WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1 
1 November 2011 
 (11-5513) 
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:   Spanish 
  
 
INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
 
Check-List of Issues 
 
ECUADOR 
 
  The following communication, dated 27 Octobe r 2011, has been received from the Permanent 
Mission of Ecuador. 
 
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1. Questions concerning Article 1: 
 
(a) Sales between related persons: 
 
 (i) Are sales between related persons subject to special provisions? 
 
  No. 
 
 (ii) Is the fact of intercompany prices prima facie considered as grounds for 
regarding the respective prices as being influenced? 
 
  No. 
  (iii) What is the provision for giving the communication of the aforementioned 
grounds in writing if the importer so requests?  (Article 1.2(a)) 
 
See Articles 13 and 14 of the Andean Community Regulation implementing Decision No. 571 on Customs Valuation of Importe d Goods annexed to Resolution No. 846, 
published in Lima in Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement No. 1103 of 
9 August 2004, which forms part of Ecuadorian law. 
 
 (iv) How has Article 1.2(b) been implemented? 
 
See Article 15 of the Andean Community Regulation implementing Decision No. 571 
on Customs Valuation of Imported Goods a nnexed to Resolution No. 846, published 
in Lima in Official Gazette of the Cart agena Agreement No. 1103 of 9 August 2004, 
which forms part of Ecuadorian law. 
 G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1 
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  (b) Price of lost or damaged goods: 
 
 Are there any special provisions or practica l arrangements concerning the valuation of 
lost or damaged goods? 
 
Provisions to that effect are set forth in Article 4 of Andean Community General 
Secretariat (SGCAN) Resolution No. 961 ("Pro cedure relating to Special Customs Valuation 
Cases"), published in Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement No. 1248 of 10 October 2005.  The Resolution forms part of Ecuadorian law. 
 2. How has the provision of Article 4 to a llow the importer an option to reverse the order 
of application of Articles 5 and 6 been implemented? 
 
 No importer has asked to reverse the order of application of Articles 5 and 6 of the 
WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation. 
 
3. How has Article 5.2 been implemented? 
 
 This Article has not been implemented to date.  
4. How has Article 6.2 been implemented? 
 
 This Article has not been implemented to date.  
5. Questions concerning Article 7: 
 
(a) What provisions have been made for making value determinations pursuant to 
Article 7? 
 
See Article 44 ("Procedure relating to the Appli cation of the Last Recourse Method") of the 
Andean Community Regulation implementing Decision No. 571 on the Customs Valuation of Imported Goods annexed to Resolution No. 846, pub lished in Lima in Official Gazette of the 
Cartagena Agreement No. 1103 of 9 August 20 04, which forms part of Ecuadorian law. 
 
(b) What is the provision for informing the importer of the customs value determined under 
Article 7? 
 
Customs valuation in Ecuador is governed by the provisions of the WTO Agreement on 
Customs Valuation. 
 
Accordingly, Article 7.3 of the Agreement is  tacitly incorporated in Ecuador's customs 
legislation as an annex to Decision No. 571 of the Commission of the Andean Community (CAN), published in Ecuador in Offici al Journal No. 317 of 20 April 2004. 
 
(c) Are the prohibitions found in Article 7.2 delineated? 
 
Yes.  See Article 45 ("Prohibitions") of th e Andean Community Regulation implementing 
Decision No. 571 on the Customs Valuation of  Imported Goods annexed to Resolution 
No. 846, published in Lima in Official Gaze tte of the Cartagena Agreement No. 1103 of 
9 August 2004, which forms part of Ecuadorian law. 
  G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1 
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  6. How have the options found in Article 8.2 been handled?  In the case of f.o.b. 
application, are ex-factory prices also accepted? 
 
 In accordance with Article 110 of the Organi c Code of Production, Trade and Investment, 
published in Official Journal No. 351 of 29 Decemb er 2010, the tax base for customs duties is the 
transaction value of the imported goods, plus the co st of transport of such goods and additional 
charges associated with their tr ansport to the port or place of importation, loading, unloading and 
handling charges associated with the transpor t of the imported goods to the port or place of 
importation, and the cost of insurance, as stipul ated in Article 6 of Decision No. 571 of the 
Commission of the Andean Community (CAN), publis hed in Ecuador in Official Journal No. 317 of 
20 April 2004. 
 
Hence, any terms of negotiation set out in the commercial invoice for the imported goods are 
accepted when the importer declares the value to the customs authorities. 
 
The declarant must therefore specify on the rele vant form the additions or deductions relating 
to the costs of transport and insurance of the im ported goods that were negotiated at the time the 
commercial transaction took place.  
7. Where is the rate of exchange pub lished, as required by Article 9.1? 
 
The rate of exchange is published by the Cent ral Bank of Ecuador and recorded daily in the 
National Customs Service computer system, wh ich provides a search function for viewing the 
information.  
8. What steps have been taken to ensure confidentiality, as required by Article 10? 
 
