ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (79)582
Vol.1979/0201

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COMMISSION OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
(Communication from the Commission tothe Council );
SUPPLEMENT TOTHE FINAL REPORT ONTHE GATT MULTILATERAL
TRADE NEGOTIATIONS INGENEVA (TOKYO ROUND )
AND PROPOSAL FOR ACOUNCIL DECISION
(doc.COM(79 )514final )
CUSTOMS VALUATION
(Agreement onImplementation ofArticle VII
ofthe General Agreement onTariffs and Trade )COM(79 )582final
Brussels -25th October 1979
>K
GATT -MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
V •
V -•.,
C0MC79 )582final

Introduct ion
1.Initsreport onthenegotiations onCustoms Valuation inthe GATT MTN
(doc.C0M(79)514 Final ,Part IIpage 27),theCommission reported on
theexistence oftwoversions oftheValuation Agreement andinvited
theCouncil toconclude theagreement contained inGATT document
MTN/NTM/W/229Rev. 1,asmodified bydocument MTN/NTM/W/252,subject
totheoutcome ofdiscussions onthealternative version .
2.Further discussions were held inGeneva during theweek of1October
1979 between representatives ofaconsiderable number ofdeveloped and
developing countries .These discussions resulted inan"adreferendum "
agreement onthetext oftheProtocol which isannexed tothis communi­
cation .-Itwasagreed that this Protocol would beannexed totheValua­
tion Agreement (doc.MTN/NTM/W/229Rev. 1)ifnone ofthecountries
participating inthediscussions raised objections by19th October .
Nosuch objections have been raised .TheGATT Secretariat therefore
intends toopen theValuation Agreement andtheProtocol forsignature
on1November 1979 .Itwasfurther agreed that ,inthese circumstances ,
thealternative version ofavaluation agreement sponsored byanumber
ofdeveloping countries would notbeopened forsignature .
Conclusion ofthe Valuation Agreement
3.The Commission considers the outcome ofthe further discussions satis­
factory and considers that theCommunity "should accept theProtocol ,
provided that firm assurances are received from asufficient number of
developing countries that they will sign theValuation Agreement before
itcomes into force on1January 1981 .Itisnotproposed tospecify
"key"developing countries atthis stage ,butthesufficiency ofcommit­
ments from developing countries tosign theAgreement canbeexamined
before theCommunity isfinally committed toacceptance oftheProtocol .
4.TheValuation Agreement andtheProtocol will both have tobesigned for
theProtocol tocome into effect .Itwill therefore bepossible forthe
Community toaccept theValuation Agreement itself andtodefer accep­
tance oftheProtocol until 1tissatisfied that Itsconditions have
been met .

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Itisunderstood that theUnited States ofAmerica will only beprepared
toaccept theProtocol under similar conditions tothose specified in
paragraph 3above .Since acceptance oftheProtocol bythe USimplies
anamendment ofthelegislation which hasalready been adopted toimple­
ment theValuation Agreement /the USwill not beable formally toaccept
theProtocol until the necessary legislative changes have been made .
Itisenvisaged ,therefore ,provided theconditions arefulfilled ,that
theProtocol would inpractice beaccepted onbehalf ofthe Community
and the USatthe same time ,probably inmid-1980 .
Conc lusion
The Commission recommends the Council inthelight oftheresults ofthe
further discussions with developing countries ,toapprove theValuation
Agreement anditsannexed Protocol ontheunderstanding that theProtocol
will not beformally accepted onbehalf ofthe Community until firm assu­
rances are received from asufficient number ofdeveloping countries that
they will sign theValuation Agreement before itcomes into force on 1Ja-.
nuary 1981 .Tothis endthe Commission proposes thefollowing amendment to
itsdraft decision contained inAnnexe ItoPart IIofitsreport .
Inthelist ofAgreements inthe Preamble and inArticle 1there should be
added tothe words "Agreement onImplementation ofArticle VIIofthe
General Agreement onTariffs andTrade "thefollowing "and theProtocol
annexed thereto ".

Multilateral Trade Negotiations
Grouo "Norr-Tari ffMeasures "
Sub-Group Customs Matters " October 1979Add.1
Customs Valuation
Agreement onImplementation ofArticle VII
ofthe General Agreement onTariffs and Trade -
Addendum
This document iscirculated atthe request ofanumber ofdelegations
Consultations have recently been held between delegations from
developed countries and developing countries inorder toarrive atasingle 
text ofanAgreement onImplementation ofArticle VIIof ;the General Agree­
ment onTariffs and Trade .Asaresult ofthese consultations ,theattached
Protocol has been drawn up.Itistheintention ofthese delegations to
seek theapproval oftheir respective authorities tosign this Protocol so
astoensure that the Agreement Isapplied together with theProtocol .

