G/VAL/W/275  
 
29 September 2015  
(15-5033) Page: 1/3  
Committee on Customs Valuation    
 
DRAFT 
REPORT (2015) OF THE COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
TO THE COUNCIL FO R TRADE IN GOODS 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
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 2015 
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 or 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 
21 May 2015 (G/VAL/M/60) under the Chairmanship of Ms. Joanna Cheung (Hong Kong, China) and 
on 7 October 2015 (G/VAL/M/61, (to be issued)) under the Chairmanship of Mr. LIU Ping (China) 
who was elected by the Committee at its 21 May meeting. 
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 document 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 the time of circulation of this report, no Member maintained an extension of the 
delay period in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1, Annex III.  As a result of its 
Accession to the WTO, Yemen will start fully implementing the Agreement by 31 December 2016.
2   
6. To date, 96 Members have notified their national legislation on customs valuation, including 
16 Members which have submitted communications indicating 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, 64 Members have provided 
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to thei r rights and obligations under the WTO. 
2 See paragraphs 108-115 of the Report of the Working Party on the Accession of Yemen to the WTO, 
WT/ACC/YEM/42. G/VAL/W/275 
 
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  responses to the check list of issues.  There are 37 Members which have not yet made any of these 
two notifications (see document G/VAL/W/232/Rev.3).   
C. Activities of the Committee 
7. At the meeting of 21 May 2015, 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 40th session, which was held from 4-8 May 2015; 
 
-  agreed to continue its review of the national legislations of the Kingdom of Bahrain; Belize; 
Cabo Verde; Colombia; Ecuador; Gambia; Guinea; Honduras; Mali; Moldova; Montenegro; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Russian Federation; Rwanda; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; South 
Africa; and Sri Lanka. It examined for the first time new notifications from Guinea; 
Honduras; Montenegro; South Africa, and Sri Lanka.  In addition, the Committee concluded the review of the national legislations of Lesotho; Ukraine; and Uruguay; 
 
- considered 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, as well as a 
related proposal by Switzerland (G/VAL/W/254).  In this regard, the Committee agreed to 
continue consultations on the proposal by Uruguay and Switzerland. The Committee took note of a report by the Chair on consultations held on the proposal on 29 April 2015, and it also took note of Uruguay's responses to a series of questions asked by the European Union 
(G/VAL/W/264).  
 - 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 to retain in the agenda the implementation issue relating to Paragraph 12 of the 
Doha Ministerial Declaration, which relates to Customs Cooperation; 
 
-  took note of a Secretariat document updating the status of notifications on preshipment 
i n s p e c t i o n  t h a t  c i r c u l a t e d  i n  d o c u m e n t  G / P S I / N / 1 / R e v . 2 / A d d . 1 ,  a s  w e l l  a s  o f  a n  u p d a t e d  report by the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA) as circulated in 
document G/VAL/W/63/Rev.17;   
 - looked again at questions raised by the United  States on Indonesia's preshipment inspection 
programme; 
 - elected Mr. LIU Ping (China) as its Chairperson for the year 2015.  
8. At the meeting of 7 October 2015, the Committee: 
- [agreed to continue its review of the national legislations of […]. It examined for the first 
time the national legislation of Nepal.  In addition, the Committee concluded the review of 
the national legislation of […];] 
 - [took note of the summary information prepar ed by the Secretariat contained in document 
G/VAL/W/5/Rev.25, 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 Equipmen t", as well as a new notification submitted 
by] 
 
- [considered 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, as well as a 
proposal by Switzerland (G/VAL/W/254).  In  this regard, the Committee agreed to … ]; 
 - [took note of technical assistance activities carried out by both the WCO and WTO 
Secretariats;] G/VAL/W/275 
 
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  - [discussed the alleged used by Armenia of a reference price system in connection with the 
valuation of goods and agreed to …;] 
 - [on the implementation issue relating to Paragraph 12 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, 
agreed to …]; 
 - [took note of a Secretariat's document updating the status of notifications on preshipment 
inspection that circulated in document G/PSI/N/1/Rev.2/Add.2] 
 - [looked again at questions raised by the United States on Indonesia's preshipment 
inspection programme;] 
 
- [adopted the draft Annual Review of the Im plementation and Operation of the Customs 
Valuation Agreement (G/VAL/W/274), and requeste d the Secretariat to update it to take 
account of the 7 October meeting; and] 
 - [adopted the draft Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods (G/VAL/W/275), and 
requested the Secretariat to update it to take account of the 7 October meeting.] 
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