RESTRICTED  
  
G/VAL/W/311  
 
12 November 2018  
(18-7125)  Page: 1/6 
Committee on Customs Valuation    
 
 
DRAFT  
  TWENT Y-FOURTH  ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE  IMPLEMENTATION AND  
OPERATION OF THE AGR EEMENT ON IMPLEMENTA TION OF ARTICLE VII  
OF THE GENERAL AGREE MENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 19941 
Article 23 of the Agreement provides that "the Committee shall review annually the implementation 
and operation of this Agreement taking into account the objectives thereof".  The main objectives of 
the Agreement are those listed in the Genera l Introductory  Commentary. The  annual review of the 
Committee should cover the implementation and operation of the Agreement in the light of its 
objectives and specific obligations.  
At its meeting  of 19 November 201 8, the Committee on Customs Valuation conducted and ado pted 
the 24th annual review of the implementation and operation of the Agreement . 
_______________  
 
                                                
1 This report was adopted by the Committee on Customs Valuation at its meeting of 19 November  2018. G/VAL/W/311  
 
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  The contents of this document are as follows:  
  Page 
  
I. MEMBERS' DELAYED APP LICATIONS, RESERVATI ONS AND OBSERVER STATUS  ...... 2 
(a) Delayed Application and Reservations  ................................ ................................ ...........  2 
(i) Article 20.1 (delayed application of the provisions of the Agreement)  ...............................  2 
(ii) Article 20.2 (delayed application of the computed value method)  ................................ ..... 2 
(iii) Annex III, paragraph 1 (extension of the five -year delay period)  ................................ ...... 2 
(iv) Annex III, paragraph 2 (reservation concerning minimum values)  ................................ .... 3 
(v) Annex III, par agraph 3 (reservation concerning reversal of sequential order of Articles 5 
and 6) (53)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  3 
(vi) Annex III, paragraph 4 (reservation  to apply Article 5.2 whether or not the importer so 
requests) (51)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  3 
(b) Observer Governments (20)  ................................ ................................ ........................  3 
(c) Observer International Organizations (6)  ................................ ................................ ...... 4 
II. OFFICERS OF THE WTO COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS  VALUATION ...............................  4 
III. MEETINGS OF THE COMM ITTEE  ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
IV. NATIONAL LEGISLATION  AND OTHER NOTIFICAT IONS PRESENTED  .......................  4 
(a) Texts of national legislation  ................................ ................................ .........................  4 
(b) Checklist of issues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 5 
(c) Information on the application  of the Committee Decisions  ................................ ...............  5 
V. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  ................................ ................................ .........................  5 
VI. ISSUES RELATED TO IM PLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT  ................................ .. 5 
VII.  PRESHIPMENT INSPECTI ON ................................ ................................ ....................  6 
VIII.  REPORTS BY THE TECHN ICAL COMMITTEE ON CU STOMS VALUATION  .....................  6 
IX. CONSULTATION AND DIS PUTE SETTLEMENT  ................................ ...........................  6 
X. ANNUAL REPORT TO THE  COUNCIL FOR TRADE I N GOODS  ................................ ...... 6 
 
I. MEMBERS ' DELAYED APPLICATIONS , RESERVATIONS AND O BSERVER STATUS  
(a) Delayed Application and Reservations  
1.1. This section reflects the situation with respect to special and differential treatment provisions 
available for de veloping country Members as of 18 October  2017. These provisions have been 
invoked as follows:  
(i) Article 20.1 (delayed application of the provisions of the Agreement)  
1.2. No Member maintains this special and differential treatment provision.  
(ii) Article 20.2 (delayed application of the computed value me thod)  
1.3. No Member maintains this special and differential treatment provision.  
(iii) Annex III, paragraph 1 (extension of the five -year delay period)  
1.4. No Member maintains this special and differential treatment provision.  G/VAL/W/311  
 
