( ) Page: 1/17 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 27 SEPTEMBER 2013 CHAIRPERSON: MR. PIERRE E. BRUSSELMANS

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1 RESTRICTED 16 April 2014 ( ) Page: 1/17 Committee on Customs Valuation MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 27 SEPTEMBER 2013 CHAIRPERSON: MR. PIERRE E. BRUSSELMANS The agenda proposed for the meeting, circulated in WTO/AIR/4187, was adopted as follows: 1 REPORT OF THE WORK OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT Notification of national legislation... 2 A. Kingdom of Bahrain... 3 B. Belize... 3 C. Cambodia... 3 D. Cape Verde... 4 E. China... 4 F. Costa Rica... 5 G. Ecuador... 5 H. Japan... 5 I. Lao People s Democratic Republic... 6 J. Macao, China... 6 K. Mali... 6 L. Nicaragua... 7 M. Nigeria... 7 N. Russian Federation... 7 O. Rwanda... 8 P. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines... 8 Q. Tunisia... 8 R. Uruguay... 8 S. Ukraine INFORMATION ON THE APPLICATION OF DECISIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Information on Technical Assistance Article 20.3 Technical Assistance and Trade-Related Technical Assistance UNITED STATES - ARMENIA'S REFERENCE PRICE SYSTEM IN CONNECTION WITH THE VALUATION OF GOODS... 11

2 - 2-6 PARAGRAPH 12 OF THE DOHA MINISTERIAL DECLARATION: IMPLEMENTATION-RELATED ISSUES Paragraph 8.3 of document WT/MIN/(01)/ PRESHIPMENT INSPECTION Status of notifications by Members and information provided by IFIA Question from the United States to Indonesia PROPOSAL BY URUGUAY TO RECTIFY THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH VERSIONS OF ARTICLE 8:(1)(B)(IV) OF THE AGREEMENT ON CUSTOMS VALUATION PROPOSAL TO HOLD A SEMINAR ON THE POSSIBLE USE OF DATABASES TO SET REFERENCE PRICES ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE CUSTOMS VALUATION AGREEMENT (G/VAL/W/233) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS OTHER BUSINESS Date of the next meeting REPORT OF THE WORK OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 1.1. The representative of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Mr Richard Soki, noted that this session of the Committee of Customs Valuation had been held exceptionally before the 37 th Session of the Technical Committee and therefore he had nothing to report. The Chairperson noted that the Committee had received three documents from the Technical Committee of the WCO, namely: i) document G/VAL/W/225, sent by the Director of The Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate of the WCO, addressing the issue of consistency of interpretation and application of Article 8.1(b) of the Agreement on Customs Valuation; ii) document G/VAL/W/227, sent by the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, concerning the request for factual information made by the former Chairperson of the Committee on the possible misuse of databases on Customs Valuation; and iii) document G/VAL/W/229, sent by the Chairman of the Technical Committee of Customs Valuation, dealing with the decision on the "Valuation of carrier media bearing software for data processing equipment", also known as "Decision 4.1" by various customs offices. He proposed to take note of the comments by the WCO representative and to address the issues under the relevant agenda items. It was so agreed The Committee so agreed. 2 INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT - Notification of national legislation 2.1. The Chairperson recalled that Article 22 of the Agreement on Customs Valuation (hereafter, the Agreement) and the Decision on "Notification and circulation of national legislation in accordance with Article 22 of the Agreement", required each Member to notify: 1) the complete text of their national legislation on customs valuation in one of the three official WTO languages; 2) any change in its laws and regulations which were relevant to the Agreement; and 3) any change in the administration of such laws and regulations. He also reminded Members that the notification procedures had been adopted by the Committee at its meeting of 12 May 1995 (G/VAL/5, section B.2). As agreed at the Committee meeting of 25 October 2012 (paragraph 8.3 of G/VAL/M/54), the Secretariat had published a new document (G/VAL/W/232), which summarized the status of these notifications The Chairperson recalled that the examination of the notification of legislation by the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu remained suspended since the

