WORLD TRADE G/L/121
29October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4527)
Committee onCustoms Valuation
REPORT OFTHE COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
TOTHE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
A. Background
1. TheAgreement onImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs and
Trade 1994(theAgreement) entered intoforce on1January 1995. Thisreport covers theyears 1995
and1996. Itaddresses thework undertaken bytheCommittee onCustoms Valuation (theCommittee)
inrespect oftheobjectives oftheAgreement, which are:toprovide greater uniformity andcertainty
intheimplementation oftheprovisions ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994; toestablish afair,uniform
andneutral system forthevaluation ofgoods forcustoms purposes thatprecludes theuseofarbitrary
orfictitious customs values; toensure thatthebasisforvaluation ofgoods forcustoms purposes should,
tothegreatest extent possible, bethetransaction value ofthegoods being valued; andtosecure
additional benefits fortheinternational trade ofdeveloping countries.
2. During theperiod under consideration, theCommittee hasheldfourformal meetings, on
12May1995 (G/VAL/M/1), 24October 1995 (G/VAL/M/2), 25April 1996 (G/VAL/M/3) and
25October 1996(G/VAL/M/4, tobeissued). TheCommittee elected Mr.P.Palecka(Czech Republic)
asChairman andMr.M.Baumbach (Brazil) asVice-Chairman for1995, andre-elected themfor1996.
3. Participation intheCommittee isopentoallWTO Members. Inaddition, Governments granted
observer status bytheWTO General Council, aswellasrepresentatives oftheWorld Customs
Organization (WCO), IMFandUNCTAD attended Committee meetings asobservers.
4. Atitsmeeting of24October 1995, theCommittee adopted itsrulesofprocedure, which were
approved bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
B. Implementation oftheAgreement
5. TheCommittee examined thenational legislations ofeightMembers which hadbeensubmitted
during theperiod under consideration. TheCommittee concluded itsexamination ofthelegislations
ofCanada, theCzech Republic, theEuropean Communities, Macau, Slovenia, andSouth Africa. With
respect totheMexican andIndian legislations, theCommittee tooknoteofthevarious points raised
andtheexplanations furnished, andagreed tocontinue theexamination.
6. TheCommittee adopted twodecisions which werereferred bytheMinisters atMarrakesh to
theCommittee foradoption: (i)decision regarding cases where customs administrations havereasons
todoubt thetruthoraccuracy ofthedeclared value; and(ii)decision ontextsrelating tominimum
valuesandimportsbysoleagents,soledistributorsandsoleconcessionaires(G/VAL/1).TheCommittee
alsoadopted decisions relating totheinterpretation andadministration oftheAgreement (G/VAL/5).
These decisions wereoriginally adopted bytheTokyo Round Committee onCustoms Valuation. The
Committee further agreed onprocedures forthenotification ofnational legislation andresponse to
thechecklist ofissues byMembers whowereTokyo Round signatories andwhose legislation hadalready
beenexamined.G/L/121
Page2
7. InconformitywithArticle20.1oftheAgreement,51developingcountryMembershaveinvoked
delayed application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement. Understanding hasbeen reached inthe
Committee thatthetextsofthenational legislation ofthesedeveloping country Members willbesupplied
totheCommitteebeforethedevelopingcountryMembersbeginapplyingtheprovisionsoftheAgreement
(G/VAL/5, para. B2(ii)).
8. Todate14Members havesubmitted communications indicating thattheirlegislation notified
undertheTokyoRoundCustomsValuationAgreementremainedvalidundertheWTOCustomsValuation
Agreement; inaddition 8Members havenotified either theircomplete national legislation oncustoms
valuation oramendments thereto; 37Members havenotyetmade anynotification. (SeeAnnex).
TheChairman oftheCommittee hasrepeatedly expressed concern thatanumber ofMembers have
notyetcomplied withthenotification requirements, andurged those Members whohavenotyetdone
sotosubmit theirnotifications without further delay.
9. OneMember hasnotified thedateofitsapplication ofparagraph 2oftheDecision ofthe
Committee onCustoms Valuation onValuation ofCarrier-Media Bearing Software forDataProcessing
Equipment (SeeAnnex).
