NOTIFICATIONS
UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE AGREEMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE VII OF THE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Reply FROM MAURITANIA TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UNITED
STATES
regarding DOCUMENT _G/VAL/N/1/MRT/1
Mauritania
The following
communication, dated 9 May 2024, is being circulated at the request
of the delegation of Mauritania.
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Mauritania
thanks the delegation of the United States for its comments and for the
consideration given to the implementation of the Customs Valuation Agreement.
Question
Article 14 of
the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement (CVA) provides that the Interpretative
Notes at Annex I form an integral part of the CVA, and that the articles of the
CVA are to be read and applied in conjunction with their respective notes. It
appears that Mauritanie Code des Douanes is missing several Interpretative
Notes such as Paragraph 2 of Note to Article 1 concerning related party
transactions. Please clarify whether the Interpretative Notes to the CVA are
implemented in a different law or regulation.
Reply
In response to the question on the
integration of the interpretative notes at Annex I to the Agreement, and in
particular paragraph 2 of the interpretative note to Article 1, Mauritania
would like to make the following clarifications:
The provisions of the Customs Valuation
Agreement, including its interpretative notes, were duly incorporated into
domestic legislation through Finance Law No. 2002-001, published in issue No. 1014
of the Official Journal of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Under Article 3.6 of this Law, the customs
value of imported goods is determined using the transaction value method, in
accordance with the principles set out in Article 1 et seq. of Part 1 of the
Agreement, on different valuation methods.
Moreover, Article 3.7 of the same Law
expressly states that the interpretative notes at Annex I to the Agreement are
an integral part of national legislation and are to be read and applied in
conjunction with their respective Articles.
As a result, although the interpretative
notes are not reproduced in extenso in
the Customs Code, their legal applicability is fully recognized and they are
effectively implemented in the administrative practice of customs valuation,
including in cases involving related party transactions.
Mauritania remains fully committed to ensuring the continued compliance
of its customs valuation system with the obligations under the WTO Agreement
and remains ready to provide any additional information or documentation that
may be deemed useful.
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