ProtocoltotheAgreementonImplementation ofArticleVIIofthe
GeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade
ThePartiestotheAgreementonImplementation ofArticleVIIofthe
GeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade(hereinafterreferredtoas"the
Agreement")/
HavingregardtotheMultilateral TradeNegotiations andtothe
desireexpressedbytheTradeNegotiations Committeeatitsmeetingof11
and12April1979toarriveatasingletextofanAgreementonImplementa­
tionofArticleVIIoftheGeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade;
.Recognizingthatdevelopingcountriesmayhaveparticularproblems
inapplyingtheAgreement;
ConsideringthattheprovisionsofArticle27oftheAgreement
relatingtoamendmentshavenotyetenteredintoforce;
Hereby:

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1. Agree tothedeletion oftheprovision ofArticle 1.2(b )(iv)
ofthe Agreement .;
2. Recognize that thefive-year delay intheapplication of
theprovisions ofthe Agreement bydeveloping countries provided
for inArticle 21.1 may,inpractice ,beinsufficient forcertain
developing countries .Insuch cases adeveloping country Party
tothe Agreement may request before the endofthe period referred
toinArticle 21.1 anextension ofsuch period ,itbeing under­
stood that theParties tothe Agreement will give sympathetic
consideration tosuch arequest incases where the developing
country inquestion can show good cause ;
3. .Recognize that developing countries which currently value
goods onthe basis ofofficially established minimum values may
wish tomake areservation toenable them toretain such values
onalimited and transitional basis under such terms and condi­
tions asmay beagreed tobytheParties tothe Agreement ;
4. Recognize that developing countries which consider that
the reversal ofthe sequential order atthe request ofthe importer
provided for inArticle 4ofthe Agreement may give rise toreal
difficulties for them may wish tomake areservation toArticle 4
inthefollowing terms : *
"The Government of reserves theright to
provide that therelevant provision ofArticle 4ofthe
Agreement shall apply only when the customs authorities
agree tothe request toreverse theorder ofArticles 5
and 6."
Ifdeveloping countries make such areservation ,theParties to
the Agreement shall consent toitfinder Article 23ofthe Agreement ;
/.

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5. Recognize that developing countries maywish'to make a
reservation with respect toArticle 5.2ofthe Agreement inthe
following terms :
"The Government of reserves theright toprovide
that Article 5.2ofthe Agreement shall beapplied in
accordance with theprovisions ofthe relevant note there­
towhether ornot the importer sorequests ."
Ifdeveloping countries make such areservation ,theParties to
the Agreement shall consent toitunder Article 23ofthe Agreement ;
6. Recognize that certain developing countries have expressed
concern that there may beproblems inthe implementation ofArti­
cle 1ofthe Agreement insofar asitrelates toimportations into
their countries bysole agents ,sole distributors and sole con­
cessionaires .TheParties tothe Agreement agree that,ifsuch
problems arise inpractice indeveloping countries applying the
Agreement ,astudy ofthis question shall bemade ,atthe request
ofsuch countries ,with aview tofinding appropriate solutions ;
/
7. Agree that Article 17recognizes that inapplying the
Agreement ,customs administrations may need tomake enquiries
concerning thetruth oraccuracy ofany statement ,document or
declaration presented tothem for customs valuation purposes .
They further agree that theArticle thus acknowledges that enqui-
ries may bemade which are,for example ,aimed atverifying that
the elements ofvalue declared orpresented tocustoms inconnec­
tion with adetermination ofcustoms value are complete and
correct .They recognize that Parties tothe Agreement ,subject
totheir national laws and procedures ,have theright toexpect *
thefull cooperation ofimporters inthese enquiries ;
*The words "have theright toexpect shall betranslated
"ilsont ledroit decompter sur"and "tienen elderecho de
contar con"respectively .
•••/•••

_L_
8. Agree that theprice actually paid orpayable includes
all payments actually Made ortobemade asacondition ofsale
ofthe imported goods ,bythebuyer totheseller ,orbythe
buyer toathird party tosatisfy anobligation ofthe seller .
Λ
II. 1. Upon theentry ,into force oftheAgreement theprovisions
- - ~ ^
ofthis Protocol shall bedeemed tobepart oftheAgreement .
2. This Protocol shall bedeposited with theDirector-General
tothe CONTRACTING PARTIES totheGATT .Itisopen foracceptance ,
bysignature orotherwise ,bysignatories oftheAgreement on
Implementation ofArticle VIIoftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs
andTrade andbyother governments accepting oracceding tothe
Agreement pursuant totheprovisions ofArticle 22thereof .
Done atGeneva this first dayofNovember 1979 inasingle
copy theEnglish ,French andSpanish languages ,each text
being authentic .