G/L/1198  
 
8 November  2017 
(17-6066) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Customs Valuation    
 
 
  TWENT Y-THIRD  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 impleme ntation 
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 operat ion of the Agreement in the light of its 
objectives and specific obligations.  
At its meeting  of 6 November 2017 , the Committee on Customs Valuation conducted and adopted 
the 23rd annual review of the implementation and operation of the Agreement . 
 
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1 This report was adopted by the Committee on Customs Valuation at its meeting of 6 November  2017. G/L/1198  
 
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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, paragraph 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 NOTIFICATI ONS PRESENTED  .......................  4 
(a) Texts of national legislation  ................................ ................................ .........................  4 
(b) Checklist of issues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 4 
(c) Information on the application of the Committee Decisio ns ................................ ...............  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. CONSULT ATION AND DISPUTE SE TTLEMENT  ................................ ...........................  6 
X. ANNUAL REPORT TO THE  COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN  GOODS  ................................ ...... 6 
 
I. MEMBERS ' DELAYED APPLICATIONS , RESERVATIONS AND O BSERVER STATUS  
(a) Delayed App lication 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 (de layed 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 method)  
1.3. No Member maintains this special and differential treatme nt 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/L/1198  
 
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  (iv) Annex III, paragraph 2  (reservation 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 E mirates  
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 G overnments (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 h ad been 
invoked under the Tokyo Round Agreement through Decision WT/L/38.  G/L/1198  
 
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  (c) Observer Int ernational 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 Organizati on (WCO)  
 
II. OFFICERS OF THE WTO COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS  VALUATION  
2.1. Chairperson (elected in July 2016)   Dr Yasser Korani (Egypt)  
 Chairperson ( elected in May 2017 )  Ms Luciana Nader (Uruguay)  
 
III. MEETINGS OF THE COMM ITTEE  
3.1. During the period under review , the Committee held two formal meetings :  on 15 May 2017 
(G/VAL/M/ 64) chaired by Dr Yasser Korani (Egypt); and on 6 November 2017  (G/VAL/M/6 5)4, 
chaired by Ms Luciana Nader (Uruguay).  
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 Committee 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, th e 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.7 and 
G/VAL/W/232/Rev.7/Corr.1 . During the period under review , new notification s were submitted by  
Kazakhstan (G/VAL/N/ 1/KAZ/1) and by Malawi (G/VAL/N/ 1/MWI/2).  
4.3. At the meeting of 15 May , the Committee continued the examination of the national 
legislations  of 18 Members . It concluded the review of the national legislation s of Cabo Verde, 
Colombia, Ecuador, Montenegro and Nicaragua , and agreed to revert at the next meeting to the 
examination of the legislations of the following 13 Members:  the Kingdom of Bahra in; Belize;  
Guinea; Honduras; Kazakhstan; Malawi; Nepal; Nigeria; the Russian Federation; Rwanda; 
the Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka;  and The Gambia .  
4.4. At its meeting of 6 November , the Committee continued the examination of the national 
legislations  of those 13 Members and agreed to revert to them at the next meeting of the 
Committee.   
(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, paragra phs 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.7 and G/VAL/ W/232/Rev.7/Corr.1 . During the period under review , new 
notifications were submitted  by Malawi (G/VAL/N/2/ MWI/ 1) and by Nicaragua (G/VAL/N/2/NIC/ 2). 
                                                
3 These organizations now have official observer status following Agreement in the Committee 
(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/L/1198  
 
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(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 Commi ttee. These Decisions are reproduced in document 
G/VAL/5. The  Committee also adopted Decisions that 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 applic ation of the Decision on the Treatment of Interest Charges in the 
Customs Value of Imported Goods 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 
Secretari at in document s G/VAL/W/5/Rev.2 7 and G/VAL/W/5/Rev.28 . During the period under 
review , new notification s were submitted by Malawi (G/VAL/N/3/MWI/1) and by Nicaragua 
(G/VAL/N/3/NIC/1).  
 
