations 
noted that Ukraine had introduced new legislation in this area and requested that it be notified for review by the Committee.  Ukraine's delegation confirmed that a new Customs Code had been 
approved by Ukraine's Parliament on 13 March 2012 and signed by the President on 19 April 2012.  
The new Code conformed with the European Union Modernised Customs Code in respect of customs value.  He also noted that controls by Ukraine's Customs Service had revealed that not all importers were submitting reliable data during customs clearance, including the one used in the valuation of 
the goods, and that the alternative methods had to be used in those cases.  With a view to reducing 
the tensions, Ukraine's government held regular meetings with the European Business Associations, the American Chamber of Commerce, businesses, representative of Embassies, and the mass media.  
Also, a total of 26 agreements and memoranda on supply of information had been negotiated and 
were currently in force.  
As noted above, the review of legislation is one of the main functions of the Committee.  However, 
this function has been impaired by the fact th a t  m a n y  M e m b e r s  h a v e  f a i l e d  t o  s u b m i t  t h e i r  
notifications.  Of the 157 WTO Members, 42 have not submitted their legislation on customs valuation for review and 71 have not submitted their replies to the check list of issues.  Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 22 of the Agreement on Customs Valuation, Members shall also notify the 
amendments to their legislation, but the discussions at the Committee suggest that this rarely 
happens.  The WTO Secretariat regularly provides a list of the notifications that have been received.  With a view to trying to improve this situation, summary of these notifications is 
available in the room.  Notifying the national le gislation or amendments thereof is a straight 
forward affair:  the Geneva-based representations simply need to submit an electronic copy in one of the three official languages (English, Spanish or French).  The WTO Secretariat is available in 
case additional information is required. 
On the third agenda item, the Committee took note  of the WCO's and WTO's technical assistance 
missions.  One new development in this respect is that a new type of joint WTO/WCO national 
activity had been delivered in Kyrgyz Republic and Honduras.  The performance evaluation forms 
w e r e  v e r y  p o s i t i v e  a n d  e n c o u r a g i n g .   O n  t h i s  b a sis, the two Secretariats have been trying to 
coordinate even more closely the delivery of technical assistance.  A third joint activity will be delivered in November for Peru, where the WTO will be financing the participation of one officer 
from the WCO.   
The Committee agreed to revert to the United States questions to Armenia.  The United States 
considers that Armenia is applying reference pricing in connection with the valuation of goods.  
Armenia provided written replies to the follow-up questions that had been submitted by the United 
States last year.  The US delegate noted that they kept receiving reports that the situation had not changed. 
The Committee took note of questions raised by the United States on Indonesia's pre-shipment 
inspection programme.  In this regard, the United States expressed its disappointment for not 
having received an answer from Indonesia despite consistently raising the issue over the past 
three years.  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 30 - 
 
 
  
 The Committee was informed that the General Council of the WTO had approved some 
recommendations concerning cost savings in docu ment production and meetings that were drawn 
by the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration.  These recommendations move the Organization towards a paperless environment where distribution of hard copies of documentation 
within the Secretariat and to Members had been or would soon cease.  The Committee agreed to 
follow those recommendations wherever possible. 
The Chairman reported that he had received a letter from Mr. Anthony Barone, Chairman of the 
Customs and Trade Regulations Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), 
indicating that the ICC would like to work with the Committee.  This, in particular, with respect to problems that could arise from the eventual misuse of customs valuation databases to set minimum or reference prices.  The Chairman announced that  informal consultations would be held on the 
issue. 
Ms. Irena Banaszynska, from Poland, was elected by acclamation as the new Chairperson of the 
Committee.   
Following the formal meeting of the Committee, a Workshop on Customs Valuation was held to 
provide Geneva delegates with an opportunity to discuss technical matters with the Secretariat and with each other.  Presentations were made by Mr. Ian Cremer from the WCO Secretariat, and 
Mrs. Sheri Rosenow from the WTO Secretariat.  The presentations are available for download in 
the WTO Website, Customs Valuation section. 
We anticipate that the first meeting of the Committee next year will take place on 16 May 2013.   This brings me to the end of my report. 
 