10. TheCommittee tooknotethattheGeneral Council had,atitsmeeting of31January 1995,
adopted adecision on"Continued Application under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement of
Invocations ofProvisions forDeveloping Countries forDelayed Application andReservations under
theTokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreement" (WT/L/38); andthattheGeneral Council had,at
itsmeeting of31January 1995, adopted adecision onthe"Avoidance ofProcedural andInstitutional
Duplication" (WT/L/29). TheCommittee alsotooknoteofthereports onthework oftheFirst
(2-6October 1995), Second (4-8March 1996) andThird (30September-4 October 1996) Sessions
oftheTechnical Committee oftheWCO.
C. Recommendations
11. TheCommittee recommends that,inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 20.3ofthe
Customs Valuation Agreement, emphasis beplaced onaddressing thetechnical assistance needs of
developing countries incollaboration withthetechnical assistance activities oftheWorld Customs
Organization inorder toensure thesmooth andtimely transition ofallMembers towards effective and
fullimplementation oftheAgreement.G/L/121
Page3
ANNEX
(i) Members whohaveindicated thattheirlegislation remains valid under theWTO Customs
ValuationAgreementinaccordancewiththedecisiontakenbytheCommittee(G/VAL/M/1)(14)
Australia (G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1) Norway (G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1)
Brazil (G/VAL/N/1/BRZ/1) Romania (G/VAL/N/1/ROM/1)
Hong Kong (G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1) SlovakRepublic(G/VAL/N/1/SVK/1)
Hungary (G/VAL/N/1/HUN/1) Switzerland (G/VAL/N/1/CHE/1)
Japan (G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1) Turkey (G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1)
Korea (G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1) United States (G/VAL/N/1/USA/1)
NewZealand (G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1) Zimbabwe (G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1)
(ii) Members whohavesubmitted theirlegislations oramendments inaccordance withArticles 22.1
and22.2oftheAgreement (8)
Canada (G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1) Macau (G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1)
Czech Republic (G/VAL/N/1/CZE/1) Mexico(VAL/1/Add.25/Suppl.1/Rev.1,
European Communities (G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1) Suppl.2, andSuppl.3)
India (G/VAL/N/1/IND/ 2) Slovenia (G/VAL/N/1/SVN/1)
South Africa (G/VAL/N/1/ZAF)
(iii) Members whohavedelayed application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement inaccordance with
Article 20.1oftheAgreement (51)
Bangladesh (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Kuwait (WT/Let/72)
Bolivia (WT/Let/48) Madagascar (WT/Let/85)
Brunei Darussalam (WT/Let/36) Malaysia (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Burkina Faso(WT/Let/19) Mali(WT/Let/78)
Burundi (WT/Let/24) Malta (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Cameroon (WT/Let/41) Mauritania (WT/Let/82)
Central African Republic (WT/Let/19) Mauritius (WT/Let/1/Rev.2)
Chile (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Morocco (Decision inWT/L/38)
Colombia (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Myanmar (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Costa Rica(WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Nicaragua (WT/Let/29)
Côted'Ivoire (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Nigeria (WT/Let/106)
Cuba (WT/Let/19) Pakistan (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Djibouti (WT/Let/108) Paraguay (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Dominican Republic (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Peru(Decision inWT/L/38)
Ecuador (WT/Let/72) Philippines (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Egypt (WT/Let/19) Senegal (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
ElSalvador (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Singapore (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Gabon (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) SriLanka (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Ghana (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Thailand (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Guatemala (WT/Let/24) Togo (WT/Let/19)
Honduras (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Tunisia (WT/Let/1/Rev.2)
Indonesia (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Uganda (WT/Let/108)
Israel (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) United Arab Emirates (WT/Let/72)
Jamaica (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Uruguay (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Kenya (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Venezuela (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Zambia (WT/Let/28)G/L/121
Page4
(iv) Members whohavemade nonotifications (36)
Antigua &Barbuda Lesotho
Argentina Malawi
Bahrain Maldives
Barbados Mozambique
Belize Namibia
Benin Papua NewGuinea
Botswana Poland
Chad Qatar
Cyprus Rwanda
Dominica Saint Kitts&Nevis
Fiji Saint Lucia
Gambia Saint Vincent &Grenadines
Grenada Sierra Leone
Guinea Bissau Solomon Islands
Guinea, Rep.of Suriname
Guyana Swaziland
Haiti Tanzania
Iceland Trinidad &Tobago
(v) Members whohavenotified thattheyapply paragraph 2ofthedecision oftheCommittee on
Customs Valuation onValuation ofCarrier Media Bearing Software forData Processing
Equipment
Cyprus (G/VAL/N/1/CYP/1)