3 - 3 - Committee's meeting on 4-5 November 2002 pending resolution of the difference of views between the parties involved in notifications across the WTO The Chairperson informed the Committee that he had tried to contact all the delegations which had a notification with outstanding questions. He recalled Members that transparency was a virtue of the WTO and encouraged delegations to work diligently to cultivate this virtue and to facilitate the work of the Committee In absence of statements by Members, the Chairperson proposed to take up the legislations in the order set out in the agenda. A. Kingdom of Bahrain 2.5. The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/BHR/1 and G/VAL/N/1/BHR/2, respectively. The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/181, to which Bahrain had replied in G/VAL/W/191. The United States had submitted follow-up questions in G/VAL/W/201, which had been replied by Bahrain in G/VAL/W/217. In addition, Bahrain had notified a copy of the "Common Customs Law of the Gulf Co-operation Council", which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/BHR/2. A new set of follow-up questions had been submitted by the United States in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States confirmed that his delegation had submitted new questions in G/VAL/W/223, prior to the May 2013 meeting of the Committee. His delegation looked forward to receiving written answers to these new questions and thanked Bahrain for its previous written responses The Committee took note of the statement and agreed to revert to this matter at its next B. Belize 2.8. The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues, which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/BLZ/1 and G/VAL/N/2/BLZ/1, respectively. Canada and the United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/176 and G/VAL/W/175, to which Belize had replied in G/VAL/W/183. The United States had submitted a new set of follow-up questions in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States recalled that his delegation had sought further clarifications on two points that had been highlighted in document G/VAL/W/188. Specifically, his delegation had requested information on whether Belize had fully incorporated aspects of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement into its national legislation, including Article 16 which provided importers with the right to a written explanation, as well as the interpretative notes of the Agreement. His delegation remained interested in receiving a written response to those questions The representative of Canada recalled his delegation's general position that the interpretative notes were extensions of the obligations included in the Agreement and should, therefore, be reflected in each Member's legal framework The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next C. Cambodia The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/KHM/1 and G/VAL/N/2/KHM/1, respectively. The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/193, to which Cambodia had replied in G/VAL/W/195. The United States had submitted follow-up questions in G/VAL/W/201, to which Cambodia had replied in G/VAL/W/209. Additional follow-up questions had been submitted by the United States in document G/VAL/W/217, which had been answered by Cambodia in document G/VAL/W/222.

4 The representative of the United States was grateful for the written responses that had been provided in G/VAL/W/222 and commended Cambodia on the comprehensive quality of its responses. The United States did not have further questions and agreed to conclude this review The representative of Canada noted that some of the concerns raised on this notification concerned the possible use of reference prices, but he did not stand in the way of the conclusion of this item The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to conclude the examination of the national legislation of Cambodia. D. Cape Verde The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/CPV/1. The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/224, to which Cape Verde had replied very recently but had not been circulated before the The representative of Cape Verde thanked the United States for the questions raised and noted that some errors had been detected in the national Code, including some translation errors. Of the 31 questions that had been raised, 12 had been replied and clarified, 15 related to translation problems, and six were still awaiting reply due to error or missing piece of information. Therefore, it was necessary to wait for corrections in the translation and subsequent revision of the Code. In the meantime, Cape Verde noted that in five of the six errors, they had been able to find a provisional solution and that interim instructions would be given to the customs authority The representative of the United States thanked Cape Verde for the update. He noted that, in reviewing Cape Verde's notification, his delegation had had a number of technical questions that had been circulated in G/VAL/W/224. His delegation looked forward to receiving written responses The representative of Canada observed that that some of the answers seemed to suggest the use of reference prices and the lack of inclusion in the interpretative notes of Cape Verde's legislation. His delegation looked forward to reviewing the responses at the earliest possible date The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next E. China The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/CHN/5. This notification contained the "Decree of the Customs General Administration of the People s Republic of China No. 148 of 2006: Rules regarding Determination on Customs Value of Imported and exported Goods." The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/168 and G/VAL/W/168/Corr.1, to which China had replied in document G/VAL/W/184. The United States had submitted follow-up questions in G/VAL/W/192, to which China had replied in G/VAL/W/198. The United States had subsequently submitted follow-up questions in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States recalled that his delegation had submitted questions to China in October 2011, which sought clarification of two aspects of China's customs valuation practices. These questions had been circulated in G/VAL/W/205 and his delegation looked forward to receiving written responses The representative of Canada noted that his delegation was also very interested in receiving the replies to the questions raised by the United States, as the they appeared to deal with the use of reference pricing and the inclusion of the interpretative notes in China's legislation The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next

