RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/VAL/6
10January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0078)
Committee onCustoms Valuation
FIRST ANNUAL REVIEW OFTHE IMPLEMENTATION AND
OPERATION OFTHE AGREEMENT ONIMPLEMENTATION
OFARTICLE VIIOFTHE GENERAL AGREEMENT
ONTARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Background Document bytheSecretariat
Article 23oftheAgreement onImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGeneral Agreement on
Tariffs andTrade provides that"theCommittee shallreview annually theimplementation andoperation
ofthisAgreement taking intoaccount theobjectives thereof".
Themainobjectives oftheAgreement arethose listed intheGeneral Introductory Commentary.
Theannual review oftheCommittee should cover theimplementation andoperation oftheAgreement
inthelightofitsobjectives andspecific obligations.
Atitsmeeting of24October 1995, theCommittee conducted itsfirstannual review onthe
basisofdocument G/VAL/W/3. Thepresent document takesintoaccount thepoints made during that
review andthework oftheCommittee atthatmeeting asawhole.
Theinformation contained inthisdocument covers theperiod from 1January 1995 to
31December 1995.G/VAL/6
Page2
Thecontents ofthisdocument areasfollows:
Page
1. Members, delayed applications, reservations andobserver status 3
2. Officers oftheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation 8
3. Meetings oftheCommittee 8
4. National legislation presented 8
5. Amendments, interpretations andrectifications ofthe
textoftheagreement 9
6. Other decisions taken bytheCommittee 9
7. Technical assistance 9
8. Report bytheTechnical Committee onCustoms Valuation 10
9. Substantial difficulties encountered byMembers in 10
applying theAgreement
10. Consultation anddispute settlement 10
11. Annual Report (1995) totheCouncil forTrade inGoods 10G/VAL/6
Page3
1. MEMBERS,DELAYEDAPPLICATIONS,RESERVATIONSANDOBSERVERSTATUS
(a) MEMBERS (112)
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Egypt
ElSalvador
European Communities
Finland
France
Gabon
Germany
Ghana
Greece
GuatemalaGuinea
Guinea Bissau
Guyana
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Macau
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Netherlands
NewZealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
NorwayPakistan
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
SriLanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad andTobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
ZimbabweG/VAL/6
Page4
(b) Delayed Application andReservations1
Theprovisions forspecial anddifferential treatment available fordeveloping country
Members havebeeninvoked asfollows:
(i) Article 20.1(delayed application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement)
Bangladesh
Bolivia
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Egypt
ElSalvador
Gabon
Ghana
Guatemala
Honduras
Indonesia
Israel
JamaicaKenya
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Morocco2
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Paraguay
Peru2
Philippines
Senegal
Singapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
______________
1Forthetextofthecommunications received from these Members, refertodocuments WT/Let/1/Rev.2
dated 22May1995, WT/Let/19 dated 15June1995, WT/Let/24 dated 28June1995, WT/Let/28 dated 21August
1995 andWT/Let/29 dated 23August 1995.
