WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/VAL/8/Add.17 
27 April 2007 
 (07-1758) 
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
 
INFORMATION ON TECHNICAL  ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES 
 
Addendum  
 
 
 At its meeting of 12 May 1995, the Committee on Customs Valuation agreed that greater 
transparency of technical assistance activities, pursuant to Article  20.3 of the Agreement on 
Implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994, w ould be ensured if the information documents 
prepared for the WCO Technical Committee on Custom s Valuation on such activities were also made 
available as WTO documents. 
  This document provides information on completed WCO technical assistance activities reproduced from WCO documents VT0507, of 29 Se ptember 2006, and VTO538, of 29 March 2007.  
It also includes information on technical assistance activities carried out by WCO Members 
reproduced from WCO documents VT0524, of 29 September 2006, and VTO553, of 29 March 2007. 
The present document updates GATT document VAL/W/29/Rev.9, and WTO documents 
G/VAL/W/4 and G/VAL/8 and Adds.1-16.  
_______________ 
 
INTRODUCTION 
1. Article 20.3 of the Agreement provides fo r the establishment of technical assistance 
programmes for developing countries.  The Article goes on to state that such technical assistance may 
include, inter alia , the training of personnel, assistance in preparing implementation measures, access 
to sources of information regarding customs valua tion methodology, and advice on the application of 
the provisions of the Agreement.  In this regard , it is recognized that for developing countries which 
are, by virtue of being Parties to the Agreement, committed to apply the Agreement at a fixed date or 
which are considering applying it in the near future , it would be a matter of urgent need to have a 
nucleus of customs officers trained in the Code.  Thus, among the various technical assistance programmes offered, the training of personnel acquires a degree of priority.  
2. As provided for in Annex II of the Agreement, the responsibilities of the Technical 
Committee include the facilitation of technical assistan ce with a view to furthering the international 
acceptance of the Agreement.  The Technical Committ ee at its first meeting expressed the view that 
the Customs Co-operation Council, through its Secretar iat, could provide co-ordination in developing 
a technical assistance programme in co-operation with member administrations willing to provide 
assistance and other international organizations.  The Council's Plan for the '90s has also placed 
considerable emphasis on the need  for holding seminars and training courses on the GATT Code. 
 3. At its Eighth Session, the Technical Co mmittee had examined document 31.808 describing 
seminars and training courses organized on custom s valuation, especially on the GATT Valuation 
Agreement, and the activities of the Customs Co- operation Council in this area.  The Committee 
found the document useful and in this regard dir ected the Secretariat to periodically update the G/VAL/8/Add.17 
Page 2  
 
  information. In successive sessions of the Comm ittee, a number of revised or supplementary 
documents were prepared which periodically update d this information.  This document contains 
information provided by the WCO Secretariat of  its most recent technical assistance activities.  G/VAL/8/Add.17 
 Page 3 
 
 
  ACTIVITIES OF THE WCO SECRETARIAT 
 
Technical Assistance / Capacity Building Program  
 
Recipient Members:  Nigeria  
 
Duration:  10th to 14th July 2006 
Location:  Lagos Subject:  Application of the WTO Valuation Agreement  Type:   National Seminar 
Objectives: To provide technical assistan ce in the context of the WTO Valuation 
Agreement for Member Administration.  The programme focused on methods of valuation and procedural requirements together with various 
mechanisms for valuation control with blending of e-learning training programme 
Participants: 25 
Facilitators: One Technical Officer from the Valuation Sub-Directorate of the WCO    Recipient Members:  Azerbaijan
 
 
Duration:  27th November to 1st December  2006 
Location:  Baku Subject: Implementation of the WTO Valuation Agreement for ECO (Economic 
Cooperation Organization) countries 
Type:   Regional Seminar 
Objectives: To provide technical assistan ce in the context of the WTO Valuation 
Agreement for ECO (Economic Coopera tion Organisation) countries. The 
programme focused on methods of valuation, procedural requirements together with various mechanisms for valuation control, and sharing 
experience of implementation 
Participants: 29 from 7 ECO countries and the ECO Secretariat 
Facilitators: The Director and the Senior Technical Officer from the WCO 
 G/VAL/8/Add.17 
Page 4  
 
  ACTIVITIES OF WCO MEMBERS 
 
Technical Assistance/Capacity building Activities
 
 
Japan  
 1. Dispatch of Experts
 
 
Recipient Country Course Period of dispatch Number of experts 
 
Vietnam Valuation 6-14 April 2006 2 
Philippines Valuation 15-30 May 2006 2 
Vietnam Valuation 1-9 June 2006 2 
Vietnam Valuation 23 August -2 Sept. 2006 2 
Vietnam Post-clearance Audit 13-23 Sept. 2006 2 
Philippines Valuation 19 Sept. – 3 Oct. 2006 2 
Cambodia Valuation 10-20 Oct 2006 2 
Vietnam Post-clearance Audit 15-25 Nov. 2006 2 
Vietnam Valuation 6-16 Dec. 2006 2 
Laos Post-clearance Audit 22-26 Jan. 2007 3 
Vietnam Post-clearance Audit 13-23 March 2007 2 
Vietnam Valuation 3-13 April 2007 2 
 2. Acceptance of Trainees
 
 
Period of Training 
Course 
 Course Country of Trainees Total Number of 
Trainees 
7-28 Sept. 2006 Post-clearance Audit Thailand 8 
10-28 Oct. 2006 Post-clearance Audit Laos 6 
1-18 Nov. 2006 Valuation Philippines 8 
12-18 Nov. 2006 Post-clearance Audit Pakistan 4 
20 Nov. – 7 Dec. 2006 Valuation Cambodia 15 
 
United Kingdom  
 
 The United Kingdom carried out a one week va luation technical assistance mission in 
Bermuda during the month of July 2006 and woul d conduct a 4-day workshop in Bermuda from 2 to 
5 April 2007 for the Bermuda Customs Administration.  
Lithuania 
 
 On the basis of bilateral cooperation,  the Lithuanian Customs arranged on 
23-27 October 2006 seminars in Ukraine on practical a pplication of Customs valuation rules, where 
approximately 50 Customs officials of the Ukrain ian Customs were trained.  Afterwards on 
10-15 December 2006, the Customs valuation experts of the Lithuanian Customs provided advice for the Ukrainian Customs on preparation of nati onal legal acts concerning Customs valuation. 
 
__________