 
_______________ 
 G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 31 - 
 
 
  
 Members Comments on the 35th Draft TCCV 
Annex to Document VT0875 
The following proposals have been incorporated unless indicated in bold 
Country Paragraph Proposal E F S 
Argentina 4 The verb "iniciar" ["initiate"] used in the fourth line ("iniciado") 
["initiated"], which is the same as the verb used in the English 
version of the text ("initiated"), should be replaced with the verb "introducir" ("introducido") ["introduce" ("introduced")] or with the verb "plantear" ("planteado") ["initiate" ("initiated")], which is the one found in the French version ("soulevée").  Furthermore, the latter version specifies that the topic is being addressed "for the first time", a detail given neither in the English version nor in the Spanish version.   X 
Argentina 6 The second sentence should be aligned with the text in the English 
and French versions.  Accordin gly, the following wording is 
suggested:  "Propuso que se realizaran algunas modificaciones en el programa a los efectos de tener en cuenta la disponibilidad de 
ciertos delegados y oradores para discutir algunas de las cuestiones técnicas particulares."   ["He made proposals to amend 
the programme to take account of the availability of certain delegates and speakers to discus s particular technical points."]   X 
Argentina 7 Instead of the verb "plantear"  ("planteadas") ["raise" ("raised")], 
the verb "sugerir" ("sugeridas") ["suggest" ("suggested")] should be used here, as in the French , or "proponer" ("propuestas") 
["propose" ("proposed")], as in the English.   X 
Argentina 10 The paragraph number is mi ssing.  Instead, the paragraph is 
preceded by the letter "a".  Th e lack of paragraph number means 
that paragraph 11 has been numbered 10, paragraph 12 numbered 11, and so on.   X 
Argentina 14 Part of the first sentence should be aligned with the texts in 
English and in French as the Spanish version does not reflect what the Director said and furthermore lacks clarity.  The following wording is therefore suggested: "… el Director indicó que, a los 
efectos de la evaluación de riesgos, podría ser de utilidad para la Aduana tener acceso a la información sobre la manera en que se fijan dichos precios …" ["…the Direct or said that it can be useful for 
Customs to have access to pricin g information for risk assessment 
purposes …"].   X 
Argentina 16 In the penultimate line, the words "no conforme" ["non-
compliant"] should be replaced with the adjective "incorrecta" 
["mis"[-use]].   X 
Argentina 18 The words "en aduana" ["Cu stoms"] at the end of the paragraph 
should be moved so that they accompany the noun "valoración" ["valuation"], and after the noun "control" ["control"] one should 
insert "en la materia" ["in this fiel d"], as in the French version, or  
write "materias de control" ["control matters"], as has been done in the English version.     X 
Argentina 21 In the first li ne, the words "del inform e" ["of the [WTO oral] 
report"] have been written twice.   X 
Argentina 22 In the third and fourth line s, the words "…e informando sobre las 
mismas…" ["…and reporting thereon…"] should be deleted.   X 
Argentina 
and Japan 28 In the second line, the adjective "privada" ["private"] which 
qualifies "organización" ["organization"] is understood to have been correctly scored through, as in the English version.  In the 
French version, it has disappeared. X X X 
Argentina 36 The last line makes referenc e to "…medios estadísticos similares…" 
["…similar statistical means…"].  The adjective similares [similar] is not the right one.  The English vers ion refers to "…such statistical 
means…", and the French version to "…ce type de moyens statistiques…".  Consequently, it  is suggested that the words 
"…medios estadísticos similares…" be replaced with the words "…tales medios estadísticos…" ["…such statistical means…"].   X 
Brazil 44 Addition of word ("IMP") to th e second sentence of the paragraph:  
He confirmed that, in Brazil's opinion, a sale had taken place between the manufacturer ("MAN") and the importer ("IMP"), even though no sales agreement existed. X X X G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 32 - 
 
 
  
