WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/907 
27 October 2009 
 (09-5344) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2009) OF THE COMM ITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS 
 
 A. B
ACKGROUND  
1. The Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 (the Agreement) entered into force on 1 Ja nuary 1995.  This report covers the year 2009.  It 
addresses the work undertaken by the Committee on Customs Valuation (the Committee) in respect of 
the objectives of the Agreement, which are: to provide greater uniformity and certainty in the 
implementation of the provisions of Article VII of the GATT 1994;  to esta blish a fair, uniform and 
neutral system for the valuation of goods for custom s purposes that precludes the use of arbitrary of 
fictitious customs values;  to ensure  that the basis for valuation of goods for customs purposes should, to 
the greatest extent possible, be the transaction valu e of the goods being valued;  and to secure additional 
benefits for the international trade of developing countries. 
 2. During the period under consideration, the Committee has held two formal meetings, on 
7 May (G/VAL/M/47) under the Chairmanship of Ms . Octavia Cerchez (Romania), and on [26 October 
(G/VAL/M/48 to be issued) under the Chairmanship of  Mr. Mohammad Saeed (Pakistan).]  Mr. Saeed  
was elected by the Committee as Chairperson for th e 2009-20010 period at the meeting of 7 May 2009.    
 3. Participation in the Committee is open to all WTO Members.  In additi on, Governments granted 
observer status by the WTO Genera l Council attended Committee mee tings as observers.  At the 
April 1997 meeting, the Committee granted observer  status to those orga nizations which had had 
observer status on an ad hoc  basis, namely UNCTAD and the WCO, as well as to the ACP and the 
IADB.   The Committee took note of the fact that the World Bank and the IMF had observer status by 
virtue of the Agreements between these organizations and the WTO. 
 
4. The Committee's rules of procedure, which we re approved by the Council for Trade in Goods, 
are contained in G/L/146.  B. I
MPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT  
5. During the period under review, no devel oping country Members maintained delayed 
application of the provisions of the Agreement in ac cordance with the provisions of Article 20.1 of the 
Agreement.  At circulation of th is report, no Member maintains an extension of the delay period in 
accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1, Annex III.  Understanding has been reached in the Committee that the texts of the national legislation of these developing country Members will be supplied to the Committee before the developing co untry Members begin applying the provisions of the 
Agreement (G/VAL/5, para. B.2(ii)).   
 6. To date, 80 Members have notified their nati onal legislation on customs valuation (this figure 
includes the 14 Members which have submitted comm unications indicating that their legislation notified 
under the Tokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreem ent remained valid under the WTO Customs G/L/907 
Page 2  
 
  Valuation Agreement and does not include the 27 indi vidual EC Members).  46 Members have not yet 
made any notification  (See Annex).    C. 
ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE  
7. At the meeting on 7 May 2009, the Committee: 
 
• concluded the examination of the legislation of Tanzania and agreed to revert to the 
legislation of Albania, Bahrain, Belize, China, Egypt, Nigeria, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, Tunisia and Ukraine at the next meeting pending responses to 
questions on the legislations;   
• agreed that the Committee would revert to para graph 8.3 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on 
Implementation-Related Issu es at its next meeting; 
• welcomed India's statement that it had decide d to lift its reservation concerning minimum 
values which was found on paragraph 3 of the Pr otocol to the Agreement on Implementation 
of Article VII of the GATT 1994;  
• agreed to examine the eleven outstanding Annual Reviews with a view to adopting them at its 
next formal meeting; 
• took note of information from the Internati onal Federation of Inspection Agencies on the 
Members using PSI and heard a question from the US on Indonesia's new PSI programme; 
• took note of questions posed to India and Ind onesia by the US and the responses from India to 
these questions under Other Business; 
• elected Mr. Mohammed Saeed (Pak istan) as its Chair for 2008-2009.  
 
8. At the meeting on 26 October 2009, the Committee:  
• concluded the examination of the le gislation of Albania and agreed to  revert to the legislation of 
Bahrain, Belize, China, Egypt, Nigeria, Norway, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, Tunisia and Ukraine at the next meeting, pendi ng responses to questions  on the legislations; 
• concluded its eighth Transitiona l Review under paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of 
the People's Republic of China; 
• agreed that the Committee would revert to para graph 8.3 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on 
Implementation-Related Issues  at its next meeting; 
• agreed to revert to the fifteen outsta nding Annual Reviews at its next meeting; 
• took note of information from the Internationa l Federation of Inspection Agencies on the 
Members using PSI and heard a statement from the US requesting information on Indonesia's 
new PSI programme; 
• adopted its Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods. 
  G/L/907 
 Page 3 
 
