G/VAL/W/277  
6 October 2015  
(15-5199)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: Spanish  
 
  NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE AGREEMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 
ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994 
REPLIES FROM ECUADOR TO QUESTI ONS FROM THE UNITED STATES 
REGARDING G/VAL/N/1/ECU/3 
Communication from Ecuador 
The following communication, dated 2 October 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Ecuador. 
 
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Ecuador thanks the United States for the questions contained in document G/VAL/W/260 and replies as follows: 
G/VAL/N/1/ECU/3 - Decision No. 571 
Question 1 
Article 4 states that "the order of applicat ion of the methods indicated in numbers 4 and 
5 of the preceding Article may be reversed, if requested by the importer and with the 
consent of the Customs Administration". Co uld Ecuador explain why the consent of the 
customs administration is required where the importer requests to reverse the order of application of the valuation methods in Articl es 5 and 6, given that the CVA itself does 
not provide that the importer's reques t be subject to ac ceptance by the 
customs authorities? 
Reply 1 
Under paragraph 3 of Annex III of the Customs Valuation Agreement, developing countries may 
require that customs authorities agree to the import er's request to reverse the order of application 
of the valuation methods in Articles 5 and 6, by  making a reservation in the following terms: 
"The Government of ............ reserves the righ t to provide that the relevant provision of 
Article 4 of the Agreement shall apply only when the customs authorities agree to the 
request to reverse the order of Articles 5 and 6." 
Ecuador's reservation concerning the reversal of the sequential order of Articles 5 and 6 of the 
Customs Valuation Agreement is set forth in document WT/Let/72 of 11 April 1996.  
Question 2 Article 5 states that "if the imported goods or  identical or similar imported goods are not 
sold in the country of importation in the condition as imported, the method indicated in 
number 4 of Article 3 of this Decision shall be  followed in accordance with Article 5.2 of 
the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, whether or not requested by the importer, 
taking into account the Interpretative Note to Article 5 of the aforementioned 
Agreement." (Emphasis added). Could Ecuador pl ease explain this provision, in light of G/VAL/W/277 
- 2 - 
  Article 5.2 of the CVA, which provides that th is option is available if the importer so 
requests? 
Reply 2 
Under paragraph 4 of Annex III of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, developing countries 
may reserve the right to provide that paragraph 2 of  Article 5 of the Agreement shall be applied in 
accordance with the provisions of the relevant note thereto whether or not the importer so requests, by making a reservation in the following terms: 
"The Government of ............ reserves the righ t to provide that paragraph 2 of Article 5 of 
the Agreement shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of the relevant note thereto whether or not the importer so requests." 
The special arrangement provided for developing country Members regarding the reservation in 
respect of paragraph 2 of Article 5 of th e Agreement was notified by Ecuador in 
document WT/Let/72 of 11 April 1996.  
Question 3 
Articles 25 and 26 refer to the creation and use of data banks. We note that reference 
pricing for the determination of customs valu e is prohibited by Article 7 of the CVA, 
and any uses of reference prices for risk management purposes should be done with 
that provision in mind. We request further in formation and clarification from Ecuador on 
how they intend to use the data bases referred to in Articles 25 and 26 and reference prices in its customs operations. 
Reply 3 
Article 25 of Decision No. 571 provides the follow ing clarification on the use of data bases: 
- Enables the values declared to be verified and risk indicators to be created in order to 
generate and substantiate the doubts referred to in Article 17 of Decision No. 571. 
- Control and development of programmes on studies and investigations on value. 
Data banks are used for risk management-related purposes. 
Community Regulations Implementing Decision No. 571 –  
Customs Valuation of Imported Goods 
With regard to the questions concerning the Community Regulations implementing Decision 
No. 571 - Customs Valuation of Imported Goods, annexed to Resolution No. 846 of the Andean 
Community General Secretariat, please note that this Resolution was replaced by Resolution 
No. 1684, published in the Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement No. 2340 of 28 May 2014, 
which contains a corrigendum published in Offici al Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement No. 2357 
of 2 July 2014. 
The above-mentioned Resolution and its corr igendum have not been notified to the 
WTO Committee on Customs Valuation, as Ecuador has been working on a new legislative text that takes into account the corrigendum published in Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement 
No. 2357. 
Upon publication in the Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement, the Committee will be 
notified of the entry into force of the update d Community Regulations implementing Decision 
No. 571 - Customs Valuation of Imported Goods. 
 
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