 Country Paragraph Proposal E F S 
Brazil 44 Addition and redraft of paragraph: 
 44. (…)  He said invoices were issued by MAN related to the goods bought by IMP and that, in the Brazil's point of view, it's 
possible to consider that the supply agreement between 
OWNER and MAN works, in practice, like a sales agreement 
between MAN and IMP. The delegate said that in Brazil's opinion it's not necessary to split the case into two version of the advisory opinion as proposed by Japan at the last Session (Japan proposed in the last session that a version where OWNER and MAN are related parties was discussed too).  The delegate said if MAN and OWNER were related parties, that is not the current situation, the characterization of the royalties as a condition of sale could be easily demonstrated by the Customs, without the need to publish an advisory opinion for this purpose, mainly after the publication of the Comme ntary 25.1, "Third Party 
Royalties and Licence Fees  – General Commentary". X X X 
Japan 45 Redraft: 
Another delegate suggested that the case should not 
indicate that OWNER is a buying agent according to the 
non-paper because it would lead to addition of a point to discuss on whether or not OWNER was a buying agent on the basis of Commentary 17.1, in this case. X X X 
Argentina 60 The second paragraph of this section refers to the General 
Introductory Commentary to the Agreement.  The reference was 
made by the delegate of Uruguay in  the course of the discussion – 
not, however, in order to defend the second point of view, but as a further argument in support of th e first, namely that the three 
hundred currency units deriving from the increase in transport should not form part of the Customs value of the goods because they were not paid by the buyer.   X 
Thailand 70 (c) Addition of the word resa le in the sentence:  "They accounted for 
25% to 30% of the resale price of the imported goods." X X X 
Thailand 71 Addition of a paragraph: 
 In brief, the non-paper specified that not all of the bonus payments paid to the Independent distributors should be added to the declared values, but only those that were related to imported goods and were the condition of sales agreed upon before the importation.  Importer did not undertake this type of bonus payment on it's own account, but on the MNC's account that was merely hold under the 
name of Importer.  Supporting information were derived 
from Importer's income statements submitted to the Revenue Department and the other set of income statements submitted to the Parent MNC, which reviewed steady discrepancies for se veral consecutive years. X X X 
Argentina 81 In the second line, the words "…si ello no era sí…" ["…if this was 
not yes…"] should be replaced with "…si ello no era así…" ["…if this 
does not occur…"].   X 
Argentina 85 In the third line, "…llevado a la conclusión…" ["…had been led to 
the conclusion…"] should be replaced with "…llegado a la conclusión…" ["…had been identified…"].  As regards the differences in punctuation – and quite apart from how the 
discussions have been approached until now – it is understood that these do not arise between the French and English versions on the one hand, and the Spanish version on the other, but between the Spanish and English versions on the one hand, and the French version on the other.   X 
Argentina 89 In the first line, "…leyó una  carta que redactada…", ["…read a draft 
letter which prepared…"] should be replaced with "…leyó una carta que había redactado…" ["…read a draft letter which he had 
prepared…"] or "…leyó una carta redactada…" ["…read a draft letter which had been prepared…"].   X 
 G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 33 - 
 
 
  
 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE 
ON CUSTOMS VALUATION VT0869E1a  
(+ Annex)  
 
35th Session O.Eng  
 
Brussels, 28 September 2012  
 
QUESTIONS RAISED DURING THE INTERSESSION 
Consistency of Interpretation and Application of Article 8.1 (b) (iv)  
of the WTO Valuation Agreement (Request by Uruguay) 
 (Item VI (a) on the Agenda) 
SECRETARIAT COMMENTS 
1. During the intersession, the Administration of Uruguay proposed a question on the 
"Consistency of interpretation and application of Ar ticle 8.1 (b) (iv)".  The question is reproduced 
in the Annex to this document. 
2. The Technical Committee is invited to examine this matter and determine whether it wishes 
to consider it as a Specific Technical Question at the 36th Session. 
 
_______________ 
  
 G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 34 - 
 
 
  
