WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/VAL/8/Add.23 
19 October 2010 
 (10-5416) 
Committee on Customs Valuation  
  
 
INFORMATION ON TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES 
 
Addendum
 
 
 At its meeting of 12 May 1995, the Committee on Customs Valuation agreed that greater 
transparency of technical assistance activities, pursuant to Article  20.3 of the Agreement on 
Implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994, w ould be ensured if the information documents 
prepared for the WCO Technical Committee on Custom s Valuation on such activities were also made 
available as WTO documents.  
 This document provides information on technical assistance activities carried out by WCO 
Members reproduced from WCO documents VT0719E 1a and VT0731E1a of 18 and 19 March 2010, 
respectively.  The present document updat es GATT document VAL/W/29/Rev.9, and WTO 
documents G/VAL/W/4 and G/VAL/8 and Adds.1-22. 
 
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INTRODUCTION 
1. Article 20.3 of the Agreement provides for the establishment of technical assistance 
programmes for developing countries.  The Article goes on to state that such technical assistance may 
include, inter alia , the training of personnel, assistance in preparing implementation measures, access 
to sources of information regarding customs valua tion methodology, and advice on the application of 
the provisions of the Agreement.  In this regard , it is recognized that for developing countries which 
are, by virtue of being Parties to the Agreement, committed to apply the Agreement at a fixed date or 
which are considering applying it in the near future , it would be a matter of urgent need to have a 
nucleus of customs officers trained in the Code.  Thus, among the various technical assistance programmes offered, the training of personnel acquires a degree of priority. 
2. As provided for in Annex II of the Agreement, the responsibilities of the Technical 
Committee include the facilitation of technical assistan ce with a view to furthering the international 
acceptance of the Agreement.  The Technical Committ ee at its first meeting expressed the view that 
the Customs Co-operation Council, through its Secretar iat, could provide co-ordination in developing 
a technical assistance programme in co-operation with member administrations willing to provide 
assistance and other international organizations.  The Council's Plan for the '90s has also placed 
considerable emphasis on the need  for holding seminars and training courses on the GATT Code. 
3. At its Eighth Session, the Technical Comm ittee had examined document 31.808 describing 
seminars and training courses organized on custom s valuation, especially on the GATT Valuation 
Agreement, and the activities of the Customs Co- operation Council in this area.  The Committee 
found the document useful and in this regard dir ected the Secretariat to periodically update the 
information. In successive sessions of the Comm ittee, a number of revised or supplementary 
documents were prepared which periodically update d this information.  This document contains 
information provided by the WCO Secretariat of  its most recent technical assistance activities. G/VAL/8/Add.23 
Page 2  
 
  ACTIVITIES OF WCO MEMBERS 
 
Technical Assistance/Capacity building Activities
 
 
I. CANADA 
1. Training on valuation matters was provided by Canadian Valuation Customs officers in Saint 
Lucia for 22 Customs officials from various Caribbean countries under the Customs Capacity 
Building Project in the Americas.  The purpose of the training was to present a valuation course on the 
application of the Valuation Agreement as contained in the GATT.  
 
II. JAPAN  
1. Japan has dispatched its experts and has accepte d trainees to provide the knowledge and skills 
of Customs Valuation/Post-clearance Audit and to  support the implementation of the WTO Valuation 
Agreement. 
2. The details of our technical assistance/capacity building activities, which we have carried out 
since the last session and are planning to impl ement during the period up to 31 December 2010, are 
listed below. 
Dispatch of Experts 
 
Recipient Country Course Period of dispatch Number of Experts 
Philippines Post-Clearance Audit  31May - 4 Jun. 2010 2 
Rusia Valuation 31May - 4 Jun. 2010 1 
Kenya Valuation 6-17 Set. 2010 2 
Laos Valuation Not fixed yet Not fixed yet 
Vietnam Valuation  Not fixed yet 2 
 
Acceptance of Trainees 
 
Period of Training 
Course Course Country of Trainees Number of Trainees 
10-14 May 2010 Post-Clearance Audit Pakistan. 10 
4 -8 Oct. 2010 Valuation Malaysia 15 
18-22 Oct.2010 Post-Clearance Audit Malaysia 15 
4 -12 Nov. 2010 Post-Clearance Audit Philippines 10 
One day in Nov. 2010 PCA & Valuation (1) 19 
One day in Nov. 2010 PCA & Valuation (2) 10 
6- 10 December 2010 Post-C learance Audit Cambodia 15 
9-15 Dec. 2010 Valuation People's republic of China 15 
 
(1) Cambodia, East Timor, India, Laos, Mongo lia, Philippines, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, 
Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria,  Tanzania, Myanmar, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Iran. 
 