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  (iv) Annex III, paragraph 2  (reservati on concerning minimum values)  
1.5. No Member maintains this special and differential treatment provision.  
(v) Annex III, paragraph 3 (reservation concerning reversal of sequential order of Articles 5 and  6) 
(53) 
Argentina2 Guatemala  Niger 
Bahrain, Kingdom of  Guyana  Pakistan  
Bangladesh  Haiti Panama  
Benin  Honduras  Peru2 
Brazil2 India2 Philippines  
Brunei Darussalam  Indonesia  Senegal  
Burkina Faso  Israel  Sri Lanka  
Cameroon  Jamaica  Thailand  
Chile Kenya  Togo 
Colombia  Madagascar  Tunisia  
Costa Rica  Malawi2 Turkey2 
Côte d'Ivoire  Malaysia  Uganda  
Djibouti  Maldives  United Arab Emirates  
Dominican Republic  Mali Uruguay  
Ecuador  Mexico2 Venezuela, Bol. Rep. of   
Egypt  Morocco2 Zambia  
El Salvador  Myanmar  Zimbabwe2 
Gabon  Nicaragua   
 
(vi) Annex III , paragraph 4 (reservation to apply Article 5.2 whether or not the importer so 
requests) (51)  
Argentina2 Dominican Republic  Kenya  Peru2 
Bahrain, Kingdom of  Ecuador  Madagascar  Philippines  
Bangladesh  Egypt  Malaysia  Senegal  
Benin  El Salvador  Malawi  Sri Lanka  
Brazil2 Gabon  Maldives  Thailand  
Brunei Darussalam  Guatemala  Mali Togo 
Burkina Faso  Guyana  Mexico2 Tunisia  
Cameroon  Haiti Morocco2 Turkey2 
Chile Honduras  Myanmar Uruguay  
Colombia  India2 Nicaragua  Venezuela, Bol. Rep. of   
Costa Rica  Indonesia  Niger Zambia  
Côte d'Ivoire  Israel  Nigeria  Zimbabwe2 
Djibouti  Jamaica  Pakistan   
 
(b) Observer Governments (2 0) 
Algeria  Holy See  
Andorra  Iran 
Azerbaijan  Iraq 
Bahamas  Lebanese Republic  
Belarus  Libya  
Bhutan  Sao Tomé and Principe  
Bosnia and Herzegovina  Serbia  
Comoros  Sudan  
Equatorial Guinea  Syrian Arab Republic  
Ethiopia  Uzbekistan  
                                                
2 Members that maintain in the WTO the special and differential treatment provisions that had been 
invoked under the Tokyo Round Agreement through Decision WT/L/38.  G/VAL/W/311  
 
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  (c) Observer International Organizations (6)3 
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP)  
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)  
International Monetary Fund (IMF)  
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)  
World Bank  
World Customs Organization (WCO)  
 
II. OFFICERS OF THE WTO COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS  VALUATION  
2.1. Chairperson (elected in May 2017 )   Ms Luciana NADER (Uruguay)  
 Chairperson ( elected in April 2018) Mr Yuichiro OKUMURA (Japan)  
 
