WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/L/974 
2 November 2011 
 (11-5568) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2011) OF THE COMM ITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS 
 
 A. B
ACKGROUND  
1. The Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 (the Agreement) entered into force on 1 Ja nuary 1995.  This report covers the year 2011.  It 
addresses the work undertaken by the Committee on Customs Valuation (the Committee) in respect of 
the objectives of the Agreement,  which are:  to provide greate r uniformity and certainty in the 
implementation of the provisions of Article VII of the GATT 1994;  to esta blish a fair, uniform and 
neutral system for the valuation of goods for custom s 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 valu e 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 has held two formal meetings, on 
12 May (G/VAL/M/51) under the Chairmanship of Mr Tamás Vattai (Hungary), and on 28 October 
(G/VAL/M/52 to be issued) under the Chairmanship of  Mr Masafumi Kobayashi (Japan).  Mr Masafumi 
Kobayashi was elected by the Co mmittee as Chairpers on for the 2011-2012 period at the meeting of 
12 May 2011.     
3. Participation in the Committee is open to all WTO Members.  In additi on, Governments granted 
observer status by the WTO Gene ral Council attended Committee mee tings as observers.  At the 
April 1997 meeting, the Committee granted observer  status to those orga nizations 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 we re approved by the Council for Trade in Goods, 
are contained in G/L/146.  B. I
MPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT  
5. During the period under review, no devel oping country Members maintained delayed 
application of the provisions of the Agreement in ac cordance with the provision s of Article 20.1 of the 
Agreement.  At circulation of th is report, no Member maintains an extension of the delay period in 
accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1, Annex III.    
6. To date, 85 Members have notified their nati onal legislation on customs valuation (this figure 
includes the 14 Members which have submitted comm unications indicating that their legislation notified 
under the Tokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreem ent remained valid under the WTO Customs 
Valuation Agreement and does not include the 27 indi vidual EC Members).  41 Members have not yet 
made any notification (See Annex).    G/L/974 
Page 2  
 
  C. 
ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE  
7. At the meeting on 12 May 2011, the Committee: 
 
 agreed to revert to the legislation of Bahrain,  Kingdom of, Belize, Cambodia, China, Nigeria, 
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, Tunisi a and Ukraine at the next meeting, pending 
responses to questions on the legislations;   
 took note of that Cape Verde would have to  report to the Committee by 30 September 2011, 
on its progress on fulfilling the Action Plan and the status of its implementation of the Agreement; 
 agreed that the Committee would revert to para graph 8.3 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on 
Implementation-Related Issu es at its next meeting; 
 took note of that the 2010 – 2011 TA Plan was being implemented presently.  This Plan 
foresees regional activities on Market Access Is sues which will include customs valuation 
training as one of the areas covered.  Three such activities had been scheduled for 2010.  Four 
more activities are scheduled for 2011. 
 agreed that the Committee would revert to th e questions posed from the US on Indonesia's 
new PSI programme; 
 elected Mr Masafumi Kobayashi (Japan) as its Chair for 2011-2012.  
 
8. At the meeting on 28 October 2011, the Committee: 
 
 agreed to revert to the legislation of Bahrain,  Kingdom of, Belize, Cambodi a, Costa Rica China, 
Nigeria, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, Tunisia, and Ukraine at the next meeting, pending responses to questions on the legislations.  The Chair urged members who had not yet 
notified their national legislation to do so as early as possible; 
 took note of Cape Verde's report on its progress on fulfilling the action plan and the status of its 
implementation of the Agreement;  
 carried out the final Transitional Review of Ch ina's implementation of its obligations under the 
agreement; 
 agreed to revert to Armenia's reference price system; 
 greed to adopt the seve nteenth Annual Review; 
 took note to the technical assistance activit ies carried out by both the WCO and WTO 
Secretariats; 
 agreed to adopt the 2011 Report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods; 
 agreed that the Committee would revert to th e questions posed from the US on Indonesia's new 
PSI programme; 
 agreed that the committee would revert to para graph 8.3 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on 
implementation-Related Issues  at its next meeting.  G/L/974 
 Page 3 
 