4.9. The Committee  suspended , at the 15 May meeting, its ongoing discus sions on a proposal by 
Uruguay (G/VAL/W/241/Rev.1) to update the Decision on the Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing 
Software for Data Processing Equipment until the next meeting of the Committee. At the 
6 November meeting, the Committee agreed to revert to  the issue at its next meeting. Additional 
documents related to this item include a related 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 raised by one delegation 
(G/VAL/ W/264 ).  
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 2016-2017 biennial 
technical assistance plan was currently being implemented.  
5.2. During the period under review, training on customs valuation was carried  out as part of a 
number of WTO activities. Two n ational workshop s on customs valuation were held, in cooperation 
with the World Customs Organizations, for St. Vincent and the Grenadines in November 2016 and 
for Guatemala in June 2017 . Customs valuation tr aining was included in two regional market 
access workshop s which were delivered for the Arab region in Kuwait in March 2017, and for the 
CEECAC region at the Joint Vienna Institute in June 2017. Customs  Valuation is included as part of 
the training on mar ket access delivered in the WTO Regional Trade Policy Courses and during the 
period under review, a total of eight RTPCs were carried out.  Two of these took place in 2016 in 
the Asia and the Arab Regions, and in 2017, market access was covered in six RTPC s which were 
carried out for the CEECAC, Caribbean, Latin America, French -speaking Africa, Asia and Arab 
Regions. Customs Valuation was also covered in the WTO Advanced  Trade Policy Course in 
January  2017.   
 
5.3. Members ha ve the possibility to request at any time  technical assistance on customs 
valuation, which would be met by a national activity designed to meet the needs of the recipient .  
5.4. The Committee took note of information compiled by the Technical Committee on Customs 
Valuation (TCCV) in docum ents G/VAL/8/Add.34 , G/VAL/8/Add.35 and G/VAL/8/Add.35 /Corr.1  
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 : 
 
 agreed to remove the agenda item "Paragraph 12 of the Doha Minis terial Declaration  
WT/MIN/(01)/Dec/1): Implementation -related issues" (meeting of 15 May) ; 
 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 15 May  
and 6 Novemb er) and agreed to revert to it at the next meeting;  G/L/1198  
 
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   took note of statements made  under the agenda item "P akistan's Determination of Customs  
Values of Paper", raised by  Thailand  (meeting s of 15 May  and 6 November ), and agreed to 
revert to it at the next meeting ; and  
 took note of statements raised under an item raised under "Other Business" at the 
6 November meeting  - Colombia 's reference pricing system imposed in accordance with 
Decree No. 1745 issued by the Ministerio de Hacienda y Credito Publico on 
2 November  2016, impacting the release of goods and in particular apparel import – raised 
by Canada.  The Committee  agreed to revert to it at the next meeting .  
 
VII.  PRESHIPMENT INSPECTI ON 
7.1. Durin g the period under review, the C ommittee:  
  
 took note of two report s consolidating the status of all the notifications which had been  
received on preshipment inspection ( G/PSI/N/1/Re v.2/Add. 4) and (G/PSI/N/1/Rev. 3). 
No new notifications were s ubmitted during the period under review ; 
 took note , at the meeting s of 15 May  and 6 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 , circulated at the request of the United States, 
and agreed to revert to it at the next meeting ; 
 took note of statements made under the agenda item "Questions and responses by the 
United States and Indonesia, respectively " and agreed to revert to it at the ne xt meeting ;  
 took note  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 G/VAL/W/63/Rev. 20 and G/VAL/W/63/Rev.2 1; and  
 underto ok the Fourth  Triennial Review pursuant to Article 6 of the PSI Agreement  and in the 
context of the review, agreed to look at an amendment proposed by Thailand relating to 
Article 2.4 of the PSI Agreement, once the proposal had been submitted in writing.  A draft 
factual report prepared by the Secretariat and circulated in document G/VAL/W/ 307 will be 
updated following the completion of the Review.   
 
VIII.  REPORTS BY THE TECHNI CAL COMMITTEE ON CUS TOMS VALUATION  
8.1. The representative of the WCO presented report s at the 15 May and 6 November meetings 
on the work of the TCCV , including the 44th session of the Technical Committee, which was held 
from 8 to 12 May 2017 and the 45th session which w as held from 23 to 26 October 2017. At the 
44th Session, the TTCV adopte d Advisory Opinion 4.17 regarding Royalties and L icence Fees under 
Article 8.1(c) of the Customs Valuation Agreement , which was ap proved by the WCO Council in 
July 2017.  The 44th Session also included a thematic day which addressed customs valuation risk 
management and the valuation aspects of e -commerce.  
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 Valuation)  or the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection . 
X. ANNUAL REPORT TO THE  COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN  GOODS  
10.1. The Committee adopted its annual report to the Council for Trade in Goods in accordance 
with the r equirements of Article  23 of the Agreement  (G/L/1199). 
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