 QUESTION BY URUGUAY 
Consistency of Interpretation and Application of Article 8.1 (B) (IV) 
Issue 
1. Article 8.1 (b) (iv) of the Agreement is worded  as follows in the respective English, French 
and Spanish official languages: 
"(iv) engineering, development, artwork, de sign work, and plans and sketches undertaken 
elsewhere than in the country of importation and necessary for the production of the 
imported goods;" 
"(iv) travaux d'ingénierie, d'étude, d'art et de desi gn, plans et croquis, exécutés ailleurs que dans 
le pays d'importation et nécessaires pour la production des marchandises importées;" 
"(iv) ingeniería, creación y perfeccionamiento, trabajos artísticos, diseños, y planos y croquis 
realizados fuera del país de importación y necesarios para la producción de las mercancías 
importadas;" 
2. It should be noted that, unlike the English and Spanish versions, in the French version: 
(1) In front of the words "de design" there is the conjunction "et" rather than a comma (,); 
(2) In front of the word "plans" there is no conjunction "et"; and (3) After the word "croquis" there is a comma (,). 
3. These small differences in drafting can give rise to different interpretations and applications 
of the Agreement, depending on the language version used by Members. 
Analysis 
(I) As a first step, Article 8.1 (b) (iv) of the Agreement should be set in the context of:  
(a) Decision 5.1 of the WTO Committee on Cu stoms Valuation relating to the linguistic 
consistency in the English, French and Sp anish texts of the terms  "development", 
"travaux d'etude" and "creación y perfeccionamiento" in Article 8.1 (b) (iv), such 
terms being understood to exclude, respectively, "research" in English, "recherche" in 
French and "investigación" in Spanish; 
(b) Commentary 18.1 of the Technical Committee, on the relationship between 
Articles 8.1 (b) (ii) and 8.1 (b) (iv); 
(c) Case Studies 1.1 and 5.2 of the Technical Committee, relating to specific cases 
involving adjustments to the transaction value under Article 8.1 (b) (iv); and 
(d) Members' existing case-law and legal doctrine on Article 8.1 (b) (iv). 
(II) We might compare this hitherto accepted inte rpretation with the requirements stipulated in 
the Agreement for each element and for each official language, and illustrate this using the following approach: 
Element French English Spanish 
1 travaux d'ingénierie, en gineering, ingeniería, 
2 d'étude, development, creación y perfeccionamiento, 
3 d'art artwork, trabajos artísticos, 
4 et de design, desi gn work, diseños, 
5 plans et croquis, and plans an d sketches y planos y croquis 
 
4. In summarizing this first linguistic comparison, we would note that element 2 – whilst not 
correctly aligned in the three versions – has already been dealt with, explained and publicized via Decision 5.1 of the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation; it is only in French that element 4 starts with the conjunction "et", and only in French that element 5 does not start with "et" and 
ends with a comma (","). G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 35 - 
 
 
  
 5. The sentence then goes on to include two more elements: 
Element French English Spanish 
6 exécutés ailleurs que dans 
le pays d'importation et undertaken elsewhere than in 
the country of importation and  realizados fuera del país de 
importación y 
7 nécessaires pour la 
production des marchandises importées necessary for the production of 
the imported goods necesarios para la producción de 
las mercancías importadas 
 
(III) In line with the Agreement and the references mentioned in letters (a) to (d) of section (I) 
above, these first five types of service or "non-mat erial assists" set out in elements 1 to 5 are the 
only ones subject to adjustments under Article 8.1 (b) (iv), where supplied directly or indirectly by 
the buyer free of charge or at reduced cost for use in connection with the production and sale for 
export of the imported goods, to the extent that  such price has not been included in the price 
actually paid or payable; and provided that (in respect of these five types of service or "non-
material assists") the conditions subsequently set out in elements 6 and 7 are met in each case. 
6. In other words, the only services subject to adjustments under Article 8.1 (b) (iv) are those 
identified in the above elements 1 to 5 (in the re spective languages), prov ided, however, that the 
requirements laid down in elements 6 and 7 are met. 
7. In the light of the foregoing, it is noteworthy that the current language versions may give 
rise to some confusion on Article 8.1 (b) (iv) of the Agreement, particularly the English and Spanish versions, as will be explained. 
(IV) The first difference appears with the conjunction "et" at the start of element 4 in the French 
version.  This is of little significance but would somewhat logically lead to the current elements 3 and 4 being merged into a single element, in the following way: 
Element French English Spanish 
1 travaux d'ingénierie, en gineering, ingeniería, 
2 d'étude, development, creación y perfeccionamiento, 
3 d'art et de design, artwork and design  work, trabajos artí sticos y diseños, 
    
