WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/152 
11 December 2007 
 (07-5493) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   French 
  
 
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM ANGOLA 
  
 The following communication, dated 10 December 2007, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Angola. 
 
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PRE-SHIPMENT INSPECTIONS 
 I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The following proposal is being submitte d by Angola in response to communication 
TN/TF/W/108 of 6 June 2006 from the European Co mmunities and the Separate Customs Territory of 
Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. 
2. The majority of Members using pre-shipment inspection are least developed country 
Members, and to the extent that two thirds of those Members are not represented in the WTO, they 
have taken little or no part  in the discussions concerning the af orementioned communication.  Angola, 
as a Member using pre-shipment inspection, woul d like to make the following comments and points 
regarding that communication. 
II. DEFINITION OF "PRE-SHIPMENT INSPECTIONS OR THEIR EQUIVALENT" 
3. As used in the above communication, the term "p re-shipment inspections or their equivalent", 
being broader than the definition of "pre-shipmen t inspection" in the multilateral Agreement on 
Pre-Shipment Inspection, is ambiguous and subject to different interpretations, and may therefore 
prove a source of conflict rather than agreement.  Consequently, a much more precise definition is 
necessary before the multilateral Agreement can  be amended or Members can undertake any 
significant commitment in that regard. 
III. ADVANTAGE OF THE EXISTING AGREEMENT ON PRE-SHIPMENT 
INSPECTION 
4. The WTO multilateral Agreement on Pre-Shipment  Inspection, which entered into force on 
1 January 1995, confers upon exporting and importi ng Members rights and obligations regarding 
pre-shipment inspection activities.  The current propos al to eliminate such ac tivities will in fact render 
the current multilateral Agreement ineffective and may entail the unexpected consequence of 
depriving not only Member countries but also exporters, importers and pre-shipment inspection entities of hard-earned gains (including the transpar ency requirements and the appeal mechanism) 
derived from the ongoing application of the Agreem ent to activities which are, or may subsequently 
be, defined as pre-shipment inspection activities. TN/TF/W/152 
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  5. The current Agreement appears to function in a satisfactory manner insofar as the WTO has 
received no complaints from Members in this regard and that Members have expressed no need for the triennial reviews provided for in the Agreement. 
IV. SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND 
CAPACITY-BUILDING 
6. Most programmes relating to pre-shipment inspection include technical assistance and 
capacity-building as basic components of services.  In fact, more than 50 per cent of pre-shipment 
inspection programmes under way at the time the re levant multilateral Agreem ent entered into force 
in 1995 have since been gradually phased out on a voluntary basis.  It therefore seems pointless and 
unwise to ask user Members to undertake new commi tments to eliminate pre-shipment inspections 
without a demonstrated capacity to conduct such tasks or without being assured of firm commitments 
by exporting Members to provide the necessar y technical assistance for them to do so. 
7. To the extent that the multilateral Agreement on Pre-Shipment Inspection already contains 
modalities for user Members to receive techni cal assistance from exporting Members, the 
aforementioned communication adds nothing new for u ser Members, while asking them to undertake 
premature commitments by a general deadline.  Us er Members will be more likely to endorse the 
introduction of undertakings to eliminate pre-shipme nt inspections in a practicable manner according 
to each user Member’s individual needs, rather than  by a deadline applying to the entire Membership. 
8. Since 1980, the Republic of Angola has been implementing activities for the pre-shipment 
inspection of goods, which over the years has served as an auxiliary instrument for the Central Bank 
to monitor the use of State funds, to begin with, an d later those of Angolan Customs.  In conformity 
with prior legislation, such inspections were mandatory. 
9. However, Angola’s new legal regime governin g pre-shipment inspection, adopted by 
Decree No. 1/06, of 17 July, introduced considerab le changes, and primarily the general rule of 
exempting from mandatory pre-shipment inspec tion goods exported for the country, with the 
exception of those referred to in Annex 1 of the pre-shipment inspection regulations, adopted by 
Decree No. 41/06, of 17 July, and those as might be  specified in the join t Executive Decree of the 
Ministries of Finance, Agriculture and Rural Deve lopment, Health, Trade, Fisheries and Industry. 
10. Angolan Customs already have the technical and human resource capacity to carry out 
reliable and proper verification and control of imported goods.  Hence, there is no point in 
maintaining the mandatory nature of such inspections , since they are restricted to imports constituting 
a major risk to revenue collection and the protection of public health and the environment. 
11. It is important to note that mandatory pre-sh ipment inspection is established for reasons of 
public health and environmental protection and is  chiefly targeted at medicines, food products, 
chemicals, tobacco, etc., and at imports constituting a major risk to revenue collection.  In the case of 
voluntary pre-shipment inspections, the entities r esponsible for the pre-shipment inspection of 
imported goods must carry out a proper verification of quantity, quality, value, customs classification 
and assessment of import duties. 
V. SPECIFIC PROPOSALS 
12. Members should request a review of the effe ctiveness of the Agre ement on Pre-Shipment 
Inspection pursuant to Article 6 (WTO multilateral Agreement on Trade in Goods, Agreement on Pre-
Shipment Inspection) in order to identify amendments that need to be made to the provisions of this 
Agreement, and in particular to the definition of  "pre-shipment inspections or their equivalent".  TN/TF/W/152 
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  13. Members should also review the effectiveness of the provisions of Article 3.3 (Technical 
Assistance), which provides for exporting Members to o ffer technical assistance, if requested, to user 
Members.  In future, such techni cal assistance could be provided by an exporting Member subject to 
specific conditions, such as the undertaking of the user Member gradually to phase out pre-shipment 
inspections by a mutually agreed date. 
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