WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/VAL/8/Add.26 
26 April 2012 
 (12-2236) 
Committee on Customs Valuation  
  
 
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 technical assistance activities carried out by WCO Members reproduced from WCO document VT0818E 1a of 28 September 2011.  The present 
document updates GATT document VAL/W/29/Rev. 9, and WTO documents G/VAL/W/4 and 
G/VAL/8, G/VAL/8/Add.1, G/VAL/8/Add.2, G/VAL/8/Add.3, G/VAL/8/Add.4, G/VAL/8/Add.5, G/VAL/8/Add.6, G/VAL/8/Add.7, G/VAL/8/A dd.8, G/VAL/8/Add.9, G/VAL/8/Add.10, 
G/VAL/8/Add.11, G/VAL/8/Add.12, G/VAL/8 /Add.13, G/VAL/8/Add.14, G/VAL/8/Add.15, 
G/VAL/8/Add.16, G/VAL/8/Add.17, G/VAL/8 /Add.18, G/VAL/8/Add.19, G/VAL/8/Add.20, 
G/VAL/8/Add.21, G/VAL/8/Add.22, G/VAL/8/A dd.23, G/VAL/8/Add.24 and G/VAL/8/Add.25. 
 
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INTRODUCTION 
1. Article 20.3 of the Agreement provides for 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 Comm ittee 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 G/VAL/8/Add.26 
Page 2  
 
  found the document useful and in this regard dir ected the Secretariat to periodically update the 
information.  In successive ses sions of the Committee, 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.26 
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  ACTIVITIES OF WCO MEMBERS 
 
Technical Assistance/Capacity building Activities 
 
I. JAPAN  
1. Japan has dispatched its experts and has acc epted trainees to provide the knowledge of 
Customs Valuation/Post-clearance Audit (PCA ) and to support the implementation of the 
WTO Valuation Agreement. 
2. The details of our technical assistance/capacity building activities, which we have carried out 
since the last session and are planning to im plement by 31 March 2012,  are listed below. 
Dispatch of Experts 
 
Recipient Country Course Period of dispatch Number of Experts 
Republic of Uganda Valuation 19-28 October 2011 2 
Mongolia Valuation 24-28 October 2011 1 
Lao People's 
Democratic Republic PCA and Valuation 1-3 February 2012 2 
Republic of the Union 
of Myanmar PCA and Valuation 13-17 February 2012 3 
Republic of Vanuatu PCA 20-24 February 2012 1 
Republic of the Union 
of Myanmar PCA and Valuation 26-30 March 2012 2 
 
Acceptance of Trainees 
 
Period of Training 
Course Course Country of Trainees Number of 
Trainees 
30 November - 
6 December 2011 Valuation Malaysia, Republic of the Union of 
Myanmar, Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam, Republic of the Philippines, Kingdom of Cambodia, 
Republic of Indonesia 6 
12-16 December 2011 PCA Kingdom of Cambodia 8 
16-20 January 2012 PCA India 10 
16-22 February 2012 PCA and Valuation Lao People's Democratic Republic 10 
5-6 March 2012 PCA and Valuation Socialist Republic of Vietnam 8 
 
II. UNITED STATES 
 
Dispatch of Experts 
 
Recipient Country Course Period of dispatch Number of Experts 
Ukraine Classification and 
Valuation 29 October - 
5 November 2011 2 
UAE (Abu Dhabi) Classification and Audit 29 November - 
6 December 2011 2 
Ukraine Valuation and Audit 16-20 April 2012 3 
 G/VAL/8/Add.26 
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  Acceptance of Trainees 
 
Period of Training 
Course Course Country of 
Trainees Number of 
Trainees 
10-19 January 2012 US-Oman Free Trade Agreement; 
Classification; Valuation Oman 14 
  G/VAL/8/Add.26 
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  ACTIVITIES OF THE WCO SECRETARIAT 
 
 Recipient Country Subject Duration Location 
1. Lao PDR Assistance with the 
implementation and application of the WTO 
Agreement on Customs 
Valuation 23-27 January 2012  
(5 days) Lao PDR 
2. Indonesia Study visit and Workshop on 
Customs Valuation 
Monitoring of Revenue Package 30 January - 2 February 2012 Indonesia 
3. Mongolia Assistance with the 
implementation and 
application of the WTO Agreement on Customs 
Valuation 24-28 October 2011 Mongolia 
4. West and Central 
African Countries Regional Workshop on 
Customs Valuation (advanced level) 5-9 March 2012 Libreville/Gabon 
 
ACTIVITIES PLANNED 
 
 Recipient Country Subject Duration Location 
1. Kyrgyzstan Training on Customs Valuation 
and PCA 18-22 June 2012 Kyrgyzstan 
2. Regional Workshop 
Americas/Caribbean 
Region Customs Valuation Accreditation 
Workshop for experts and trainers 7-11 May 2012 Guatemala 
3. Regional Workshop 
West and Central Africa Region Customs Valuation Accreditation 
Workshop for experts and trainers 11-15 June 2012 Libreville/Gabon 
 
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