WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/833 
6 November 2007 
 (07-4835) 
  
  
REPORT (2007) 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 2007.  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 
8 May (G/VAL/M/43) and 18 October (G/VAL/M/44) under the Chairmanship of Mr. Joe McClintock 
(United Kingdom).  At the meeting of 8 May 2007, the Committe e elected Mr. Mc Clintock as 
Chairperson for the 2007-2008 period.     3. Participation in the Committee is open to all WTO Members.  In additi on, Governments granted 
observer status by the WTO Gene ral 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, 74 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 
Valuation Agreement and does not include the 27 indi vidual EC Members).  50 Members have not yet 
made any notification  (See Annex). G/L/833 
Page 2  
 
   
C. 
ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE  
7. At the meeting on 8 May 2007, the Committee: 
• concluded its examination of the legislation of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 
and Swaziland.  It agreed to revert to the ex aminations of the legislation of Egypt, Saudi 
Arabia, Tanzania and Thailand at the next meeting;   
• heard complaints from the Philippines, supporte d by the US, the EC, Switzerland, and Japan 
regarding certain customs practices of Thailand on imports of cigarettes, and complaints by 
the US and the EC on certain Thai custom s practices regarding imports of alcoholic 
beverages; 
• took note of the information in document G/VAL/ 2/Rev.24 which contained a list of Members 
having invoked the special and differential prov isions of the Customs Valuation Agreement, 
and of the status report presented by Sene gal in G/VAL/W/159 and Corr.1 pursuant to its 
waiver decision in WT/L/655 on the implementati on of minimum values for certain products;   
• took note of the information presented regarding technical assistance activities on customs 
valuation held thus far in 2007; 
• took note of the nine documents containing the Annual Reviews, namely G/VAL/W/29, 
G/VAL/W/43, G/VAL/W/77, G/VAL/W/89, G/VAL/W/108, G/VAL/W/124, G/VAL/W/136, G/VAL/W/150 and G/VAL/W/156 and Corr.1 and agreed  to revert to this item at the next 
meeting; 
• was informed of the conclusion of the second case brought to the Independent Entity 
established under Article 4 of the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection; 
• agreed that the Chairman would hold informal consultations on paragraph 8.3 of the Decision 
on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns and that the Committee would revert to the 
matter at the next meeting of the Committee; 
• elected Mr. Joe McClintock (United Kingdom) as its Chair for 2007-2008.  
 
8. At the meeting on 18 October 2007, the Committee: 
• agreed to revert to the examinations of the le gislation of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and 
Thailand at the next meeting;   
• heard complaints regarding Thailand's implemen tation of the Agreement by the EC, and the 
US, supported by the Philippines, regarding im portations of alcoholic beverages, and heard 
complaints from the Philippines and several other Members about certain customs practices against Thai imports of cigarettes; 
• took note that there had been no changes to the list of Members having invoked the special and 
differential pr ovisions of the Customs Valuation Agreement (as listed in G/VAL/2/Rev.24), and 
agreed to revise this document only if th ere was a change in this situation;   
• took note of the information presented regarding technical assistance activities on customs 
valuation held thus far in 2007; 
• took note of the ten documents containing the Annual Reviews, namely G/VAL/W/29, 
G/VAL/W/43, G/VAL/W/77, G/VAL/W/89, G/VAL/W/108, G/VAL/W/124, G/VAL/W/136, G/VAL/W/150; G/VAL/W/156 and Corr.1;  and G/VAL/W/162 and agreed to revert to this item at the next meeting; 
• received a new proposal from India on paragra ph 8.3 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on 
Implementation-Related Issues and agreed to re vert to the matter at the next meeting; 
• concluded the sixth Transitional Review of China's implementation of the Agreement on 
Customs Valuation, in accordance with para graph 18 of China's Protocol of Accession; 
• adopted its annual report to the Council for Trade in Goods; 
•
 took note of two items raised by the Unite d States under Other Business, one related to 
Indonesian customs practices, and the ot her Nigerian Price Reference Regimes 
   G/L/833 
 Page 3 
 
 
  ANNEX1 
 
Notifications  
 
Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains valid 
under the WTO 
Agreement 
(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   
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    
Bangladesh N/A    
Barbados N/A    
Belize N/A    
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  
Central African Rep. N/A    
Chad N/A    
Chile N/A G/VAL/N/1/CHL/1   
China N/A G/VAL/N/1/CHN/1, 2,  3 
and 4  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/833 
Page 4  
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains valid 
under the WTO 
Agreement 
(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   
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    
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/833 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains valid 
under the WTO 
Agreement 
(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    
Norway G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1 VAL/1/Add.11 + Corr.1 
+ Suppl. 1-2 VAL/2/Rev.1/Add.7  
Oman N/A G/VAL/N/1/OMN/1 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    
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/2/SWZ/1  
Switzerland G/VAL/N/1/CH E/1 VAL/1/Add.5 N/A  
Tanzania  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     
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   
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   
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  
Venezuela, The 
Bolivaran Rep. of N/A G/VAL/N/1/VEN/1 G/VAL/N/2/VEN/1  
Viet Nam     
Zambia N/A G/VAL/N/1/ZMB/1   G/L/833 
Page 6  
 
  Members Members who have 
indicated their 
legislation remains valid 
under the WTO 
Agreement 
(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  742 52  
 
__________ 
 
 
  
  
 
                                                     
 
2 This total number includes Members which have notified that their legislation remains valid under the 
WTO Agreement (i.e. those in the second column of the table)  and those which have notified their legislation 
pursuant to Article 22 of the WTO Agreement and the Decision on Notifications (G/VAL/5).