MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 27 June 2014 AND
The resumed meeting of 23 July 2014
Chairperson: Ms.
Joanna K.Y. CHEUNG (Hong Kong,
China)
The
agenda proposed for the meeting, circulated in WTO/AIR/4306, was
adopted as follows:
1 PROPOSAL TO HOLD AN INFORMAL
WORKSHOP on the USE OF customs valuation DATABASES (G/VAL/W/231/REV.1). 1
2 OTHER BUSINESS. 3
The
agenda was adopted by the Committee on 27 June 2014. The discussion of item 1 was suspended and subsequently
resumed on 23 July 2014.
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1 PROPOSAL TO HOLD AN INFORMAL WORKSHOP on the USE OF DATABASES TO SET
REFERENCE PRICES (G/VAL/W/231/REV.1)
1.1.1 Meeting of 27 June 2014
1.1. The Chairperson began by noting that there had been an error
in the name of the first agenda item, which should read "Proposal to hold
an informal workshop on the use of customs valuation databases". The proposal in document G/VAL/W/231/Rev.1 had
been discussed at the formal meeting which had taken place on 12 May 2014, but some
delegations had requested additional time to assess the proposal. For this
reason, Members had agreed to discuss it again by organizing a formal meeting
before the end of June.
1.2. A first informal consultation had been held on 21 June 2014
where all interested delegations had been invited. At that meeting, the delegations of Argentina and India had made textual suggestions
and comments on the proposal. The
delegations of Argentina; China; and India had subsequently deliberated
upon the possible revision of language of the paragraph on the "purpose
and objective" of the workshop, and submitted comments and suggestions
which had been circulated to Members in a fax dated 23 June 2014. French and Spanish translations had been faxed
to delegations on 25 June 2014. On 26
June, the delegations of Australia;
Canada; Chinese Taipei; the European
Union; and the United States
had proposed changes to the suggestions and comments made by the delegations of
Argentina, China and India, which had been faxed to
Members on the same day.
1.3. A second informal consultation had been convened by the Chairperson
on 27 June with a view to exploring preliminary reactions to the different
textual proposals that had been circulated.
Members present at that informal consultation had expressed divergent views
and had not been able to agree on a common understanding. The differences revolved mainly around two
issues. Firstly, the purpose and objective of the workshop. Secondly, the
question of how best to reflect the fact that there would be no
recommendations, outcomes, next steps, or automatic inclusion of any item on
the agenda of the Committee, while at the same time ensuring that Members'
individual right to request the inclusion of an item in the agenda would not be
affected.
1.4. Because delegations had not had enough time to discuss the issue
with their capitals, the Chairperson proposed to suspend the meeting after
dealing with the "other business" item. She also requested delegations
to submit textual proposals or amendments to the text no later than 30 June
2014. Any submission would be translated, if necessary, and circulated in the
same manner as the previous texts. The
Chairperson would then convene further informal consultations with interested
delegations, and send a fax reconvening the formal meeting once a clearer
picture had emerged. In case delegations
present at the consultations could reach a common understanding on a text, it
would be circulated to Members in the three official languages at least one
week before reconvening in a resumed meeting. She stressed that the Committee
would only adopt it in the formal meeting, so Members would retain their right
to make comments or propose modifications at the resumed session.
1.5. The representative of Argentina requested the
Chairperson to circulate in writing the proposed course of action, through fax
or email, to all Members.
1.6. The Chairperson confirmed that the Secretariat would circulate
a fax and proposed to suspend the discussions on this agenda point as proposed.
1.7. The Committee so agreed.
1.1.2 Resumed meeting of 23 July 2014
1.8. The Chairperson recalled
that, at its meeting of 27 June 2014, the Committee had agreed to suspend the
discussion on this agenda item. A fax had
been circulated to Members with an extract of her statement, which included the
agreed steps to be taken.
