REPORT (2024) OF THE COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS

1.     Background

1.1.  The Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the Agreement) entered into force on 1 January 1995. This report covers the period from 16 November 2023 to 11 December 2024 and addresses the work undertaken by the Committee on Customs Valuation (the Committee) in respect of the objectives of the Agreement. These are: to provide greater uniformity and certainty in the implementation of the provisions of Article VII of the GATT 1994; to establish a fair, uniform and neutral system for the valuation of goods for customs purposes that precludes the use of arbitrary or fictitious customs values; to ensure that the basis for valuation of goods for customs purposes should, to the greatest extent possible, be the transaction value of the goods being valued; and to secure additional benefits for the international trade of developing countries.

1.2.      During the period under review, the Committee held two formal meetings. The first meeting took place on 23 May 2024 (_G/VAL/M/77) and was chaired by Mr Omar CISSE (Senegal), who was elected on 5 June 2023. The second meeting took place on 11 December 2024 (_G/VAL/M/78)[1] and was chaired by Mr Sergio PRIETO LÓPEZ (Spain), who was elected on 31 May 2024.

1.3.  Participation in the Committee is open to all WTO Members. In addition, Governments granted observer status by the WTO General Council attend Committee meetings as observers. At the April 1997 meeting, the Committee granted observer status to those organizations which until then had observer status on an ad hoc basis, namely UNCTAD and the WCO, as well as to the ACP and the IADB. The Committee took note of the fact that the World Bank and the IMF had observer status by virtue of the Agreements between these organizations and the WTO.

1.4.  The Committee's rules of procedure, which were approved by the Council for Trade in Goods, are contained in document _G/L/146.

2.     Implementation of the Agreement

2.1.  During the period under review, no developing Member maintained delayed application of the provisions of the Agreement in accordance with its provisions of Article 20.1. At the time of circulation of this report, no Member maintained an extension of the delay period in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1, Annex III of the Agreement.

2.2.  To date, 117 Members have notified their national legislation on customs valuation, including 16 Members which have submitted communications indicating that their legislation notified under the Tokyo Round Customs Valuation Agreement remained valid under the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement (both figures count the European Union as one). In addition, 87 Members have provided responses to the Checklist of Issues regarding their legislation. See document _G/VAL/W/232/Rev.20.

3.     Activities of the Committee

3.1.  The Committee carried out the following activities at its meetings of 23 May and 11 December:

(a)_     Review of information on the implementation and administration of the CVA

-_              took note of notifications pertaining to customs legislation submitted by Cabo Verde (_G/VAL/N/2/CPV/1); Congo  (_G/VAL/N/1/COG/1); Gabon (_G/VAL/N/1/GAB/1/Rev.1); Maldives (_G/VAL/N/1/MDV/1); Mauritania (_G/VAL/N/1/MRT/1); the Republic of Moldova (_G/VAL/N/1/MDA/4); Mongolia (_G/VAL/N/1/MNG/2); Nigeria (_G/VAL/N/1/NGA/2 and _G/VAL/N/1/NGA/2/Rev.1); Papua New Guinea (_G/VAL/N/1/PNG/1); Saint Kitts & Nevis (_G/VAL/N/1/KNA/1/Rev.1); Senegal (_G/VAL/N/2/SEN/1); Seychelles (_G/VAL/N/1/SYC/1); and Ukraine (_G/VAL/N/1/UKR/4);

-_              took note of notifications of the checklist of issues from Gabon (_G/VAL/N/2/GAB/1); Maldives (_G/VAL/N/2/MDV/1); Mongolia (_G/VAL/N/2/MNG/1); Papua New Guinea (_G/VAL/N/2/PNG/1); Saint Kitts & Nevis (_G/VAL/N/2/KNA/1); and Seychelles (_G/VAL/N/2/SYC/1);

-_              in addition, continued its ongoing review of notifications pertaining to national customs legislations notified by the following Members not identified above: Afghanistan; Belize; Benin; Botswana; Burundi; Cambodia; Colombia; the Gambia; Guinea; India; Malawi; Namibia; Paraguay; Russian Federation; Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka; Togo; the United Arab Emirates; and Vanuatu;

-_              it concluded the review of the national customs legislations notified by Brazil; the Plurinational State of Bolivia; Iceland; Norway; and the Philippines;

-_              took note of documents _G/VAL/W/232/Rev.19 and _G/VAL/W/232/Rev.20 which were issued by the Secretariat during the period under review and which summarized the latest status of notifications.

(b)_     Information on the application of Decisions of the Committee on Customs Valuation

-_                   took note of the Secretariat's updates of summary information on the latest status of notifications related to the Decision on the "Treatment of Interest Charges in the Customs Value of Imported Goods" and the Decision on "Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Software for Data Processing Equipment" as contained in documents _G/VAL/W/5/Rev.39 and _G/VAL/W/5/Rev.40;

-_              took note of the notifications submitted by the Kingdom of Bahrain; Cabo Verde; the Dominican Republic; Honduras; Maldives; Myanmar; and Seychelles.

(c)_     Technical Assistance

-_                   took note of the technical assistance carried out by the WTO Secretariat which organized a workshop from 22-24 May to assist developing and LDC Members with notifications relating to their customs valuation legislation and checklist of issues. The workshop consisted of training and hands-on exercises in English and French to assist capital‑based customs officials from a total of 26 Members to prepare these notifications. Workshop participants also had the opportunity to attend and participate in the Committee meeting of 23 May. Subsequent to the workshop, 16 Members submitted a total of 30 notifications, 15 of which have been circulated to the Membership. The remaining notifications continue to be reviewed;

-_              took note of the information compiled by the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation concerning technical assistance activities carried out by the WCO Secretariat, as contained in documents _G/VAL/8/Add.47 and _G/VAL/8/Add.48;

(d)_      Specific Trade Concerns

-_              no specific trade concerns were raised during the period under review.

(e)_      Preshipment Inspection Agreement

-_                   took note of the information on the notifications which had been received on preshipment inspection, reflected in documents _G/PSI/N/1/Rev.6 _G/PSI/N/1/Rev.6/Add.1, _G/PSI/N/1/Rev.6/Add.2 and _G/PSI/N/1/Rev.7;

-        took note of statements made under the agenda item of questions and responses regarding notifications submitted by Indonesia and Saint Lucia;

-        took note of the latest reports by the Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) Council concerning countries that use preshipment inspection services which were circulated in documents _G/VAL/W/63/Rev.32 and _G/VAL/W/63/Rev.33;

-        took note of the factual report of the Secretariat further to the launch of the triennial review of the PSI Agreement (_G/VAL/W/389) and the discussion regarding the Independent Entity (_G/VAL/M/77);

-        concluded the sixth triennial review of the PSI Agreement and adopted the report by the Chairperson (_G/L/1555).

(f)_      Reports by The Technical Committee on Customs Valuation

-        took note of the reports by the World Customs Organization on the work of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation (TCCV), including its 58th[2] and 59th[3] sessions (15‑19 April 2024 and 14-18 October 2024, respectively).

(g)_     Annual Review and Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods

-_                   adopted the Annual Review of the Implementation and Operation of the Customs Valuation Agreement (contained in _G/VAL/82[4];

-_              adopted the Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods (contained in _G/L/1554).

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