III. MEETINGS OF THE COMM ITTEE  
3.1. During the period under review , the Committee held two formal meetings :  on 23 April 2018  
(G/VAL/M/ 66) chaired by Ms Luciana NADER (Uruguay) ; and on 19 November 201 8 (G/VAL/M/6 7)4, 
chaired by Mr Yuichiro OKUMURA (Japan) , and two informal meeti ngs on 10 July and 
27 September  2018. 
IV. NATIONAL LEGISLATION  AND OTHER NOTIFICATI ONS PRESENTED  
(a) Texts of national legislation  
4.1. Article 22 of the Agreement requires each Member to inform the C ommittee of any changes in 
its laws and regulations relevant to the Agreement , and in the administration of such laws and 
regulations. At its first meeting, on 12 May 1995, the Committee agreed on procedures for the 
notification of national legislation (G/ VAL/M/1, paragraphs 29 -35, 71 and 72).  Paragraph i) of the 
"Decision on Notification and circulation of national legislation in accordance with Article  22 of the 
Agreement"5 requires Members to submit the complete texts of their national legislation (laws,  
regulations, etc.) on customs valuation in one of the three official WTO languages.  
4.2. The status of these notifications is contained in document s G/VAL/ W/232/Rev.8 and 
G/VAL/ W/232/Rev.9. During the period under review , a notification of an amendment of  its legislation 
was submitted by China (G/VAL/N/ 1/CHN/6).  
4.3. At the meeting of 23 April , the Committee agreed to revert at the next meeting to the 
examination of the legislations of the following 14 Members: the Kingdom of Bahrain; Belize ; China ; 
Guinea; Honduras; Kazakhstan; Malawi; Nepal; Nigeria; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Solomon 
Islands; Sri Lanka and The  Gambia . The Committee agreed that the Chairman would contact 
Members that had still to provide outstand ing answers to questions that had been raised over the 
period of time since 2009.  
4.4. At its meeting of 19 November , the Committee continued the examination of the national 
legislations  of 14 Members and agreed to revert at the next meeting to the examinatio n of the 
legislations of  the following Members: [the Kingdom of Bahrain; Belize; China ; Guinea; Honduras; 
Kazakhstan; Malawi; Nepal; Nigeria; the Russian Federation; Rwanda; Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka  
and The Gambia .] [In addition, the Comm ittee concluded the review of the national legislation[s] of 
[ ]]. 
                                                
3 These organizations now have official observer status following Agreement in the Commit tee 
(G/VAL/M/5) and Agreements between the World Bank and the IMF with the WTO (WT/L/195).  
4 To be issued.  
5 Section B.2 of document G/VAL/5 . G/VAL/W/311  
 
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  (b) Checklist of issues  
4.5. At its first meeting, on 12 May 1995, the Committee agreed on procedures for the submission 
of replies to a checklist of issues (G/VAL/M/1, paragraphs 36 -39). The checklist of issues is contained 
in G/VAL /5. 
4.6. The status of the checklist of issues notifications is contained in document s G/VAL/ W/232/Rev.8 
and G/VAL/ W/232/Rev.9. During the period under review , no new notifications were submitted . 
 
(c) Information on the application  of the Committee Decisions  
4.7. At its first meeting on 12 May 1995, the Committee adopted Decisions which had been previously 
adopted by the Tokyo Round Committee. These Decisions are reproduced in document G/VAL/5. 
The Committee also adopted Decisions t hat were referred by the Ministers at Marrakesh to the 
Committee. The texts of the decisions are contained in document G/VAL /1. 
4.8. Notifications on the application of the Decision on the Treatment of Interest Charges in the 
Customs Value of Imported Good s and of paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Valuation of Carrier Media 
Bearing Software for Data Processing Equipment (G/VAL/5) were summarized by the Secretariat in 
document s. During the period under review , Malaysia submitted two new notification s 
(G/VAL /N/3/M YS/1) and (G/VAL/N/3/ MYS/2). 
 
