RESTRICTED  
 
WT/ACC/SPEC/LBR/4/Rev.1/Corr.1  
 
21 July 2015  
(15-3742)  Page: 1/2  
Working Party on the Accession of Liberia   
 
  ACCESSION OF LIBERIA 
DRAFT REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY 
ON THE ACCESSION OF LIBERIA 
Corrigendum* 
 
Paragraph 114 should read as indicated below: 
114. [The representative of Liberia confirmed that, Liberia would bring its fees and charges in 
connection with importation and exportation, including customs user fee, into compliance with 
Articles VIII and X of the GATT 1994, with full co mpliance occurring no later than 1 August 2017 in 
accordance with the Action Plan set-out in Table 1. To this end, laws and regulations during the 
transition period would not be implemented in a manner that resulted in a lesser degree of consistency with Article VIII of the GATT 1994 than on the date of accession.  All fees and charges 
in connection with importation and exportation, except for those listed in Table 1, would be 
consistent with the GATT 1994, upon accession.  He further confirmed that, during this transitional 
period, Liberia would ensure that its laws and regulations concerning fees and charges for services 
rendered would be applied in a manner consistent with other provisions of the WTO Agreement, 
including on a non-discriminatory basis consistent with Articles I and III of the GATT 1994.  
He also confirmed that any new laws and regulations governing fees in connection with 
importation established after accession, as well as any revisions made to existing fees after 
accession, would be in conformity with WTO provisions, including Article VIII of the GATT 1994, and accordingly would not introduce or reintroduce any fees or charges for services rendered that 
were applied to imports on an ad valorem  basis.  The Working Party took note of these 
commitments.]   
Table 1:  Action Plan for bringing fees an d charges in connection with importation and 
exportation into compliance with the GATT 1994 
Fee Old fee New fee Time-Frame 
Customs user fee on imports  1.5%  US$200/20ft 
container;  US$400/40ft container August 2017 
Customs user fee on exports: FOB:  1.25% 
CIF: 2.5 % August 2017 
                                               
* In English only. These ch anges will be reflected in the next ve rsion of the Draft Working Party Report. 
 WT/ACC/SPEC/LBR/4/Rev.1/Corr.1 
 
- 2 - 
 
  Fee Old fee New fee Time-Frame 
PSI fees:  
1. All products: FOB ranging from US$3,500 to 
US$15,835 (seaport only)  190.00 US$ US$426/20ft 
container;  US$587/40ft container
3 August 2017 
2. All products: FOB above US$15,835  1.2% August 2017 
3. Crude Oil and Refined products  US$2 per metric tonne August 2017 
4. Rice US$1 per metric 
tonne August 2017 
Paragraph 121 should read as indicated below: 
121. In response, the representative of Liberia said that excise tax was applied on finished 
excisable products at the point of importation. No excise tax was levied on raw materials for local 
manufacturers. The excise tax on domestic products was charged ex-factory, i.e. local 
manufacturers paid excise tax only on finished products at ex-factory and not on raw materials 
used. Previously, for a few domestic products the excise tax rate had been lower than that on 
imported products of the same kind. This discrimination, to a large extent, had now been removed through the 2011 amendment of the Revenue Code. However, there remained discrimination on a 
number of products, as reflected in Annex 14 to  this Report, that was yet to be corrected. 
The representative of Liberia stated that the Government of Liberia was aware of the 
discrimination and would remove this discrimination  on Miscellaneous Edible Preparation 
(HS Code 2106.90.00), Non-alcoholic bevera ges (HS Section 2202); Vinegar containing 
alcohol (HS Code 2209.00.10)  by the date of accession, and on Mineral and aerated water 
(HS Section 2201) – by 1 August 2017 .  
Paragraph 122 should read as indicated below: 
122. [The representative of Liberia confirmed that  from the date of Liberia's accession all laws, 
regulations and other measures relating to internal taxes and charges levied on imports, including 
the excise taxes listed in Annex 14, would be in full conformity with its WTO obligations, including Article III of the GATT 1994, and that it would implement such laws, regulations and other 
measures in full conformity with those obligations, with the exception of the excise tax on Mineral 
and aerated water (HS Section 2201) which would be brought into compliance with 
Liberia's WTO obligations, including Article III of the GATT 1994, by 1 August 2017 .  
The Working Party took note of these commitments.]   
 
__________  
                                               
3 The new fee reflects the estimated costs for the PSI services for 20' and 40' containers (PSI 
inspection, issuance of certificate with the expe rtise for the customs valuation and classification).