5 - 5 - F. Costa Rica The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of changes of legislation which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/CRI/2. The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States recalled that his delegation had submitted questions which had been circulated in November 2011 in document G/VAL/W/211. His delegation had requested additional information regarding Costa Rica's use of a customs valuation database and remained interested in receiving Costa Rica's written responses to these questions The representative of Canada noted that his delegation was also very interested in receiving the replies to the questions raised by the United States, particularly with regards to the possible use of a customs valuation database The representative of Costa Rica thanked the United States and Canada for their interest. Costa Rica was aware of the questions raised and informed the Committee that the Ministry of Finance was in the process of amending the decree, which would enter into force after its official publication. Costa Rica would then notify it to the WTO The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next G. Ecuador The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1. The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/220, to which Ecuador had replied in G/VAL/W/226. In addition, Ecuador had notified a compilation of changes to its national legislation in G/VAL/N/1/ECU/3, as well as replies to questions asked The representative of the United States thanked Ecuador for the notification of its customs valuation legislation and other documents that had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/ECU/3 and G/VAL/N/2/ECU/1. His delegation believed that a number of the questions raised in G/VAL/W/220 had been addressed in that submission. However, the United States remained interested, especially in light of the questions that had been posed in G/VAL/W/220 and Ecuador's most recent notification on the implementation of its treatment of interest charges. In this respect, his delegation had requested at the May session of the Committee that the legislation and documents circulated in G/VAL/N/1/ECU/3 be translated by the Secretariat into the three official languages of the WTO, so it asked the Secretariat to provide an update on the progress of the translation The Secretariat confirmed that it had requested the translation into the three official languages of all the notifications. However, the notification by Ecuador included almost 300 pages and would, therefore, take some time to be concluded The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next H. Japan The Chairperson drew Members' attention to Japan's new notification of changes in its national legislation, which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/JAP/2 and G/VAL/N/2/JAP/2, respectively The delegation of Japan was not able to attend the meeting, but the Chairperson read a statement on its behalf. Japan explained that it had amended its national legislation in order to clarify or codify a number of elements. This amendment was not intended to change the practice or interpretation of the Agreement or relevant regulations in Japan and therefore, the amended laws continued to be consistent with the Agreement. Japan invited Members' seeking clarifications on this issue to submit them in writing.

6 The representative of the United States thanked Japan for its notification of changes in its national legislation, which would be examined by the technical experts in Washington. As requested by Japan, the United States would provide any question in writing before the next Committee The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next I. Lao People s Democratic Republic The Chairperson drew Members' attention to the People s Democratic Republic of Lao's notification of national legislation, which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/LAO/1 and G/VAL/N/1/LAO/1/Add The representative of the United States thanked the People s Democratic Republic of Lao for its notification and commended the country on its thorough and thoughtful approach to the national customs valuation legislation The representative of the European Union also thanked the People s Democratic Republic of Lao for its notification. Her delegation was still in the process of reviewing the notification, but it appeared only to cover the Annex rather than the entire WTO Agreement. The European Union would like to seek clarification from the People's Democratic Republic of Lao on this issue The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next J. Macao, China The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of changes of legislation and responses to the checklist of issues, which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/MAC/2 and G/VAL/N/2/MAC/1, respectively The representative of the United States thanked Macao, China for its notifications in G/VAL/N/1/MAC/2, G/VAL/N/2/MAC/1 and G/VAL/N/3/MAC/1. His delegation will submit questions in writing in light of Macao, China's Trade Policy Review, because there appears to be a contradiction The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next K. Mali The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/MLI/1. Canada had submitted questions a few months earlier, but they had only been distributed recently in document G/VAL/W/238. He apologized with the delegation of Canada for this omission The representative of Canada noted that its questions concerned the possible use of minimum values to set reference prices, and his delegation looked forward to receiving the responses. He further noted that the notification had been issued in French and assumed that it would be translated into the three official languages, so as to facilitate more questions from other Members in the future The representative of the United States thanked Mali for its notification and noted that his delegation would undertake a meaningful review of it. However in order to do so, they required a translation of the documents circulated. He therefore asked the Secretariat if there was any update on the progress of the translation The Secretariat confirmed that all documents had been sent for translation and was waiting for the translation unit to complete the work.