5 plans et croquis, and plans an d sketches y planos y croquis 
 
(V) The second area of confusion may very well be  important and relates to the fact that in the 
English and Spanish versions, element 5 does not end with a comma (",") and starts with "and" or 
"y": this could (even in law) be interpreted by an operator to mean that the elements numbered 6 and 7 from this sentence of the Agreement apply only to plans and sketches (that is, only to 
element 5).  Indeed, strictly, it can be read like that because of the initial "y" in Spanish and "and" 
in English as well as the absence of a comma after "croquis" and "sketches" to separate these requirements and make them encompass all five non-material assists: 
Element French English Spanish 
1 travaux d'ingénierie, en gineering, ingeniería, 
2 d'étude, development, creación y perfeccionamiento, 
3 d'art et de design, artwork and design  work, trabajos artí sticos y diseños, 
    
5 plans et croquis, and plans an d sketches y planos y croquis 
6 exécutés ailleurs que dans le 
pays d'importation et undertaken elsewhere than 
in the country of importation and  realizados fuera del país de 
importación y 
7 nécessaires pour la production 
des marchandises importées necessary for the production 
of the imported goods necesarios para la producción 
de las mercancías importadas 
 
Deliverable 
That, prior to its study and analysis, the WCO Technical Committee on Customs Valuation issue an 
interpretative document on this matter for the entire global Customs community, or bring this concern to the attention of the Committee on Cu stoms Valuation of the World Trade Organization G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 36 - 
 
 
  
 for its consideration, with a view to ensuring the uniform application of the Agreement in all its 
Members. 
Using the same approach as that above, ensure the following application for the three languages: 
Element French English Spanish 
1 travaux d'ingénierie, en gineering, ingeniería, 
2 d'étude, development, creación y perfeccionamiento, 
3 d'art et de design, artwork and design  work, trabajos artí sticos y diseños, 
    
5 plans et croquis, plans and sketches, planos y croquis, 
6 exécutés ailleurs que dans le 
pays d'importation et undertaken elsewhere than in 
the country of importation and  realizados fuera del país de 
importación y 
7 nécessaires pour la production 
des marchandises importées necessary for the production of 
the imported goods necesarios para la producción 
de las mercancías importadas 
 
_______________ 
 G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 37 - 
 
 
  
  
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE 
ON CUSTOMS VALUATION VT0894E1a  
(+ Annex I and II)  
 
36th Session O.Eng  
 
Brussels, 25 March 2013  
 
Consistency of Interpretation and Application of Article 8.1 (b) (iv)  
of the WTO Valuation Agreement (Request By Uruguay) 
(Item V (g) on the Agenda) 
Reference documents: 
VT0869E1a (TCCV/35) VT0888E1a 
VT0875E1c (TCCV/35 – Draft Report)  
 
 
I. MEMBERS' COMMENTS 
1. After the release of Document VT0888E, Urug uay sent two different draft versions of the 
letter that could be sent by the Technical Committee to the Committee on Customs Valuation. 
2. The first proposes amending both the Spanish and English texts, and is reproduced in 
Annex I of the present document.  The second proposes amending only the Spanish text of the Agreement, and is reproduced in Annex II of the present document. 
II. SECRETARIAT COMMENTS 
3. During the intersession, the Secretariat was informed that in the United States on legislation 
(statute) 19 U.S.C. 1401a(h)(1)(A)(iv)), and 19 CFR 152.102(a)(1)(iv))) (regulations), 
Article 8.1 (b) (iv) of the WTO Valuation Agreement read as follows: 
"Engineering, development, artwork, design  work, and plans and sketches that are 
undertaken elsewhere than in the United States and are necessary for the production of the imported merchandise." 
3. The difference between the US version and th e WTO Valuation Agreement is in the insertion 
of "that are," with no comma. 
III. CONCLUSION 
4. The Technical Committee is invited to exam ine the matter and determine what course of 
action would be appropriate. 
  G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 38 - 
 
 
  