 
  ANNEX1 
 
Notifications  
 
Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
Albania N/A G/VAL/N/1/ALB/1 G/VAL/N/2/ALB/1  
Angola N/A    
Antigua & Barbuda N/A    
Argentina G/VAL/N/1/ARG/1 VAL/1/Add.22 + Suppl. 1-4 
+Suppl. 2/Rev.1 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.4  
Armenia  G/VAL/N/1/ARM/1 G/VAL/N/2/ARM/1  
Australia G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1 VAL/1/Add.14 + Suppl. 1-4 
G/VAL/N/1/AUS/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.12 + 
Suppl.1  
Bahrain N/A G/VAL/N/1/BHR/1 G/VAL/N/2/BHR/1  
Bangladesh N/A    
Barbados N/A    
Belize N/A G/VAL/N/1/BLZ/1 G/VAL/N/2/BLZ/1  
Benin N/A    
Bolivia N/A G/VAL/N/1/BOL/1   
Botswana  VAL/1/Add.16   
Brazil G/VAL/N/1/BRA/1 VAL/1/Add.20 + Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/BRA/2 and 3 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.3  
Brunei Darussalam N/A G/VAL/N/1/BRN/1 G/VAL/N/2/BRN/1  
Burkina Faso N/A G/VAL/N/1/BFA/1   
Burundi N/A    
Cambodia N/A    
Cameroon N/A    
Canada G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1 VAL/1/Add.17 + Suppl.1-3  
G/VAL/N/1/CAN/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.14 
G/VAL/N/2/CAN/1  
Cape Verde N/A    
Central African Rep. N/A    
Chad N/A    
Chile N/A    
China N/A G/VAL/N/1/CHN/1 - 5  G/VAL/N/2/CHN/1  
Colombia N/A G/VAL/N/1/COL/1 G/VAL/N/2/COL/1  
Congo N/A    
Costa Rica N/A G/VAL/N/1/CRI/1 G/VAL/N/2/CRI/1  
Côte d'Ivoire N/A G/VAL/N/1/CVI/1   
Croatia N/A G/VAL/N/1/HRV/1 G/VAL/N/2/HRV/1  
Cuba N/A G/VAL/N/1/CUB/1 G/VAL/N/2/CUB/1  
Dem Rep. of Congo N/A    
Djibouti N/A    
Dominica N/A G/VAL/N/1/DMA/1   
Dominican Rep. N/A G/VAL/N/1/DOM/1   
Ecuador N/A    
Egypt N/A G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 G/VAL/N/2/EGY/1  
El Salvador N/A    
European 
Communities G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1  VAL/1/Add.2 + Suppl.1-13 + 
Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.6  
Fiji N/A G/VAL/N/1/FJI/1 G/VAL/N/2/FJI/1  
                                                      
