RESTRICTED  
  
G/VAL/W/234  
 
16 September 2013  
(13-4876)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Customs Valuation    
 
DRAFT 
REPORT (2013) OF THE COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
TO THE COUNCIL FO R TRADE IN GOODS 
A. Background 
1. The Agreement on Implementation of Articl e VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 (the Agreement) entered into force on 1 January 1995.  This report covers the year 2013 
and addresses the work undertaken by the Committee on Customs Valuation (the Committee) in 
respect of the objectives of the Agreement.  These are:  to provide greater uniformity and certainty in the implementation of the provisions of Article VII of the GATT 1994; to establish a fair, uniform and neutral system for the valuation of goods for customs purposes that precludes the use of 
arbitrary of fictitious customs values; to ensure that the basis for valuation of goods for customs 
purposes should, to the greatest extent possible, be the transaction value of the goods being valued;  and to secure additional benefits for the international trade of developing countries. 
2. During the period under consideration, the Committee held two formal meetings, on 
15 May 2013 (G/VAL/M/55) under the Chairmanship of Ms Irena Banaszyn ska (Poland), and on 
27 September 2013 (G/VAL/M/…to be issued) under the Chairmanship of Mr Pierre-Emmanuel 
Brusselmans (Belgium).  Mr. Pierre-Emmanuel Brusselmans was elected by the Committee as 
Chairperson for the 2013-2014 period at the meeting of 15 May. 
3. Participation in the Committee is open to all WTO Members.  In addition, Governments granted 
observer status by the WTO General Council attend ed Committee meetings as observers.  At the 
April 1997 meeting, the Committee granted observer status to those organizations which had had 
observer status on an ad hoc  basis, namely UNCTAD and the WCO, as well as to the ACP and the 
IADB.  The Committee took note of the fact that the World Bank and the IMF had observer status by 
virtue of the Agreements between these organizations and the WTO. 
4. The Committee's rules of procedure, which were approved by the Council for Trade in Goods, 
are contained in G/L/146. 
B. Implementation of the Agreement 
5. During the period under review, no developing country Member maintained delayed 
application of the provisions of the Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article 20.1 of the Agreement.  At circulation of this report, no Member maintains an extension of the delay period in 
accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1, Annex III. 
6. To date, 90 Members have notified their national legislation on customs valuation, including 16 
Members which have submitted communications indica ting that their legislation notified under the 
Tokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreement remained valid under the WTO Customs Valuation 
Agreement (both figures count the European Union as one).  In addition, 63 Member have notified 
the check list of issues.  In other words, 41 Members have not yet made any of these two 
notifications (See G/VAL/W/232).   In what concerns   G/VAL/W/234 
 
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  C. Activities of the committee 
7. At the meeting on 15 May 2013, the Committee: - took note of a report by a representative of the World Customs Organization on the activities 
of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation at its 36th session, which was held on 
15-19 April 2013; 
- agreed that the Committee continue its review of the legislations of the Kingdom of Bahrain; 
Belize; Cambodia; Cape Verde; China; Costa Ri ca; Ecuador; Mali, Nicaragua; Nigeria; the 
Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Vincent an d the Grenadines; Tunisia; and Ukraine.  
It also looked for the first time at notifications by Macao, China; Mali; and Uruguay.  There was some progress with regard to the review of the legislations of Cambodia, China and Thailand, but the situation remained unchanged with respect to the others; 
- took note of the summary information prepared by the Secretariat contained in document 
G/VAL/W/5/Rev.22, and which relates to the Decision on the "Treatment of Interest Charges in the Customs Value of Imported Goods" and the Decision on "Valuation of Carrier Media 
Bearing Software for Data  Processing Equipment"; 
- took note of technical assistance activities carried out by both the WCO and WTO Secretariats; - discussed the alleged used by Armenia of a reference price system in connection with the 
valuation of goods and agreed to revert back to the issue at the next meeting; 
- agreed that the Committee would revert to paragraph 8.3 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on 
Implementation-Related Issues at its next meeting; 
- took note of a Secretariat's document updating the status of notifications on preshipment 
inspection that circulated in document G/PSI/N/1/Rev.1/Add.1; 
- looked again at questions raised by the United  States on Indonesia's preshipment inspection 
programme; 
- was informed by the Chairman of an informal consultation in which the request by the 
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) was discussed; and 
- elected Mr Pierre-Emmanuel Brusselman s  (Belgium) as its Chair for 2013-2014. 
8. At the meeting on 27 September 2013: 
 [To be completed following the meeting.]   
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