Article 62 of the Community Regulation implementing Decision No. 571 on the Customs 
Value of Imported Goods annexed to Resolution 846,  published in Lima in Official Gazette of the 
Cartagena Agreement No. 1103 of 9 August 2004, whic h forms part of Ecuadorian law, provides as 
follows: 
 
"2.  Pursuant to Article 10 of the WTO Ag reement on Customs Valuation, information 
supplied that is of a particularly confidential nature or is provided on a confidential basis 
shall not be disclosed by the customs authority without the specific permission of the person 
or government that supplied it, except under a court order. 3.  Private documents such as contracts, in particular contracts of sale, contracts pertaining 
to intellectual property, licensing and distri bution, amongst others, and generally speaking 
any information relating to the negotiation an d importation of the goods, shall be deemed 
confidential by nature and may not be made public , subject to the provisions of the preceding 
paragraph. " 
 Moreover, Article 190 of the Orga nic Code of Production, Trad e and Investment, published in 
Official Journal No. 351 of 29 December 2010 stipul ates that the disclosure of information deemed 
confidential by the relevant authorities constitut es a customs offence subject to the corresponding 
penalty laid down in Article 191 of the Code.  
9. Questions concerning Article 11: 
 
(a) What rights of appeal are open to the importer or any other person? 
 
Ecuador's customs legislation has always recognized the right of the importer or any other person to file a complaint or an administrative appeal.  This is currently provided for in G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1 
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  Article 124 of the Organic Code of Production,  Trade and Investment, published in Official 
Journal No. 351 of 29 December 2010. 
 
(b) How is he to be informed of his right to further appeal? 
 
Executive Decree No. 2428, published in O fficial Journal No. 536 of 18 March 2002 and 
containing the Regulations governing the Legal and Administrative System of the Executive 
Branch, provides that persons subject to administrative proceedings are required to file their complaints with the competent authority.  Sh ould a filed complaint be rejected by the 
Administration, the latter's decision may be appealed before an administrative or judicial 
court. 
 
10. Provide information on the publication, as required by Article 12, of: 
 
(a) (i) the relevant national laws; 
 
Published in the Official Journal of Ecuador. 
 
 (ii) the regulations concerning the application of the Agreement; 
 
Published in the Official Journal of Ecuador and the Official Gazette of the Cartagena 
Agreement. 
 
 (iii) the judicial decision; 
 
Decisions handed down by the National Court of  Justice in the context of an appeal 
on a point of law are published in the Official  Journal and are regularly entered in the 
Judicial Gazette. 
 
 and administrative rulings of genera l application relating to the Agreement;  
 
Published in the Official Journal of Ecuador. 
 
 (iv) general or specific laws being referred to in the rules of implementation or 
application. 
 
Published in the Official Journal of Ecuador. 
 
Customs valuation legislation is also av ailable on the web page of the National 
Customs Service of Ecuador. 
 
(b) Is the publication of further rules antici pated?  Which topics would they cover? 
 
It is planned to update the regulations rela ting to special valuation cases, which would 
encompass new cases that are currently being examined and studied. 
 
11. Questions concerning Article 13: 
 
(a) How is the obligation of Article 13 (last sentence) being dealt with in the respective 
legislation? 
 
Resolution No. 483 of the Directorate-Genera l of Ecuador's National Customs Service of 
25 August 2004 provides for the possibility of withdrawing the goods by posting a guarantee  G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1 
 Page 5 
 
 
  and establishes the procedure for doing so, when  the customs authorities have any doubts as 
to the declared value or if it is necessary to de lay the final determination of the value of the 
goods. 
 
(b) Have additional explanations been laid down? 
 
 Yes, in the above Resolution.  
12. Questions concerning Article 16: 
 
(a) Does the respective national legislation contain a provision requiring customs 
authorities to give an explanation in writing as to how the customs value was determined? 
 
Except for the provisions of the Agreement wh ich Ecuador takes into account, there is no 
such obligation in domestic legislation. 
 
However, complaints and the administrative ac t of valuation and tax adjustment require a 
technical report describing the valuation method used. 
 
(b) Are there any further regulations concerning an above-mentioned request? 
 
 No.  
13. How have the Interpretative Not es of the Agreement been included? 
  The Interpretative Notes of the Agreement are contained in Decision No. 571 of the 
Commission of the Andean Community (CAN), publis hed in Ecuador in Official Journal No. 317 of 
20 April 2004.   It should be mentioned that pur suant to Article 3 of the Treaty Creating the Court of Justice of 
the Andean Community, decisions and resolutions  issued under the Cartagena Agreement do not 
require any domestic law in order to be incorporated into domestic legislation: 
 
"Decisions of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers or of the Commission and Resolutions 
of the General Secretariat shall be directly applicable in Member Countries as of the date 
they are published in the Official Gazette of the Agreement, unless they indicate a later date. " 
 
14. How have the provisions of the Decision on  the Treatment of Interest Charges in the 
Customs Value of Imported Goods been implemented? 
 
 Decision 3.1 of the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation applies.  As stated in Article 31 of the Regulation implementing Decision No. 571 annexed to Resolution No. 846, published in 
Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement No. 1103, the customs value shall not include interest 
charges, which may be deducted from the price actually  paid or payable by the buyer to the seller, 
provided that they are included in and distinct from the price, i.e. they have been invoiced by the seller and appear separately in the commercial documents.  G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1 
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  15. For those countries applying paragraph 2 of  the Decision on the Valuation of Carrier 
Media Bearing Software for Data Processing E quipment, how have the provisions of this 
paragraph been implemented? 
 
 Ecuador has not adopted the practice referred to in paragraph 2 of Decision 4.1 of the 
WTO Committee on Customs Valuation. 
 
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