(2) Malawi, Maldives, Albania, Myanmar, Saint Lucia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Iraq, Vanuatu, 
Philippines.   G/VAL/8/Add.23 
 Page 3 
 
 
  III. UNITED STATES 
Dispatch of Experts 
 
Recipient Country Course Period of Dispatch Number of Experts 
Bahrain Advance Ruling 13-16 June 2010 2 
  
Acceptance of Trainees 
 
Period of Training 
Course Course Country of Trainees Number of Trainees 
28-30 Sep. 2010 U.S. Bahrain FTA and 
Advance Rulings. Bahrain 10 
2-4 August 2010 Transaction Value, 
Advance Rulings, Origin 
Determination, and Tariff 
Classification. Bahrain 7 G/VAL/8/Add.23 
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  ACTIVITIES OF THE WCO SECRETARIAT 
 
I.  Recipient Members:  Albania, Belarus, Belgium, Croa tia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, 
Ukraine and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 
 
Duration:  26-28 April 2010 
 
Location:  Skopje, TFYR of Macedonia 
 
Subject:  Revenue Package Workshop for Europe Region 
 
Type:  Regional workshop 
 
Objectives:  To raise awareness of existing tools and instruments and promote discussion on further 
needs in regard to revenue collection  
Participants:  16 
 
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer and one Technical Attaché from Valuation Sub-Directorate; and 
One Technical Officer from Compliance and Facilitation Directorate 
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 
II.  Recipient Members:  Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, 
Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tan zania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe 
 
Duration:  10-14 May 2010 
 
Location:  Harare, Zimbabwe 
 
Subject:  Workshop for Customs Valuation Specia lists and Trainers (ESA Region) 
 
Type:  Regional workshop 
 
Objectives:  To strengthen knowledge of Cust oms valuation and provide further assistance with the 
challenges posed in effective implementation of the WTO Agreement 
 
Participants:  17 
 
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer from Valuation Sub-Directorate 
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 
III.  Recipient Members:  Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ca meroon, Central African Republic, 
Congo(Rep of the), Côte D’Ivoire, Democratic Rep ublic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, 
Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo 
 
Duration:  26-28 May 2010 
 
Location:  Lomé, Togo 
 
Subject:  Regional Workshop on the Revenue Package for West & Central Africa 
  G/VAL/8/Add.23 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Type:  Regional workshop 
 
Objectives:  To raise awareness of existing tools and instruments and promote discussion on further 
needs in regard to revenue collection 
 
Participants:  22 
 
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer, one Technical Attaché and one WCO intern from Valuation 
Sub-Directorate 
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 IV.  Recipient Members:  Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, 
Kazakhstan, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Monteneg ro, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and 
Ukraine and Uzbekistan  
Duration:  31 May-4 June 2010 
 
Location:  Moscow, Russian Federation 
 
Subject:  Regional Seminar on Customs valuation for Europe region 
 
Type:  Regional seminar/training 
 
Objectives:  1. To improve knowledge of the Agreement on implementation of Article VII of GATT 
1994 (WTO Valuation Agreement);  2. To explore wa ys for more effective and efficient application 
of the WTO Valuation Agreement;  3. To share e xperiences and best practices with respect to 
Customs Valuation 
 
Participants:  33 
 
Facilitators:  One (1) Technical Attaché from the WCO Valuation Sub- directorate and one 
Valuation expert dispatched from Japan 
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 V.  Recipient Members:  China, India, Japan, Korea (Rep o f), Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, 
Tonga and Vietnam 
 
Duration: 7-11 June 2010 
 
Location:  Seoul, Korea (Rep of) 
 
Subject:  Accreditation workshop for expert trainers in the Customs Valuation 
 
Type:  Regional seminar/training 
 
Objectives:  To set up a pool of high-level experts in Customs Valuation, qualified in capacity 
building and the training domain and capable of condu cting training activities at international level 
 
Participants:  11 
 G/VAL/8/Add.23 
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  Facilitators:  One Technical Officer from Valuation Sub-Directorate and one Technical Officer from 
Capacity Building Directorate 
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 
VI.  Recipient Member : The Gambia 
 
Duration:  20-24 September 2010 
 
Location:  The Gambia 
 
Subject:  Valuation 
 
Type:  National event 
 
Objectives:  To advise on the effective implementati on of the WTO Valuation Agreement. The 
mission consisted of a blended programme, includ ing : 1. high level consultation with senior 
managers including the Commissioner General; 2. ove rview seminar for clearing agents; 3. two day 
valuation seminar for 15 Customs officials; 4. pr oposals given regarding the effective implementation 
of the WTO Valuation Agreement, via a strategic plan 
  
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer from Valuation Sub-Directorate 
 
Donor:  Eurocustoms 
 
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