 Annex I 
Draft letter for the WTO CCV 
"Madam Chair of the Committee on Customs Valuation: 
I have the pleasure of writing to you in my capacity as Chair of the Technical Committee on 
Customs Valuation in order to inform you that at its 35th and 36th Session, held in Brussels from 
15 to 19 October 2012 and from 15 to 19 Apr il 2013, the aforementioned Committee examined 
the question raised by Uruguay, "Consisten cy of Interpretation and Application of 
Article 8.1 (b) (iv)" (documents VT0869S1a y) –, as it was found that the English and Spanish 
versions of the Agreement are different from the French version text, what might lead to divergences of interpretation and application of the Agreement. 
In view of the provisions in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Annex II to the Agreement and of the 
precedents which exist on this matter (Procès-Verbal  of Rectification of the term "entretenimiento" 
which is used in paragraph 3 (a) of the Interpretative Note to Article 1 – "Price Actually Paid or Payable" – as set out in document WT/Let/147, and Decisions on the word "copyrights" in the 
Interpretative Note to Article 8.1 (c), on the word "undertaken" used in Article 8.1 (b) (iv) and on 
the term "creación y perfeccionamiento" which is also in that Article), it was agreed by consensus to refer the matter to the Committee, which might adopt a new Decision.  The following wording is 
suggested: 
"At its            meeting, held on            the Committee on Customs Valuation resolved the issue of 
linguistic consistency between the Spanish, French  and English of Article 8.1. (b) (iv) of the 
Agreement by including in the Act the following statement, on the understanding that this will 
avoid eventual disputes in the interpretation and application of this provision of the Agreement: 
Members of the Agreement considered the remova l of the conjunction "and' and the conjunction 
"y" after the nouns "design work" and "diseños" and add a comma before the verb "undertaken" 
and the verb "realizados", respectively, in order to avoid possible misinter pretations of the rule 
leading to argue that it imposes requirements are only applicable to plans and sketches and not to all services contemplated herein. 
Accordingly, the texts should be read as follows: 
(iv)  engineering, development, artwork, desi gn work, plans and sketches, undertaken elsewhere 
than in the country of importation and necessary for the production of the imported goods; 
(iv)  ingeniería, creación y perfeccionamiento, trabajos artísticos, diseños, planos y croquis, 
realizados fuera del país de importación y necesarios para la producción de las mercaderías 
importadas.' ". G/VAL/W/225 
 
- 39 - 
 
 
  
 Annex II 
Draft letter for the WTO CCV 
"Madam Chair of the Committee on Customs Valuation: 
I have the pleasure of writing to you in my capacity as Chair of the Technical Committee 
on Customs Valuation in order to inform you that at its 35th and 36th Session, held in Brussels 
from 15 to 19 October 2012 and from 15 to 19 April 2013, the aforementioned Committee examined the question raised by Uruguay, "Con sistency of Interpretation and Application of 
Article 8.1 (b) (iv)" (documents VT0869S1a y) –, as it was found that the Spanish version of the 
Agreement is different from the French and English versions of the text, what might lead to divergences of interpretation and application of the Agreement. 
In view of the provisions in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Annex II to the Agreement and of the 
precedents which exist on this matter (Procès-Verbal  of Rectification of the term "entretenimiento" 
which is used in paragraph 3 (a) of the Interpretative Note to Article 1 – "Price Actually Paid or Payable" – as set out in document WT/Let/147, and Decisions on the word "copyrights" in the 
Interpretative Note to Article 8.1 (c), on the word "undertaken" used in Article 8.1 (b) (iv) and on 
the term "creación y perfeccionamiento" which is also in that Article), it was agreed by consensus to refer the matter to the Committee, which might adopt a new Decision.  The following wording is 
suggested: 
"At its meeting, held on the Committee on Cust oms Valuation resolved the issue of linguistic 
consistency between the Spanish, French and Englis h of Article 8.1 (b) (iv) of the Agreement by 
including in the Act the following statement, on the understanding that this will avoid eventual 
disputes in the interpretation and application of this provision of the Agreement: 
Members of the Agreement considered the removal of the conjunction "y" after the noun "diseños" 
and add a comma before the verb "realizados", in order to avoid possible misinterpretations of the 
rule leading to argue that it imposes requirements are only applicable to plans and sketches and 
not to all services contemplated herein. 
Accordingly, the text shou ld be read as follows: 
(iv)  ingeniería, creación y perfeccionamiento, trabajos artísticos, diseños, planos y croquis, 
realizados fuera del país de importación y necesarios para la producción de las mercaderías importadas.' ". 
 
__________