WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/N/4/DOM/1
10 October 2000
(00-4143)
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:  Spanish
NOTIFICATION CONCERNING THE DECISION UNDER PARAGRAPH 1 OF
ANNEX III OF THE AGREEMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION
OF ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON
TARIFFS  AND TRADE 1994
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The following communication, dated 29 September 2000, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic.
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The Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations Office and other
international organizations in Geneva has the honour to submit herewith the Dominican Republic's
first report on progress in implementing the work programme for the application of the commitments
undertaken.
This report is submitted in accordance with the requirements set out in the Decision of
3 March 2000, whereby the Dominican Republic was granted a further delay under paragraph 1 of
Annex III of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT) 1994.G/VAL/N/4/DOM/1
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With reference to the commitment by the Dominican Republic to implement the decision of
the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation, dated 3 March 2000, on the requested reservation under
paragraph 1 of Annex III of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, herewith the required report on the progress made in
applying the work programme agreed for the fulfilment of those commitments.
Within the time allowed for a preliminary repor t, and taking into account the fact that a
change-over from one government administration to another took place between 16 May and
16 August 2000, we are working within the requirements of the work programme, as indicated below:
(a) Pursuance of the technical assistance reco mmendations from the WTO, in relation to the
simplification of customs procedures and documents, and in the context of the internalchanges that are being implemented.
(b) Continuation of the training programme for technical staff working in the valuation unit of the
DGA.  We are planning an exchange with countries which have experience in the application
of the new valuation system.
(c) Organization and strengthening of the value auditing department which will be responsible
for post-clearance investigations in respect of valuation.
(d) Considerable progress has been made in adapting the computer system to the GATT valuation
system, including the establishment of a reference value database for data capture based on
the value declaration form.
(e) We are continuing to upgrade the organizational structure for purposes of adaptation to the
requirements of a modern customs administration.
(f) We are awaiting an UNCTAD mission in order to initiate the "zero" phase of the
SIDUNEA/ASYCUDA project.
It should be emphasized that the overall situation has changed for the better;  hence the
commitment by the Dominican Republic in respect of the customs reforms required by the WTO will
be fulfilled without delay through approval of the legal instruments currently before Congress.  Theabove-mentioned issues are thus being tackled methodically and systematically so as to safeguard
fiscal interests through the  harmonization of existing rules and the modifications required to permit
application of the Agreement and prevent the use of instruments that could facilitate tax evasion.
With regard to human resources, we are continuing intensive work on the definition of the
profile of custom professionals, so as to guarantee the administration's occupational adjustment to the
technical requirements of the sector against a background of new developments in international trade.
To that end, we are working on the professionaliza tion of the customs administration in keeping with
the structural improvements that are being introduced.
In this connection, the WTO technical assistance mission which assisted us from
6 to 11 February 2000, contributed to the establishment of a team of technical officials concerned with
valuation.
In accordance with the time-limit for the repo rt on the progress made in implementing the
work programme, the above-mentioned committee completed work on the preliminary draft
regulations for the application of the GATT 1994 Customs Valuation Agreement.G/VAL/N/4/DOM/1
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These regulations are to be given legal shape by the Legal Department of the General
Customs Directorate and subsequently published as an official document of the Dominican Republic's
Customs Service.
Efforts have also been directed  to devising the value declaration form, with which we plan to
hold various trials to correct possible problems of interpretation.
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