1 Documents that begin with the code "VAL" are Tokyo Round documents.  The table reflects the 
situation as of the date of circulation of this report. G/L/907 
Page 4  
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
Former Yugoslav  Rep. of Macedonia  
N/A  
G/VAL/N/1/MKD/1  
G/VAL/N/2/MKD/1  
Gabon N/A G/VAL/N/1/GAB/1   
Gambia N/A    
Georgia N/A G/VAL/N/1/GEO/1   
Ghana N/A    
Grenada N/A    
Guatemala N/A G/VAL/N/1/GTM/1   
Guinea Bissau N/A    
Guinea, Rep. of N/A    
Guyana N/A    
Haiti N/A    
Honduras N/A    
Hong Kong, China G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1 VAL/1/Add.9 N/A  
Iceland N/A G/VAL/N/1/ISL/1 G/VAL/N/2/ISL/1  
India G/VAL/N/1/IND/1 VAL/1/Add.24 + Suppl.1 
G/VAL/N/1/IND/2 and 3 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.6 
G/VAL/N/2/IND/1 + Corr.1  
Indonesia N/A G/VAL/N/1/IDN/1 G/VAL/N/2/IDN/1 + Corr.1  
Israel N/A G/VAL/N/1/ISR/1 + Corr.1 G/VAL/N/2/ISR/1  
Jamaica N/A G/VAL/N/1/JAM/1 G/VAL/N/2/JAM/1  
Japan G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1 VAL/1 /Add.7 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.8 
G/VAL/N/2/JPN/1  
Jordan N/A G/VAL/N/1/JOR/1 G/VAL/N/2/JOR/1  
Kenya N/A G/VAL/N/1KEN/1 G/VAL/N/2/KEN/1  
Korea G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1 VAL/1/Add.19 
+ Suppl. 1-4 
+ Suppl.3/Corr.1 
G/VAL/N/1/KOR/2 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.1  
+ Suppl.1  
Kuwait N/A G/VAL/N/1/KWT/1   
Kyrgyz Republic N/A G/VAL/N/1/KGZ/1 G/VAL/N/2/KGZ/1  
Lesotho  VAL/1/Add.21 + Suppl.1 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.2  
Liechtenstein N/A G/VAL/N/1/LIE/1 N/A  
Macao, China N/A G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1 N/A  
Madagascar N/A G/VAL/N/1/MDG/1   
Malawi G/VAL/N/1/MWI/1 VAL/1/Add.27   
Malaysia N/A G/VAL/N/1/ MYS/1 G/VAL/N/2/MYS/1  
Maldives N/A    
Mali N/A    
Mauritania N/A    
Mauritius N/A G/VAL/N/1/MUS/1 G/VAL/N/2/MUS/1  
Mexico N/A VAL/1/Add.25 + Suppl. 1-3 
+ Suppl.1/Rev.1 
G/VAL/N1/MEX/1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.10 
VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.8 
G/VAL/N/2/MEX/1 and 
Corr.1  
Moldova N/A G/VAL/N/1/MDA/1 G/VAL/N/2/MDA/1  
Mongolia N/A    
Morocco N/A G/VAL/N/1/MAR/1 and 2 
G/VAL/N/1/MAR/1/Rev.1 + 
Corr.1 G/VAL/N/2/MAR/1 
G/VAL/N/2/MAR/2  
Mozambique N/A G/VAL/N/1/MOZ/1   
Myanmar N/A    
Namibia N/A G/VAL/N/1/NAM/1   
Nepal N/A    
New Zealand G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1 VAL/1/A dd.12 + Suppl.1 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.10   G/L/907 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
Nicaragua N/A    
Niger N/A    
Nigeria N/A G/VAL/N/1/NGA/1 G/VAL/N/2/NGA/1  
Norway G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1  VAL/1/Add.11 + Corr.1 
+ Suppl. 1-2 
G/VAL/N/1/NOR/2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.7  
Oman N/A G/VAL/N/1/OMN/1 - 2 G/VAL/N/2/OMN/1  
Pakistan N/A G/VAL/N/1/PAK/1   
Panama N/A G/VAL/N/1/PA N/1 G/VAL/N/2/PAN/1  
Papua New Guinea N/A    
Paraguay N/A G/VAL/N/1/PRY/1   
Peru N/A G/VAL/N/1/PER/1 - 3   
Philippines N/A G/VAL/N/1/ PHL/1 G/VAL/N/2/PHL/1  
Qatar N/A G/VAL/N/1/QAT/1 G/VAL/N/2/QAT/1  
Rwanda N/A    
St. Kitts & Nevis N/A    
St. Lucia N/A    
St. Vincent & 
Grenadines N/A G/VAL/N/1/VCT/1 G/VAL/N/2/VCT/1  
Saudi Arabia N/A G/VAL/N/ 1/SAU/1 G/VAL/N/2/SAU/1  
Senegal N/A G/VAL/N/1/SEN/1   
Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, 
Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsu (Chinese 
Taipei) N/A G/VAL/N/1/TPKM/1 G/VAL/N/2/TPKM/1-2  
Sierra Leone N/A    
Singapore N/A G/VAL/N/1/SGP/1 G/VAL/N/2/SGP/1  
Solomon Islands N/A    
South Africa N/A VAL/1/Add.15 + Corr.1 
+ Suppl. 1-3 
G/VAL/N/1/ZAF VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.13  
Sri Lanka N/A    
Suriname N/A G/VAL/N/1/SUR/1   
Swaziland N/A G/VAL/N/1/SWZ/1 G/VAL/N/2/SWZ/1  
Switzerland G/VAL/N/1/CH E/1 VAL/1/Add.5 N/A  
Tanzania N/A G/VAL/N/1/TZA/1 G/VAL/N/2/TZA/1  
Thailand N/A G/VAL/N/1/THA/1 G/VAL/N/2/THA/1  
Togo N/A    
Tonga N/A    
Trinidad & Tobago N/A G/VAL/N/1/TTO/1 G/VAL/N/2/TTO/1  
Tunisia N/A G/VAL/N/1/TUN/1 and 2   
Turkey G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1 VAL/1/Add.29 
G/VAL/N/1/TUR/ 2 G/VAL/N/2/TUR/1  
Uganda N/A G/VAL/N/1/UGA/1   
Ukraine N/A G/VAL/N/1/UKR/1 G/VAL/N/2/UKR/1  
United Arab 
Emirates N/A    
United States G/VAL/N/1/USA/1 VAL/1/Add.1 + Suppl.1-5 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.1  
Uruguay N/A G/VAL/N/1/URY/1 G/VAL/N/2/URY/1  
Vietnam N/A    
Venezuela, The 
Bolivarian Rep. of N/A G/VAL/N/1/VEN/1 G/VAL/N/2/VEN/1  
Zambia N/A G/VAL/N/1/ZMB/1   G/L/907 
Page 6  
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains 
valid under the WTO 
Committee 
(G/VAL/M/1) Members who have 
submitted their legislation or 
amendments under Articles 
22.1 and 22.2 of the 
Agreement Members who have 
submitted their replies to the 
Checklist of Issues 
(G/VAL/5) Members who are 
delaying application 
of the Agreement 
under Article 20.1 or 
para. 1, Annex III of 
the Agreement or 
Article IX of the 
WTO Agreement 
Zimbabwe G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1 VAL/1/Add.23 VAL/2/Rev.2/Add.5  
TOTAL NOTIFIED  802 57  
 
    
__________  
 
                                                     
 
2 This total number includes notifications by Members who have indicated their legislation remains valid 
under the WTO Committee (i.e. those in the first column of the table) and those made pursuant to Article 22 of 
the WTO Agreement and the Decision on Notifications (G/VAL/5).