WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/VAL/W/194 
22 September 2010 
 (10-4802) 
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE CUSTOMS  
VALUATION AGREEMENT 
 
Replies of Norway to questions from the United States
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 3 September 2010, is circulated at the request of the delegation of Norway.  
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  This is in reference to questions posed by  United States to Norway in G/VAL/W/188, as 
regards the notification in G/VAL/N/1/NOR /2 of the Norwegian Customs Act.  
 
A. GENERAL
 STATEMENT 
 The questions raised concern the implementati on of the WTO Valuation Agreement (hereafter 
the Agreement) into the Norwegian domestic customs legislation.  This gives us the opportunity to 
outline some general aspects of the matter.  Firstly, it is necessary to describe the relationship between 
Norwegian law and public internati onal law.  Generally, it is usual to distinguish between monistic 
and dualistic states.  In monistic states, treaties that bind the state are deemed to take immediate effect 
and as such be applied by national courts and authorities.  In dualistic states, such as Norway, a 
special act of implementation is, in principle, require d in order for the treaty to apply as a part of the 
domestic law.  Such special acts of implementation are not necessary if domestic legislation is in harmony with the obligations of the treaty.  Thus , where legislation already conforms to the WTO 
obligations there will be no need to promulgate a special law to implement the particular WTO 
obligation.  The Norwegian implementation of the Agreement is covered by different parts of the 
Norwegian legislation.  The specific valuation met hods of the Agreement are to be found in chapter 7 
of the Customs Act.  However, the specific sections in this chapter do also contain an authorisation of 
the relevant Ministry to promulgate more specific rules in the Regulation to the Customs Act.  In 
addition to this, some of the elements of th e Agreement are already covered by the Public 
Administration Act.  In order to facilitate a uni form and consistent inte rpretation of the national 
legislation related to determina tion of customs value, section 7-2 of the Customs Act states that 
customs valuation must be done in accordance with th e Agreement.  The consequence of this is that 
the different sections in the Customs Act, as well as  the Customs Regulation, must be interpreted in 
conformity with the Agreement. 
 
B. QUESTIONS
 FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF AMERICA 
Question 1:  Could Norway please explain if additional provisions of the Customs Valuation 
Agreement can be found elsewhere in  its laws or regulations?  If they do not exist elsewhere, does 
Norway intend to implement them? G/VAL/W/194 
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  Answer :  As we have stated above, the Norwegian im plementation of the Agre ement is carried out 
through both the Customs Act and the Customs Regul ation.  Additional provisions of the Agreement 
can therefore be found in the Regulation.  In para graph 2 of the document that outlines the questions 
to Norway, United States are concerned the notifie d legislation may be missing some provisions 
required by the Agreement.  Below, we have in cluded a list of the specific provisions that were 
mentioned and where the implementation of these can be found. 
 
- Article 1.2 (a): Customs Regulation section 7- 10-1 (1) and the Public Administration Act  
  section 16 and 17 
- Article 1.2 (b): Customs Regulation section 7-10-1 (2) and (3) 
- Article 1.2 (c): Customs Regulation section 7-10-1 (3) 
- Article 2.1 (b): Customs Regulation section 7-11-1 (1) 
- Article 2.2: Customs Regulation section 7-11-1 (2) 
- Article 2.3: Customs Regulation section 7-11-1 (3) 
- Article 10: Customs Act section 12-1 
- Article 11: Public Administration Act section 23, 24 and 28 
- Article 12: This article is not specifically im plemented, but the content is covered by  
  national legal practice. Laws a nd regulations are published online. 
- Article 14: This article is not specifically implemented, but the content of the notes  
  outlined in Annex I of the Agreement is  implemented together with the relevant 
  valuation methods and practice from the public administration. 
- Article 15: The content of this article is implemented through the relevant sections in  
  chapter 7 of the Customs Act. 
- Article 16: Public Administration Act section 24 
 Question 2: Section 7-10 (4) states that “the Ministry ma y by regulations lay down further provisions 
to supplement subsection (1) (d) regarding the cases  in which the transaction value is acceptable…” 
Section 7-11 (3) states that “the Ministry may make  regulations concerning th e determination of the 
transaction value pursuant to this section…”. Have regulations been promulgated for either of these 
sections?  Answer :  Yes, the Ministry of Finance has promulgated specific regulations concerning the 
determination of the customs value under section 7- 10 and 7-11 of the Customs Act.  This is done 
through section 7-10-1 and 7-11-1 of the Customs Regulation.  Question 3: Can Norway please verify that the importer has the right to be informed in writing of the 
customs value determined under the provisions of Ar ticle 7 of the Agreement, if the importer so 
requests? 
 
Answer :  Yes, an importer has the right to be inform ed in writing of how the customs value has been 
determined.  Whenever the Norwegian Customs Au thorities determines the customs value of a good, 
regardless the valuation method used, the importer h as a right to be informed in writing on how the 
valuation has been done.  This is a fundamental part of the Norwegian legal system related to 
decisions from the public administration.  This right is based on section 23 and 24 in the Public 
Administration Act.  The importer will normally also  be given written notice before the customs value 
is to be determined. This is based on secti on 16 and 17 in the Public Administration Act. 
 
Question 4:  We are also concerned that Section 7-17 (1 ) (c), as written, is much broader than 
Article 8.1 (c) of the Agreement.  We would ther efore appreciate clarification on the application of 
this provision and how it comports with Article 8.1 (c).  Answer :  The application of the different rules relate d to customs valuation set out in the Norwegian 
legislation is done in accordance with the content of the Agreement.  This is emphasized in section    G/VAL/W/194 
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  7-2 of the Customs Act where it is stated that the customs value of a good “ shall be determined…in 
accordance with the WTO Agreement ”.  When the Customs Authorities consider whether a royalty 
payment should be added to the customs value, i.e.  determining whether the payments are related to 
the goods and paid as a condition of the sale, the application of section 7-17 (1) (c) must be in line with the understanding of article 8.1 (c) of the Agr eement.  This is covered by the first sentence of 
section 7-17 (1) (c) which more or less is a direct translation of article 8.1 (c).  The content of the 
second sentence of section 7-17 (1) (c) does not derive directly from the Agreement.  This sentence is 
meant to clarify how customs valuation related to royalty payments should be done when the royalty 
is paid to a third party that is related to the seller.  However, this sentence must be read together with 
the terms set out in the first sentence.  Additionally,  this is also covered by Advisory Opinion 4.11 
from the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation. 
 Question 5:  Section 7-20 of Norway’s legislation states that in “special cases” goods may be 
released to the importer if sufficient guarant ee is provided. Can Norway please explain what 
constitutes a “special” case?  How ofte n has this provision been utilized? 
 
Answer :  Section 7-20 implements article 13 of the Ag reement.  This is a provision that the Customs 
Authorities uses regularly in accordance with th e intention of article 13.  The term “ special cases ” is 
used in the Norwegian legisla tion where the Agreement states “ if…it becomes necessary ”.  At this 
point, our previous implementation of the Agreement was in line with the wording of the Agreement.  
However, as a result of the technical revisi on of our customs legislation, the term “ special cases ” was 
incorporated in the new section 7-20 as a replacement for the corresponding expression, “ if…it 
becomes necessary ”, in the Agreement.  Nevertheless, the change of the specific wording was not 
intended to change the substantive content of the im plementation of article 13.  This is in line with 
section 7-2 mentioned above.  A typical example of a special case that could lead to a delay of the 
final valuation in accordance with section 7-20, is a situation where the determination of the size of a 
royalty payment is not carried out until after importation. 
   
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