2Theinvocation ofthespecial provisions available fordeveloping country Members under theCustoms
ValuationAgreemen t1979shallcontinuetoapplyundertheWTOCustomsValuationAgreemen tforthedeveloping
country Member concerned (WT/L/38).G/VAL/6
Page5
(ii) Article 20.2(delayed application ofthecomputed value method)
Bangladesh
Bolivia
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Dominican Republic
Egypt
ElSalvador
Gabon
Guatemala
Honduras
Indonesia
Jamaica
Kenya
MalaysiaMalta
Mexico2
Morocco2
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Peru2
Philippines
Senegal
Singapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey2
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
(iii) Annex III,paragraph 2(reservation concerning minimum values)
Bangladesh
Burkina Faso
Chile
Colombia
Côted'Ivoire
Dominican Republic
Gabon
Guatemala
IndonesiaJamaica
Kenya
Malaysia
Malta
Myanmar
Pakistan
Paraguay
Peru2
PhilippinesSingapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
______________
2Theinvocation ofthespecial provisions available fordeveloping country Members under theCustoms
ValuationAgreemen t1979shallcontinuetoapplyundertheWTOCustomsValuationAgreemen tforthedeveloping
country Member concerned (WT/L/38).G/VAL/6
Page6
(iv) Annex III,paragraph 3(reservation concerning reversal ofsequential order
ofArticles 5and6)
Argentina2
Bangladesh
Brazil2
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Dominican Republic
Egypt
ElSalvador
Gabon
GuatemalaHonduras
India2
Indonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Kenya
Malawi2
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico2
Morocco2
Myanmar
NicaraguaPakistan
Peru2
Philippines
Singapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey2
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe2
(v) Annex III,paragraph 4(reservation concerning application ofArticle 5:2
whether ornottheimporter sorequests)
Argentina2
Bangladesh
Brazil2
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Dominican Republic
Egypt
ElSalvador
Gabon
GuatemalaHonduras
India2
Indonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Kenya
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico2
Morocco2
Myanmar
Nicaragua
PakistanPeru2
Philippines
Singapore
SriLanka
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey2
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe2
_______________
2Theinvocation ofthespecial provisions available fordeveloping country Members under theTokyo
Round Customs Valuation Agreement shall continue toapply under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement
forthedeveloping country Member concerned (WT/L/38).G/VAL/6
Page7
(c) OBSERVER GOVERNMENTS (40)
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Belarus
Benin
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Cambodia
Chad
China
Congo
Croatia
EcuadorEstonia
Fiji
Former Yugoslav Rep.
ofMacedonia
Gambia
Grenada
Haiti
Latvia
Lithuania
Mongolia
Niger
Oman
Papua NewGuinea
PanamaQatar
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Seychelles
St.KittsandNevis
Sudan
Taipei, Chinese
Tonga
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
VietNam
Zaire
(d) OBSERVER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (3)3
World Customs Organization
IMF
UNCTAD
_______________
3Theinvitations ofthese three organizations made bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods andtheCommittee
areadhocarrangements, pending final agreement onguidelines forobserver status forinternational
intergovernmental organizations. These arrangements arewithout prejudice tothepositions ofdelegations in
future discussions onthequestion ofobserver status ofinternational intergovernmental organizations.G/VAL/6
Page8
2. OFFICERS OFTHE WTO COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
Chairman: Mr.P.Palecka(Czech Republic)
Vice-Chairman: Mr.M.Baumbach (Brazil)
3. MEETINGS OFTHE COMMITTEE
During thereporting period, theCommittee hasheldtwomeetings on12May1995 andon
24October 1995. Theminutes ofthese meetings arecontained indocuments G/VAL/M/1 and
G/VAL/M/2, respectively.
4. NATIONAL LEGISLATION PRESENTED
(i) Texts ofnational legislation
Article 22oftheAgreement requires eachMember toinform theCommittee ofany
changes initslawsandregulations relevant totheAgreement andintheadministration ofsuch
laws andregulations. Atitsfirstmeeting, theCommittee agreed onprocedures forthe
notification ofnational legislation (G/VAL/M/1, paragraphs 29-35, 71and72).
During thereporting period, thefollowing communications andtexts have been
submitted:
Australia G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1
Cyprus G/VAL/N/1/CYP/1
Ecuador G/VAL/N/1/ECU/1
European Communities G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1
Hungary G/VAL/N/1/HUN/1
India G/VAL/N/1/IND/1
Japan G/VAL/N/1 JPN/1
Korea, Republic of G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1
NewZealand G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1
Romania G/VAL/N/1/ROM/1
Slovak Republic G/VAL/N/1/SVK/1
Switzerland G/VAL/N/1/CHE/1
Turkey G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1
Zimbabwe G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1
(ii) Checklist ofissues
Atitsfirstmeeting,theCommitteeagreedonproceduresforthesubmissionofachecklist
ofissues (G/VAL/M/1, paragraphs 36-39).