 
  ANNEX1 
 
Notifications 
 
Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
Albania N/A G/VAL/N/1/ALB/1 G/VAL/N/2/ALB/1  
Angola N/A    
Antigua & Barbuda N/A    
Argentina G/VAL/N/1/ARG/1 VAL/1/Add.22 + Suppl. 1-4 
+Suppl. 2/Rev.1 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.4  
Armenia  G/VAL/N/1/ARM/1 G/VAL/N/2/ARM/1  
Australia G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1 VAL/1/Add.14 + Suppl. 1-4 
G/VAL/N/1/AUS/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.12 + 
Suppl.1  
Bahrain, Kingdom of N/A G/VAL/N/1/BHR/1 G/VAL/N/2/BHR/1  
Bangladesh N/A    
Barbados N/A    
Belize N/A G/VAL/N/1/BLZ/1 G/VAL/N/2/BLZ/1  
Benin N/A    
Bolivia, Plurinational 
State of N/A G/VAL/N/1/BOL/1   
Bolivarian Rep. of 
Venezuela N/A G/VAL/N/1/VEN/1 G/VAL/N/2/VEN/1  
Botswana  VAL/1/Add.16   
Brazil G/VAL/N/1/BRA/1 VAL/1/Add.20 + Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/BRA/2 and 3 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.3  
Brunei Darussalam N/A G/VAL/N/1/BRN/1 G/VAL/N/2/BRN/1  
Burkina Faso N/A G/VAL/N/1/BFA/1   
Burundi N/A    
Cambodia N/A G/VAL/N/1/KHM/1   
Cameroon N/A    
Canada G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1 VAL/1/Add.17 + Suppl.1-3  
G/VAL/N/1/CAN/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.14 
G/VAL/N/2/CAN/1  
Cape Verde N/A    
Central African Rep. N/A    
Chad N/A    
Chile N/A G/VAL/N/1/CHL/1   
China N/A G/VAL/N/1/CHN/1 - 5  G/VAL/N/2/CHN/1  
Colombia N/A G/VAL/N/1/COL/1 G/VAL/N/2/COL/1  
Congo N/A    
Costa Rica N/A G/VAL/N/1/CRI/1 G/VAL/N/2/CRI/1  
Côte d'Ivoire N/A G/VAL/N/1/CVI/1   
Croatia N/A G/VAL/N/1/HRV/1 G/VAL/N/2/HRV/1  
Cuba N/A G/VAL/N/1/CUB/1 G/VAL/N/2/CUB/1  
Dem Rep. of Congo N/A    
Djibouti N/A    
Dominica N/A G/VAL/N/1/DMA/1   
Dominican Rep. N/A G/VAL/N/1/DOM/1   
Ecuador N/A G/VAL/N/1/ECU/1   
Egypt N/A G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 G/VAL/N/2/EGY/1  
El Salvador N/A    
                                                      