1.9. On 7 July 2014, a new fax had
been circulated with details on the manner in which informal consultations
would be conducted. With a view to
ensuring the maximum degree of transparency, a number of additional faxes had
been sent with comments and suggestions submitted by Members. These had been discussed at informal
consultations which had taken place on 11 and 15 July, where
all interested Members had had the opportunity to participate. She was happy to report that Members present
at the informal consultations had done an excellent job in accommodating the
concerns that had been expressed, and had managed to produce a revised draft of
the terms of reference. This compromise
text had been faxed to Members, in the three official languages, on
16 July 2014. On this basis, the
Chairperson proposed the Committee to adopt the terms of reference, as
contained in the text that had been faxed to all Members on 16 July
2014.
1.10. The representative of India
thanked the Chairperson for her efforts and for having held informal
consultations, which had certainly produced an excellent result in the form of
an agreed text. Although India could go
along with the proposed text, his delegation felt that the provisional agenda
had not matured enough. India could
agree with the incorporation of the draft agenda in the text, but considered that
further consultations were required to finalize it. He concluded by reiterating that India was ready
to join the consensus on the text.
1.11. The Chairperson drew
Members' attention to the last paragraph in page 4 of the compromise text, which
stated that "any changes or clarifications to the provisional agenda and
details listed above will be determined by Members through subsequent informal
consultations of the CCV". On this
basis, the Chairperson proposed the Committee to adopt the text.
1.12. The Committee so agreed.
1.13. The Chairperson requested the Secretariat to circulate the
compromise text as an official document.
She also drew Members' attention to the fact that there was not much time
available to conclude the preparations of the workshop, which would take place
the morning of Friday, 24 October. The
workshop would take place immediately after the meeting of the Technical
Committee on Customs Valuation in Brussels,
and before the next formal meeting of this Committee, which was scheduled for
the afternoon of 24 October. She
announced that the invitation letters would be sent to the organizations listed
in the terms of reference which had been adopted, and recalled that Members
still needed to agree on the speakers for the public sector session. She invited Members wishing to nominate a capital-based
expert to contact her or the Secretariat no later than 6 August 2014. She concluded by informing Members that the
Secretariat would finance the participation of up to four speakers from
developing countries or LDCs. The
Chairperson proposed to proceed as described.
1.14. The Committee so agreed.
2.1. The Chairperson reported on
the status of the proposal by Uruguay
concerning the "rectification of the Spanish and English versions of
Article 8.1(b)(iv) of the Agreement on Customs Valuation", which had been circulated
in G/VAL/W/240. She recalled that, at
the formal meeting of 12 May 2014, Members had agreed that: 1) there
was a lack of concordance in the three official versions of Article 8.1(b)(iv)
of the Agreement; 2) the text of the Spanish version should be amended as
proposed by Uruguay; and 3) that the Chairperson should submit a letter to
the Director-General requesting him to follow the "procès verbal de
rectification" procedure. Delegations had also agreed, on an ad referendum basis with one month for comments, to request
the rectification of the English version in line with the Uruguayan
proposal. The Chairperson noted that no
objection had been received by 12 June 2014. Therefore, she would submit a letter to the
Director-General requesting the rectification of the Spanish and English
versions of Article 8.1(b)(iv) through a "procès verbal de
rectification" procedure. She noted
that the normal period for comments and/or objections under this procedure was
of 30 days, and not 90 days as it had been mentioned at the last meeting.
2.2. The delegation of India sought
a clarification on the procedure to be followed, because he understood that any
amendment to the WTO Agreement had to follow a specific procedure set out in
the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO.
2.3. The Secretariat (Mr. Roy
Santana) confirmed that, in case of an amendment, the specific procedures
contained in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO would have to be
followed. However, as it had been explained
by the Legal Affairs Division at the Committee meeting of 27 September
2013, this could be considered a technical error in the official translation. Thus, to the extent that Members agreed, a
"procès verbal de rectification" procedure could be followed. If that case, the Director-General of the WTO,
who is the depositary of the Agreement, would circulate a document explaining
the technical corrections to be introduced and would set a 30-day period for
comments or objections. In case no
objections were raised, the Director-General would then proceed with the
rectification of the official text.
2.4. The Chairperson proposed to
proceed as described.
2.5. The Committee so agreed.
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