WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/VAL/65 
24 October 2011  
 
(11-5312) 
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:   French 
  
 
NOTIFICATION FROM CAPE VERDE 
 
  The following communication, dated 19 October 2011, has been received from the Permanent Mission of Cape Verde. 
 
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  The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cape  Verde to the United Nations in Geneva and 
other international organizations in Switzerla nd presents its compliments to the World Trade 
Organization (Council for Trade in Goods) and ha s the honour to submit herewith with its status 
report  on the entry into force in Cape Verde of Article VII of the GATT 1994 and the Agreement on 
Customs Valuation.   The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cape  Verde to the United Nations in Geneva and 
other international organizations in Switzerland ta kes this opportunity to renew to the World Trade 
Organization (Council for Trade in Goods) th e assurances of its highest consideration. 
 
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  G/VAL/65 
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  Entry into Force in Cape Verde of  Article VII of the GATT 1994 and 
the Agreement on Customs Valuation 
 
Status Report 
 
 
 As stated in the Cape Verde Government's ju stification in connection with its request for a 
waiver of December 2010 which led to the De cision of the Council for Trade in Goods of 
March 2011, action was either necessary or desirable on three fronts prior to the implementation in Cape Verde of Article VII of the GATT 1994 and the Agreement on Customs Valuation.  
The essential action consisted in preparing, adop ting and implementing the regulations to the 
Customs Code developed in conformity with WT O requirements and the WCA standards, which had 
entered into force in September 2010.  At the same tim e, in order to ensure that the implementation of 
the new system took place in the best possible techni cal conditions, it made sense to organize different 
types of training (courses, seminars, workshops, etc.) fo r customs officials at several levels as well as 
for users, and to develop information systems with databases on risk assessment and value of goods. 
  The ongoing implementation of these different activities is described below.  
Regulations to the Customs Code 
  A preliminary draft of the regulations has been  submitted by the consultants recruited for the 
purpose.  It was subjected to an examination and critical appraisal, and the resulting comments are helping the team of national customs officials to pr oduce a revised version, which is in the process of 
being finalized.  Publication is scheduled for December 2010.  Training 
 
 A number of seminars were organized for cu stoms agents as well as for official customs 
dispatchers and their assistants on subjects specifi cally relating to the new Code and involving a 
certain number of new developments, in particular customs disputes (fiscal and administrative), internal controls, audits, origin, an d the evaluation of customs regimes. 
 
 - Training was provided for trainers on customs valuation.  
- These courses took place in the framework of bilateral technical cooperation 
programmes with Portugal on public finance (PICATFIN) and multilateral 
programmes (Portugal/Portuguese-speaking Africans + Timor-Leste) on 
customs (PICAT Customs).  Training courses in other areas will take place as part of the Directorate-General of Cust oms' further training programme. 
 
- In addition to the above-mentioned PICAT training programmes and courses 
organized by the WTO, it would be useful to disseminate information on the 
GATT Agreement on Customs Valuation more  widely among national stakeholders, 
including declarants and economic operators.  It would also be useful to organize a 
more intensive training programme backed by  technical assistance, and efforts will be 
made to that end. 
 
- The subject matter of Articles 1 to 17 of th e Agreement has been in corporated into all 
of the training courses on customs valuation t hus far.  Substantial practical experience 
will be needed to ensure a better mastery of the subject. 
  G/VAL/65 
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  - As regards risk assessment, a number of customs technicians attended courses in the 
framework of PICATFIN, of SEACOOP - UNODC and of the Container Control 
Programme.  Efforts should be and will be  made to deepen the knowledge of the 
trainees so that they can become specialists  in the area, with the help of technical 
assistance that still needs to be mobilized. 
 
- Courses were also organized in post-declaration and post-clearance verification for 
customs technicians, and a series of company audits was launched, partly by teams made up jointly of the General-Direct orates of Customs and of Taxes and 
Contributions.  Here again, the training s hould be extended to ensure the availability 
throughout the country of audit and control specialists, and there are plans to do so 
 
Information Systems 
 
Technological information base for risk-assessment purposes 
  - Steps were taken to phase in the ASYC UDA Selectivity Module (MODSEL) with the 
introduction of the first selectivity criteria, in particular between high-risk importers 
and low-risk consignments that do not require in depth control.  The next stage, based 
on the information received from Customs and the development of ongoing exchanges of information with other customs administrations, will include the 
adoption of other risk criteria such as the origin of products, the means of transport, 
refuge tariff headings, etc. 
  - As this is a dynamic system, techni cal assistance will be sought from specialized 
institutions. 
 
Reference database for identical or similar goods 
  - The process of configuring the ASYCUDA ++ has been initiated, the aim being to 
provide information on the value of identi cal or similar goods with reference to 
tariff headings for previous imports of th e same origin and over a given period of 
time. 
  - In the meantime, these data have already b een collected manually on an ad hoc basis.  
In order to implement the required informati on system, an application will have to be 
completed and incorporated into the computer programme to ensure direct collection 
of the data in question. 
  - A series of evaluation tests on this system, which is currently being configured, is to 
begin at the end of November. 
 
Conclusion 
 
 The regulations to the new Customs Code (ent ry into force in September 2010) integrating 
WTO requirements and WCA standards, essential to the effective application in Cape Verde of 
Article VII of the GATT 1994 and the Agreement on Cu stoms Valuation, are currently being finalized 
and are scheduled to be published before the end of the year. 
 
 Other activities designed to ensure that the new regime can be implemented in the best 
possible conditions, including the organization of  a diversified training programme and the 
development of information systems/databases, have reached various stages of progress, and some of them will continue after 31 December 2011. G/VAL/65 
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 Article VII of the GATT 1994 and the Agreemen t on Customs Valuation will be effectively 
implemented as of 1 January 2012.   Praia, 14 October 2011. 
 
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