4.9. The Committee  took note of the statements made  under the agenda item "P roposal by Uruguay 
(G/VAL/W/241/Rev.1) on the Decision on the Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Softwar e for Data 
Processing Equipment". Other documents related to this item include a proposal by Switzerland 
(G/VAL/W/254), a report with statistics on imports of th ose products  (G/VAL/ W/249 ), which was 
prepared by the Secretariat at the Committee's request , and Uruguay's  responses to questions rais ed 
by one delegation (G/VAL/ W/264 ). At the meeting of 19 November, the Committee […].  
4.10.  [No decisions were taken by the Committee during the period under review .] 
V. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  
5.1. The Committee took note that technical assistance in the area o f customs valuation was 
incorporated in to the WTO -wide technical assistance programme, and that the 2018-2019 biennial 
technical assistance plan was currently being implemented.  
5.2. Training  on customs valuation was carried out as part of the following WTO activities: a 
regional market access workshop for the Arab region delivered i n Kuwait ; WTO Regional Trade Policy 
Courses  in English -speaking Africa, French -speaking Africa,  Asia, the Caribb ean, CEECAC and  Latin 
America.  
5.3. At the meeting s of 23 April and 19 November, t he Committee had discussions on how best to 
respond to a request for technical assistance by some LDCs that were experiencing implementation 
challenges. At the meeting of 19  November, the Committee agreed to hold an experience -sharing 
workshop on [14  February 2019.]  
5.4. The Committee took note of information compiled by the Technical Committee on Customs 
Valuation in documents  G/VAL/8/Add. 36 and G/VAL/8/Add. 37 concerning technical assistance 
activities carried o ut by the WCO and its Members.  
VI. ISSUES RELATED TO IM PLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMEN T 
6.1. During the period under review,  the Committee : 
 
 took note of statements made under the agenda item "Armenia's R eference Price System in 
Connection with the  Valuation of Goods, raised by the United States (meetings of 23 April and 
19 Novemb er). At the meeting of 19 November, the Committee  […];  
 took note of statements made  under the agenda item "P akistan's Determination of Customs  
Values of Paper", raised by  Thailand (meetings of 23 April and 19 November) . At the meeting 
of 19 November , the Committee […]; G/VAL/W/311  
 
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   took note of statements made under the agenda item " Oman's customs valuation of cigarettes 
and introduction of the selective tax", raised by Switzerland  (meetings of 23 April and 19 
November) . At the meeting of 19 November , the Committee […]; 
 took note, at the meeting of 19 November, of statements made under the agenda item 
"Tajikistan – issues related to customs v aluation ", raised by Ukraine, and […]. 
 
VII.  PRESHIPMENT INSPECTI ON 
7.1. During the period under review, the committee:  
  
 took note of a report consolidating the status of all the notifications which had been  received 
on preshipment inspection ( document G/PSI/N/1/Rev.3/Add.1 ). During the period under 
review , a new notification  was submitted by Afghanistan ; 
 took note , at the meeting s of 23 April and 19 November , of statements made under the agenda 
item "Egypt's  status of Notification of PSI"  raised by  the United States and which was referred 
to in document G/VAL/W/299 . At the meeting of 19 November, the Committee  […]; 
 took note , at the meetings of 23 April and 19 November,  of statements made under the agenda 
item of questions and responses by the Unite d States and Indonesia, respectively . At the 
meeting of 19 November, the Committee […] ;  
 took note , at the meetings of 23 April and 19 November, of the latest report s by the 
International Federation of Inspection Agencies ( IFIA) concerning countries that use 
preshipment inspection services  which were circulated  in document s and G/VAL/W/63/Rev.2 2 
and G/VAL/W/63/Rev.2 36.  
 
VIII.  REPORTS BY THE TECHNI CAL COMMITTEE ON CUS TOMS VALUATION  
8.1. The representative of the WCO presented report s at the 23 April and 19 November meetings 
on the work of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation , including the 46th session of the 
Technical Committee, which was held from 7-9 May 201 8 and the 47th session which w as held from 
22 to 26 October 2018. 
 
IX. CONSULTATION AND DIS PUTE SETTLEMENT  
9.1. During the period under review , there were no request s for consultations involving either the 
Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 
(Agreement on Customs Valua tion) or the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection . 
X. ANNUAL REPORT TO THE  COUNCIL FOR TRADE I N GOODS  
10.1. The Committee [adopted its annual report to the Council for Trade in Goods in accordance with 
the requirements of Article  23 of the Agreement  (G/L/xxx). Given that the meeting of the Council for 
Trade in Goods took place on 12 November, the Annual Report was submitted directly to the General 
Council ]. 
__________  
                                                
6 To be issued