G/VAL/W/255  
19 November 2014  
(14-6761)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: French  
 
  NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE 
CUSTOMS VALUATION AGREEMENT 
Replies by Mali to the Questions by Canada 
Regarding Document G/VAL/N/1/MLI/1  
The following communication, dated 23 October 2014, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Mali. 
 
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In response to the questions addressed to Mali by the delegation of Canada to the WTO, I have the 
honour to submit the following communication.  
On 14 January 2013, the Republic of Mali (a WT O Member since 2003) submitted to the WTO 
a notification under Article 22 of the Agreemen t on Implementation of Article VII of the 
GATT 1994. 
 
Attached to that notification were the following documents:  
 a copy of Regulation No. 05/1999/CM/UEMOA on customs valuation in the member 
countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Annex 
thereto containing an interpretative note; 
 a copy of Order No. 02-02589/MEF-SG of 31 December 2002 establishing procedures for 
determining the customs value of imported goods and the Annex thereto containing 
interpretive notes to Articles 3-6, 8-11 and 13; 
 a copy of Order No. 09-1030/MEF-SG of 5 May 2009 establishing the reference values 
serving as a basis for the assessment of customs duties and taxes on certain products. 
Following this communication, Canada sent the questions below to Mali: 
 "Document "ARRETE No. 09 1030/MEF.SG du 5 mai 2009" clearly mentions that reference prices 
are minimal values used for establishing the customs value of specific goods contained 
in the Annex.  
- Is this document still current, since it is dated May 5, 2009? 
 
- How does Mali consider this document to be consistent with its obligations under the 
Agreement?" 
 To begin with, it should be remembered that in  accordance with Article 20 of the Agreement, 
the developing countries enjoy special and differential treatment under which they may delay 
application of certain provisions of the Agreement,  such as the use of administrative values, for a 
period of five years. This treatment also requires that developed countries parties to the Agreement must furnish technical assistance to developing country Members that so request, 
in the form of training of personnel, assistance in preparing implementation measures, access to 
sources of information and advice on the application of the provisions of the Agreement.  G/VAL/W/255 
- 2 - 
  In Mali's case, after acceding to the Agreement it  had to prepare the ground by building up its 
capacity with the support of its technical and fi nancial partners, among other things so that it 
could take ownership of the new Agreement and create a proper database.  
In practice, the five-year moratorium proved insufficient: Mali is a landlocked agricultural country 
with a fledgling industrial fabric, where customs revenue accounts for more than one-third of its overall tax revenue. Its customs database also remains embryonic. 
 
With a fairly developed informal sector that is ill-placed to produce supporting documents for customs transactions, the customs authorities have often had to resort to reference values in order to guarantee that source of revenue. 
 
It is in this context that Order No. 09-1030/MEF-SG of 5 May 2009 was signed for a duration of six months.  
 
Added to this, in 2012, Mali suffered through a major political and security crisis in which two-thirds of its territory was occupied by jihadist s (drug-traffickers), leading to the suspension of 
development assistance. The offices of the Customs Administration were ransacked and their 
working tools destroyed, undermining their operational capacity. The country was suffering from financial asphyxia.  
In order to boost customs revenue and compensate for the country's enormous expenditures, 
Order No. 2013-0792/MEFB-SG was issued on 6 March 2013 for another period of six months. The order has now expired, and its provisions are no longer in force.  
 
At the same time, in connection with the implem entation of the Revised Kyoto Convention and in 
view of the internal upheavals described abov e, which threatened the very essence of the 
Malian State, the World Customs Organization granted Mali a one-year moratorium on the 
transposition of the provisions of the Convention.  Recourse to these minimum values is linked in part to the problems encountered by Customs in 
mastering the transaction value, as well as to the events of March 2012. 
 In view of the above considerations, the Republic of Mali confirms that to date, no text on 
minimum values is in force. 
 
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