During thereporting period, thefollowing communications havebeensubmitted:
Australia G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1
Slovak Republic G/VAL/N/1/SVK/1
Zimbabwe G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1G/VAL/6
Page9
(iii) Examination ofnational legislation
Atitsmeeting of24October 1995, theCommittee wasinformed thatAustralia, Korea,
NewZealand, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey andZimbabwe hadsubmitted communications
indicating thattheirlegislation notified under theTokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreement
remained valid under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement. These communications had
been circulated respectively indocuments G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1, G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1,
G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1, G/VAL/N/1/ROM/1, G/VAL/N/1/CHE/1, G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1 and
G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1. TheCommittee wasalsoinformed thatHungary hadsubmitted a
communicationindicatingthatitslegislationnotifiedundertheTokyoRoundCustomsValuation
Agreement remained validunder theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement, except Section 93
oftheJointDecree N39/1976 (XI.10) PM-KKM which hadbeenamended bytheJointDecree
N4/1995 (IV.10) PM-KKM.
(iv) Information ontheapplication oftheCommittee Decisions
Information ontheapplication oftheDecision ontheTreatment ofInterest Charges
intheCustoms Value ofImported Goods andofparagraph 2oftheDecision ontheValuation
ofCarrier Media Bearing Software forDataProcessing Equipment (G/VAL/5), made available
byMembers, issummarized indocument G/VAL/W/4.
5. AMENDMENTS, INTERPRETATIONS AND RECTIFICATIONS OFTHE TEXT OF
THE AGREEMENT
Atitsfirstmeeting on12May1995, theCommittee adopted thedecisions relating tothe
interpretation oftheAgreement, which hadpreviously beenadopted bytheTokyo Round Committee
(G/VAL/M/1, paragraphs 66-67). Thedecisions were reproduced indocument G/VAL/5.
6. OTHER DECISIONS TAKEN BYTHE COMMITTEE
Atitsfirstmeeting on12May1995, theCommittee adopted decisions on"Reservations under
theAgreement onCustoms Valuation"; "Procedures onNotification andCirculation ofNational
Legislation";"ChecklistIssues";"InformationonTechnicalAssistance"(G/VAL/M/1,paragraphs71-72
and75-82). Thedecisions arecontained indocument G/VAL/5.
TheCommittee alsoadopted: (i)theDecision regarding cases where customs administrations
havereason todoubt thetruthoraccuracy ofthedeclared value; and(ii)theDecision ontextsrelating
tominimum values andimports bysoleagents, soledistributors andsoleconcessionaires. Thedecisions
werereferred bytheMinisters atMarrakesh totheCommittee foradoption. Thetextsofthedecisions
arecontained indocument G/VAL/1.
7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Technical assistance aimed athelping countries intheirpreparations fortheapplication ofthe
Agreement hascontinued tobeamatter ofhighpriority toMembers, theCommittee onCustoms
Valuation andtheTechnical Committee. Technical assistance isbeing made available tobothdeveloping
country Members andother developing countries interested intheAgreement.
Information ontechnical assistance activities iscontained inworking document G/VAL/W/4
which reproduces information contained inWCO document 39.708.G/VAL/6
Page10
8. REPORT BYTHE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
Meetings oftheTechnical Committee
Therepresentative oftheWorld Customs Organization (WCO) presented detailed oralreports
ontheTwenty-Ninth Session (13-17 March 1995) oftheTokyo Round Technical Committee andthe
FirstSession (2-6October 1995) oftheWTO Technical Committee.
TheCommittee onCustoms Valuation tooknoteofthese reports andexpressed appreciation
forthecontinued valuable work oftheTechnical Committee.
9. SUBSTANTIALDIFFICULTIESENCOUNTEREDBYMEMBERSINAPPLYINGTHE
AGREEMENT
During theperiod under review, noMember hasreported anysubstantial difficulty inapplying
theAgreement.
10. CONSULTATION AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
Canada (WT/DS9/1) andtheUnited States (WT/DS13/1) requested consultations withthe
European Communities under Article 19oftheAgreement regarding certain regulations oftheEuropean
Communities concerning cereals. Apanel wassubsequently established, upon Canada 'srequest
(WT/DS9/2) atthemeeting ofDSB on11October 1995. TheUnited States alsorequested the
establishment ofapanel (WT/DS13/2).
11. ANNUALREPORT(1995)TOTHECOUNCILFORTRADEINGOODS(G/VAL/SPEC/2)
TheCommittee adopted itsAnnual Report (1995) totheCouncil forTrade inGoods in
accordance withtherequirements ofArticle 23oftheAgreement (G/L/29).