WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/VAL/8/Add.24 
29 April 2011 
 (11-2215) 
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.1-23. 
 
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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.24 
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  ACTIVITIES OF WCO MEMBERS 
 
Technical Assistance/Capacity building Activities
 
 
I. JAPAN  
1. Japan has dispatched its experts and has acc epted trainees to provide the knowledge 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 im plement by 31 June 2011, are listed below. 
Dispatch of Experts 
 
Recipient Country Course Period of dispatch Number of Experts 
Vietnam Valuation 17 - 21 Jan. 2011 2 
Rwanda Valuation 19 - 28 Jan. 2011 2 
Cambodia PCA & Valuation 21Feb.-4 Mar. 2011 3 
Laos Valuation 28Feb.- 4 Mar.2011 2 
India Post-Clearance Audit 
(WCO Workshop in 
Asia/Pacific Region) 28Feb.- 4 Mar.2011 2 
Philippines Post-Clearance Audit 28Feb.- 8 Mar.2011 2 
Fiji Valuation 7-11 Mar. 2011 2 
Philippines Valuation 21-25 Mar. 2011 3 
East Timor Valuation  
(WCO Workshop) 21-25 Mar. 2011 1 
Malaysia Post-Clearance Audit 28 Mar. – 1 Apr. 2011 2 
 
Acceptance of Trainees 
 
Period of Training 
Course Course Country of Trainees Number of Trainees 
4-12 Nov 2010 Post-Clearance Audit Philippines 10 
One day in Nov. or Dec 
2010 PCA & Valuation (1) 19 
One day in Nov. 2010 PCA & Valuation 
 (WCO Fellowship) (2) 10 
6 -10 Dec. 2010 Post-Cl earance Audit Cambodia 15 
9 – 15 Dec. 2010 Valuation People's Republic of China 15 
One day in Jan. or Feb 
2011 Post-Clearance Audit (3) 10 
20- 26 Jan. 2011 Valuation (4) 16 
One day in Jan. or Feb 
2011 PCA & Valuation (5) 9 
14 -18 Feb. 2011 Post-Clearance Audit Pakistan 6 
One day in Feb. or Mar. 
2011 Post-Clearance Audit Ky rgyzstan, Tajikistan, 
Uzbekistan 6 
One day in Mar. 2011 PCA & Valuation (WCO 
Fellowship) (6) 8 
 
(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.  G/VAL/8/Add.24 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
(2) Malawi, Maldives, Albania, Myanmar, Saint Lucia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Iraq, Vanuatu, 
Philippines. (3) Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay Uruguay, Venezuela. 
(4) Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam. 
(5) Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Pa lau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, 
Vanuatu. (6) Benin, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt Gabon, Mauritius, Moldova, Togo.  G/VAL/8/Add.24 
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  ACTIVITIES OF THE WCO SECRETARIAT 
 
I.  Recipient Members:  East and Southern Africa Region including: Lesotho, Malawi, 
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe 
 
Duration:  10 -14 January 2011 
 
Location:  St. Lucia Park, Regional Training Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe 
 
Subject:  Valuation Trainers accreditation Workshop fo r the East and Southern Africa Region  
 
Type:  Regional workshop 
 
Objectives:  To evaluate and accredit Valuation trainers fo r the ESA Region. Five trainers were duly 
accredited at the workshop from Mauritius, S outh Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 
 
Participants:  12 
 
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer from the Valuation Sub-Directorate, and one representative from 
the Capacity Building Directorate 
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 
II.  Recipient Members:  East Africa Community region (EAC): Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, 
Tanzania, Uganda, 
 
Duration:  19-28 January 2011 
 
Location:  Butare, Rwanda 
 
Subject:  3rd Activity of Working Group of Customs Va luation on Capacity Building of Master 
Trainers for Eastern African Region  
 
Type:  Regional workshop 
 
Objectives:  To develop a pool of Customs valuation experts in the EAC region 
 
Participants:  20 
 
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer from Valuation Sub-Directorate (attending for two days only) 
and experts from Japan Customs 
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 
III.  Recipient Members:  Customs administrations in the Asia Pacific Region 
 
Duration:  28February – 4 March 2011 
 
Location:  NACEN, Regional Training Centre, Faridabad, India 
 
Subject:  Regional Workshop for the Asia Pacific Region on Post Clearance 
Audit 
  G/VAL/8/Add.24 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Type:  Regional workshop 
 
Objectives:  To identify the gap between best practices on PCA and the current practices of Member 
countries, and identify ways to bridge the gap.  To share practical experiences and difficulties of 
Members regarding PCA. Customs valuation was a major component of the programme. 
 
Participants:  30 
 
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer from the Valuation Sub-Directorate (attending for two days 
only) and experts from ROCB, Bangkok and Japan Customs.  
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 IV.  Recipient Members:  East Timor  
 
Duration:  21 -25 March 2011 
 
Location:  East Timor  
 
Subject:  Implementation and application of  the WTO Valuation Agreement  
 
Type:  National Workshop 
 
Objectives:  To provide assistance, via a workshop, on the implementation and application of the 
WTO Valuation Agreement, including valuati on methodology and advice on good practices for 
valuation control procedures.  
Participants:  Estimated 20 
 
Facilitators:  One Technical Officer from the Valuation Sub-Directorate and one 
WCO-accredited Valuation trainer from Japan Customs  
 
Donor:  CCF – Japan 
 
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