WORLD TRADE G/VAL/8/Add.1
11April 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1674)
Committee onCustoms Valuation
INFORMATION ONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES
Addendum
Atitsmeeting of12May1995, theCommittee onCustoms Valuation agreed thatgreater
transparency oftechnical assistance activities, pursuant toArticle 20.3 oftheAgreement on
Implementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994, would beensured iftheinformation documents
prepared fortheTechnical Committee onCustoms Valuation onsuchactivities werealsomade available
asWTO documents.
Thisdocument provides additional information ontechnical assistance activities reproduced from
WCO document 41.091 of26February 1997. Itupdates GATT document VAL/W/29/Rev.9, and
WTO documents G/VAL/W/4 andG/VAL/8.
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I. Introduction
1. Article 20.3oftheAgreement provides fortheestablishment oftechnical assistance programmes
fordeveloping countries. TheArticle goesontostatethatsuchtechnical assistance mayinclude, inter
alia,thetraining ofpersonnel, assistance inpreparing implementation measures, access tosources of
information regarding customs valuation methodology, andadvice ontheapplication oftheprovisions
oftheAgreement. Inthisregard, itisrecognized thatfordeveloping countries which are,byvirtue
ofbeing Parties totheAgreement, committed toapply theAgreement atafixed dateorwhich are
considering applying itinthenearfuture, itwould beamatter ofurgent needtohaveanucleus of
customs officers trained intheCode. Thus, among thevarious technical assistance programmes offered,
thetraining ofpersonnel acquires adegree ofpriority.
2. Asprovided forinAnnex IIoftheAgreement, theresponsibilities oftheTechnical Committee
include thefacilitation oftechnical assistance withaview tofurthering theinternational acceptance
oftheAgreement. TheTechnical Committee atitsfirstmeeting expressed theviewthattheCustoms
Co-operation Council, through itsSecretariat, could provide co-ordination indeveloping atechnical
assistance programme inco-operation withmember administrations willing toprovide assistance and
otherinternational organizations. TheCouncil 'sPlanforthe'90shasalsoplaced considerable emphasis
ontheneedforholding seminars andtraining courses ontheGATT Code.
3. AtitsEighth Session, theTechnical Committee hadexamined document 31.808 describing
seminars andtraining courses organized oncustoms valuation, especially ontheGATT Valuation
Agreement, andtheactivities oftheCustoms Co-operation Council inthisarea. TheCommittee found
thedocument useful andinthisregard directed theSecretariat toperiodically update theinformation.
InsuccessivesessionsoftheCommittee,anumberofrevisedorsupplementarydocumentswereprepared
which periodically updated thisinformation. Thisdocument contains theinformation provided bythe
WCO Secretariat ofitsmost recent technical assistance activities.
II. Seminars
4. Three additional regional seminars were held:
- TheWCOorganizedaRegionalSeminarontheimplementationoftheWTOValuationAgreement
inGrand-Bassam (Côte d'Ivoire) from22to26April 1996. TheSeminar, which wasorganized
through co-operation between theValuation andTechnique Directorates, wasintended toprovide
information toMembers oftheregional representations forWest, Central andNorth Africa on
thecontent anddescription oftheprincipal provisions oftheWTO Valuation Agreement and
onthepreparation, organization andmethodology ofthecontrols tobecarried outaspartof
theAgreement. Thirty-two participants from14countries andtwooftheregion 'sinternational
organizations (theUDEAC andUEMOA Customs Unions) attended.
- ARegional Seminar washeldinDouala (Cameroon) from4to8November 1996. Itwasattended
by87participantsfromtwelveAfricancountries.AlthoughofficialsfromCustomsadministrations
wereinthemajority, itisworth noting thepresence ofrepresentatives fromtheUDEAC Customs
Union and13representatives from theprivate sector. Thetwofacilitators (from theWCO
Secretariat) gavetheparticipants anoverview ofallthetechnical andgeneral provisions ofthe
Agreement. Thetime-limit forimplementing theAgreement being onlythree years away,
emphasis wasplaced ontheurgency ofpreparing newdraft legislation, regulations and
administrative practices, ataskwhich requires substantial time. Theissue ofpreshipment
inspection wasalsodiscussed.G/VAL/8/Add.1
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- ARegional Seminar washeldinHoChiMinh City, Vietnam, from 13to17January 1997.
TheSeminar wasconducted byofficers from theEnforcement Sub-Directorate andValuation
Directorate. TheSeminar, which wasattended byrepresentatives from21countries formthe
Asia/Pacific region, focused ontheimplementation oftheAgreement andcovered avariety of
issues, including legislation, organisation structure, useofcomputers, declaration procedures,
post-clearance auditaswellasmeasures tocombat commercial fraud. Funding fortheSeminar
wasprovided bytheJapanese Customs Administration.
III. Training Courses
5. Oneadditional course washeldsince October 1996:
- ACombined Instructional Techniques andGATT Valuation Training Course washeldin
Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from4to22November 1996, fortheAsia/Pacific region. TheTraining
Course wassponsored bytheNordic WCO Programme. There were 16participants from
Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Philippines andThailand, and4instructors (Denmark
(2),Finland, andNorway). Twoofthetrainers provided technical training ontheGATT/WTO
Valuation Agreement. Anofficer oftheWCO provided administrative andlogistical support.
Thiswasthefirstcourse under theNordic Programme which combined instructional techniques
withvaluation.
IV. Other technical assistance activities
6. Four additional technical assistance activities were heldsince thelastreport:
- Aworkshop ontheimplementation oftheGATT Valuation Agreement washeldfrom29October
to1November 1996, inLagos andAbuja, Nigeria. Theobjectives oftheprogramme were
toreview theexisting valuation procedures, tobrief participants ontheGATT Valuation
Agreement andtodiscuss withtheimplementation team theactions tobetaken prior tofull
implementation oftheAgreement. Anofficer fromtheWCO made apresentation which provided
specific advice onactions tobetaken bytheCustoms administrations inpreparation forthe
implementation oftheAgreement.
- InNovember 1996, anofficer from theValuation Directorate andanOfficer from Canada
Customs visited Egyptian Customs aspartoftheSecretariat 'sJoint Valuation/Enforcement
Programme. TheOfficers conducted short seminars ontheAgreement andtheWCO 's
Commercial Fraud Action PlanforEgyptian Customs Officials. TheOfficers alsometwith
theOfficers responsible forimplementing theAgreement inEgypt andhelped todevise anaction
planforEgypt 'simplementation oftheAgreement.
- Amember oftheValuation Directorate conducted anexpert mission toTunis (Tunisia) from
3to6December 1996. Themission consisted ofathree-day theoretical presentation onthe
principles oftheWTO Valuation Agreement, aimed attheAdministration 'smiddle-management
staff, followed byaone-day panel discussion bringing together officials whowillberesponsible
forimplementing theAgreement inTunisia.
- From 9to13December 1996 amember oftheValuation Directorate tookpartinajoint
Commercial Fraud/Valuation mission organized bytheSecretariat inCasablanca (Morocco).
Thefirstfourdayswerelargely devoted tothestudy ofexisting Customs procedures, enforcement
andtechniques forcontrolling thedeclared value. Onethelastday,apanel discussion broughtG/VAL/8/Add.1
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together valuation officials from Moroccan Customs Headquarters. Theaimofthemeeting
wastotakestock oftheprogress regarding Morocco 'simplementation oftheWTO Valuation
Agreement.