WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/C/W/610 
2 March 2009 
 
 (09-1057) 
Council on Trade in Goods Original:   French 
  
 
STATUS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
MINIMUM VALUES IN SENEGAL 
 
Communication from Senegal
 
 
 The following communication, dated 16 February 2009, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Senegal.  
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I. INTRODUCTION 
 By decision No. G/C/W/594 of 28 March 2008, the General Council of the World Trade 
Organization agreed to Senegal's request to  continue to maintain minimum values. 
  Pursuant to that decision, the Senegalese customs administration, in cooperation with 
representatives of trade and industry, is reporting on the status of implementation of minimum values 
for the period from September 2007 to August 2008.   In implementing the waiver, the customs admini stration has worked consistently to establish 
collective and collegiate administration characteriz ed by broad consultation of the private sector 
(industrial operators and businessmen) and the auth orities directly involved in providing follow-up 
(departments of finance, trade and industry).   To this end, an institutional framework was set up for the holding of consultations on major 
decisions concerning minimum values.  Within this  framework, the Subcommittee on Trade in Goods, 
which reports to the National Committee on Interna tional Trade Negotiations, meets regularly with 
the various players in the public and the private sectors to discuss all issues. 
  It should be noted that the few modifications made in respect of the values maintained for 
certain products were introduced by consensus – in some cases hard come by owing to the often very 
wide divergence in positions.  In arbitrating in su ch matters, the Subcommittee on Trade in Goods has 
taken objective and quantifiable data and used the methodology for determining minimum values. 
  This methodology, officially notified to the WTO and published in accordance with the 
requirements of the decision allowing minimum values, is based partly on the world prices of the 
inputs used in the composition of products, wher e they are guaranteed or easily identified, and partly 
on the values of the imported products . 
 
 The first of the above elements enables the harmful  effects of price manipulation to be offset, 
and the second enables recognized or disguised support to be curbed.  Since these elements also 
fluctuate, the principle of regularly reviewing them  on the basis of modalities established by common 
agreement has been maintained.  G/C/W/610 
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  II. IMPACT OF APPLYING MINIMUM VALUES 
 Since 27 March 2007, the date of the last status report on the implementation of minimum 
values in Senegal, enough time has elapsed to constit ute a reasonable period of reference for a further 
assessment of the real impact of applying minimu m values.  The assessment will cover the impact on 
imports (A) and on the sectors of industry concerned (B). 
 
A. I
MPORTS  
 For the purposes of the analysis, statistical data were taken from the customs authorities' 
computer system to cover import trends over two periods, the first from September 2007 to 
March 2008, and the second from April 2008 to August 2008.  Thus compiled, the data will be the 
subject of a comparative study of the trends obser ved in respect of the products to which minimum 
values are applied.   The analysis will use value as the main – albe it insufficient - criterion.  In our view, this 
approach is the more justified as the fiscal revenue indicator expressed in terms of increase or 
decrease in duties and taxes is purely incidental in comparison to the variation in the leading indicator, 
namely value.   The following should be noted in this connection:  1. For Chapter 17 products, for the period from April 2008 to August 2008 imports are 
estimated at 1,803,432,113 FCFA as compared to 2,136,154,298 FCFA for the period from 
September 2007 to March 2008 – in other words a drop of 332,772,185 FCFA. 
2. For Chapter 19, imports for the period from April 2008 to August 2008 are estimated at 
2,001,719,661 CFA francs (FCFA) as compared to 1,851,769,419 FCFA for the period from 
September 2007 to March 2008, in othe r words an increase of 149,950,242 FCFA. 
3. For Chapter 4 pertaining to cigarettes, impor ts for the period from April 2008 to August 2008 
are estimated at 1,245,476,099 FCFA as compared to 3,711,986,600 FCFA for the period from September 2007 to March 2008, in othe r words a decrease of 2,466,510.501 FCFA. 
4. For Chapter 48, imports for the period from April 2008 to August 2008 are estimated at 
453,400,779 FCFA as compared to 550,846,637 FCFA for the period from September 2007 to March 2008, in other words a decline of 97,445,858 FCFA. 
5. Chapters 73, 76, 85 and 87 were no exception:  imports likewise fell. 
 Generally speaking, the above data indicate a drop in imports and in state revenue, which 
would appear, in turn, to be attributable chiefly to the regulatory effects of the minimum values and 
which have resulted in the maintenance of a competitive relationship between manufacturers and 
importers. 
 