1 Documents that begin with the code "VAL" are Tokyo Round documents.  The table reflects the 
situation as of the date of circulation of this report. G/L/974 
Page 4  
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
European Union G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1  VAL/1/Add.2 + Suppl.1-13 + 
Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.6  
Fiji N/A G/VAL/N/1/FJI/1 G/VAL/N/2/FJI/1  
Former Yugoslav. 
Rep. of Macedonia  
N/A  
G/VAL/N/1/MKD/1  
G/VAL/N/2/MKD/1  
Gabon N/A G/VAL/N/1/GAB/1   
Gambia N/A    
Georgia N/A G/VAL/N/1/GEO/1   
Ghana N/A    
Grenada N/A    
Guatemala N/A G/VAL/N/1/GTM/1   
Guinea Bissau N/A    
Guinea, Rep. of N/A    
Guyana N/A    
Haiti N/A    
Honduras N/A    
Hong Kong, China G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1 VAL/1/Add.9 N/A  
Iceland N/A G/VAL/N/1/ISL/1 G/VAL/N/2/ISL/1  
India G/VAL/N/1/IND/1 VAL/1/Add.24 + Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/IND/2 and 3 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.6 
G/VAL/N/2/IND/1 + Corr.1  
Indonesia N/A G/VAL/N/1/IDN/1   
Israel N/A G/VAL/N/1/ISR/1 + Corr.1   
Jamaica N/A G/VAL/N/1/JAM/1 G/VAL/N/2/JAM/1  
Japan G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1 VAL/1/Add.7 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.8 
G/VAL/N/2/JPN/1  
Jordan N/A G/VAL/N/1/JOR/1 G/VAL/N/2/JOR/1  
Kenya N/A G/VAL/N/1KEN/1 G/VAL/N/2/KEN/1  
Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia N/A G/VAL/N/1/SAU/1 G/VAL/N/2/SAU/1  
Korea G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1 VAL/1/Add.19 
+ Suppl. 1-4 
+ Suppl.3/Corr.1 
G/VAL/N/1/KOR/2 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.1  
+ Suppl.1  
Kuwait N/A G/VAL/N/1/KWT/1   
Kyrgyz Republic N/A G/VAL/N/1/KGZ/1 G/VAL/N/2/KGZ/1  
Lesotho  VAL/1/Add.21 + Suppl.1 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.2  
Liechtenstein N/A G/VAL/N/1/LIE/1 N/A  
Macao, China N/A G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1 N/A  
Madagascar N/A G/VAL/N/1/MDG/1   
Malawi G/VAL/N/1/MWI/1 VAL/1/Add.27   
Malaysia N/A G/VAL/N/1/ MYS/1 G/VAL/N/2/MYS/1  
Maldives N/A    
Mali N/A    
Mauritania N/A    
Mauritius N/A G/VAL/N/1/MUS/1 G/VAL/N/2/MUS/1  
Mexico N/A VAL/1/Add.25 + Suppl. 1-3 
+ Suppl.1/Rev.1 
G/VAL/N1/MEX/1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.10 
VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.8 
G/VAL/N/2/MEX/1 and 
Corr.1  
Moldova N/A G/VAL/N/1/MDA/1 G/VAL/N/2/MDA/1  
Mongolia N/A     G/L/974 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
Morocco N/A G/VAL/N/1/MAR/1 and 2 
G/VAL/N/1/MAR/1/Rev.1 + 
Corr.1 G/VAL/N/2/MAR/1 
G/VAL/N/2/MAR/2  
Mozambique N/A G/VAL/N/1/MOZ/1   
Myanmar N/A    
Namibia N/A G/VAL/N/1/NAM/1   
Nepal N/A    
New Zealand G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1 VAL/1/Add.12 + Suppl.1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.10  
Nicaragua N/A    
Niger N/A    
Nigeria N/A G/VAL/N/1/NGA/1 G/VAL/N/2/NGA/1  
Norway G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1  VAL/1/Add.11 + Corr.1 
+ Suppl. 1-2 
G/VAL/N/1/NOR/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.7  
Oman N/A G/VAL/N/1/OMN/1 - 2 G/VAL/N/2/OMN/1  
Pakistan N/A G/VAL/N/1/PAK/1   
Panama N/A G/VAL/N/1/PA N/1 G/VAL/N/2/PAN/1  
Papua New Guinea N/A    
Paraguay N/A G/VAL/N/1/PRY/1   
Peru N/A G/VAL/N/1/PER/1 - 3 G/VAL/N/2/PER/1  
Philippines N/A G/VAL/N/1/PHL/1 G/VAL/N/2/PHL/1  
Qatar N/A G/VAL/N/1/QAT/1 G/VAL/N/2/QAT/1  
Rwanda N/A    
St. Kitts & Nevis N/A    
St. Lucia N/A    
St. Vincent & 
Grenadines N/A G/VAL/N/1/VCT/1 G/VAL/N/2/VCT/1  
Senegal N/A G/VAL/N/1/SEN/1   
Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, 
Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsu (Chinese 
Taipei) N/A G/VAL/N/1/TPKM/1 G/VAL/N/2/TPKM/1-2  
Sierra Leone N/A    
Singapore N/A G/VAL/N/1/SGP/1 G/VAL/N/2/SGP/1  
Solomon Islands N/A    
South Africa N/A VAL/1/Add.15 + Corr.1 
+ Suppl. 1-3 
G/VAL/N/1/ZAF VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.13  
Sri Lanka N/A    
Suriname N/A G/VAL/N/1/SUR/1   
Swaziland N/A G/VAL/N/1/SWZ/1 G/VAL/N/2/SWZ/1  
Switzerland G/VAL/N/1/CHE/1 VAL/1/Add.5 N/A  
Tanzania N/A G/VAL/N/1/TZA/1 G/VAL/N/2/TZA/1  
Thailand N/A G/VAL/N/1/THA/1 G/VAL/N/2/THA/1  
Togo N/A    
Tonga N/A    
Trinidad & Tobago N/A G/VAL/N/1/TTO/1 G/VAL/N/2/TTO/1  
Tunisia N/A G/VAL/N/1/TUN/1 
G/VAL/N/1/TUN/2 
G/VAL/N/1/TUN/3   
Turkey G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1 VAL/1/Add.29 
G/VAL/N/1/TUR/ 2 G/VAL/N/2/TUR/1  
Uganda N/A G/VAL/N/1/UGA/1   G/L/974 
Page 6  
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
Ukraine N/A G/VAL/N/1/UKR/1 G/VAL/N/2/UKR/1  
United Arab Emirates N/A    
United States G/VAL/N/1/USA/1 VAL/1/Add.1 + Suppl.1-5 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.1  
Uruguay N/A G/VAL/N/1/URY/1 G/VAL/N/2/URY/1  
Vietnam N/A    
Zambia N/A G/VAL/N/1/ZMB/1   
Zimbabwe G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1 VAL/1/Add.23 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.5  
TOTAL NOTIFIED  852 55  
 
__________  
                                                      
2 This total number includes notifications by Members who have indicated their legislation remains valid 
under the WTO Committee (i.e. those in the first column of the table) and those made pursuant to Article 22 of 
the WTO Agreement and the Decision on Notifications (G/VAL/5).