B. I
NDUSTRIES  
 Since minimum values were put into effect, the performance of local industries has improved 
to the detriment of imports and state revenue.   The positive impact on industries is reflected  by an increase in their market share and 
turnover.  This is borne out by the MTOA ( Manufacture de Tabac de l'Ouest Africain  – an industrial  G/C/W/610 
 Page 3 
 
 
  sector concerned by the minimum values), which has just indicated in its most recent request an 
increase of over 5 per cent a year in profits.   There are probably any number of similar c ases judging by the volume of the requests for 
maintenance of a minimum value on a product or fo r the upward adjustment of the minimum value 
applied to eligible products. 
  Some sectors may initially see the measure  as a panacea for illegal practices linked in 
particular to price manipulation (fraud, false declar ations, under-invoicing).  However, this is not true 
of other sectors, which find minimum values on thei r own to be an insufficient tool for combating 
certain practices effectively.  These practices, which are generally related to the existence of dumping 
or a subsidy, really need to be tackled with  other, specific instruments such as anti-dumping, 
countervailing and even safeguard measures.   The upshot is that without wishing to con ceal the structural weaknesses of the local 
production sector, which requires internal adjustment and restructuring, it is becoming more and more 
urgent to envisage capacity-building and technical as sistance for the authorities that implement trade 
defence measures.   This recourse to minimum values and the repeat ed demands for the level of protection to be 
maintained or increased are indicative not of a la ck of competitiveness in Senegal's economy, but of 
the current state of affairs in our firms as they cope with the complexities and unfairness of 
present-day trading.   On the whole, the analysis shows that d espite the positive impact of minimum values, 
companies in sectors where they are applied are still vulnerable to increasingly aggressive imports 
resulting from unfair, anti-com petitive and illegal practices. 
 
III. PROSPECTS 
 Following the meetings of the Subcommittee on Tr ade in Goods, measures have been taken to 
inform industrial operators and alert them to the ur gent need – bearing in mind the fast approaching 
deadline of 30 June 2009 – to upgrade and apply in ternal adjustment and restructuring measures, 
which they undertook to implement for the most part through investment plans, compliance with 
standards, etc.   With regard to valuation issues in general,  the customs administration has introduced legal 
instruments enabling the Agreement to be implemen ted on the basis of relevant standards and best 
practices.  For instance, the laws and regulations on valuation which are currently in effect provide for 
both internal (administrative review and appeal) and external (arbitration or judicial review) remedies. 
  As regards controls, a risk targeting and anal ysis system is in operation and in parallel a 
database is being built up gradually as a tool to assist in decision-making without constituting a mechanism to replace transaction value as the principal method for determining customs value. 
 
 Following in the same vein is the recently  created "COTES" (Cotecna External System) 
programme.  This application includes a database of transaction values and values of identical and 
similar goods, and it should enable the customs admi nistration to challenge and provide evidence of 
under-invoicing and over-invoicing  of goods by importers. 
 
 Thus with the advent of new sources of data on value, substitute methods for customs 
valuation constitute a legal and eff ective alternative which can be put into operation in the near future. 
 G/C/W/610 
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   However, the Senegalese economy is not as yet in a position to cope with the many forms of 
trade aggression and the State authorities have not fully  mastered all the tools needed to counter these 
abnormal practices.  Consequently, technical assistance for capacity-building with a view to setting up trade defence arrangements (anti-dum ping, countervail, safeguard) that  are robust and in keeping with 
WTO rules, is more necessary than ever before envisaging the lifting of the waiver authorizing the 
application of minimum values. 
 
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