7 The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next L. Nicaragua The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in documents G/VAL/N/1/NIC/1 and G/VAL/N/2/NIC/1, respectively The representative of the United States thanked Nicaragua for its notification, and noted that his delegation would undertake a meaningful review of it. However in order to do so, they required a translation of the documents circulated. The United States would therefore submit follow-up questions on the checklist of issues in the customs valuation legislation once these documents had been translated The representative of Canada thanked Nicaragua for its notification. His delegation continued with the review process of the notification and in the case of questions, these would be submitted before the next committee The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next M. Nigeria The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/NGA/1 and G/VAL/N/2/NGA/1, respectively. The United States and Canada had submitted questions in documents G/VAL/W/175 and G/VAL/W/176, respectively The representative of the United States noted that his delegation continued to be interested in receiving answers to the questions that had been put forward to Nigeria in G/VAL/W/175 and requested that the Committee retained this agenda item The representative of Canada noted that his delegation also remained interested in the replies to the questions that had been raised, and supported the retention of this item in the agenda until answers had been provided The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next N. Russian Federation The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues, which had been circulated in documents G/VAL/N/1/RUS/1 and G/VAL/N/2/RUS/1, respectively The representative of the United States thanked the Russian Federation for its notification, but noted that his delegation had been unable to locate the Customs Code of the Customs Union, which had been referenced as one of the attached documents in G/VAL/N/1/RUS/1. This document was an important piece of legislation which had been referenced numerous times in the checklist of issues and the Russian Federation's "Federal Law on Customs Regulations". For this reason, his delegation requested the Russian Federation to notify this document to the Committee The representative of the European Union noted that, like the United States, her delegation was still in the process of reviewing the notification and expected the Russian Federation to also notify the Customs Code of the Customs Union The representative of Canada informed that his delegation continued to review the comprehensive and voluminous submission, and requested that the item be retained on the agenda until the review had been completed.

8 The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next O. Rwanda The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/RWA/1 and G/VAL/N/2/RWA/1, respectively. The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States noted that, in reviewing the notifications, his delegation had identified certain areas where a clarification was required. The United States had submitted questions in writing and remained interested in receiving and reviewing Rwanda's written response The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next P. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/VCT/1 and G/VAL/N/2/VCT/1, respectively. The United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States recalled that, although the representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines had responded verbally to some the questions during the May 2010 meeting, his delegation considered it necessary to formally circulate written responses to each of the questions contained in G/VAL/W/181. Additionally, during the May 2010 meeting, the representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines had mentioned that draft harmonised legislation was being examined by its Government, which was to be implemented by July The United States would appreciate an update regarding the status of this legislation The Committee took note of the statement made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next Q. Tunisia The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of national legislation which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/TUN/2/Rev.1. The United States had raised questions in G/VAL/W/188, to which Tunisia had replied in G/VAL/W/202. The United States had submitted follow-up questions in G/VAL/W/206, to which Tunisia had replied in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States thanked Tunisia for the written responses and noted that, in reviewing them, his delegation was concerned by one of the responses. The United States had circulated an additional question in G/VAL/W/236, and looked forward to receiving Tunisia's response to this most recent question and to concluding the review The representative of Tunisia thanked the United States for their follow-up question and noted that it would be answered as soon as possible The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next R. Uruguay The Chairperson drew Members' attention to Uruguay's notification of changes to its national legislation which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/URY/2.

9 The representative of the United States thanked Uruguay for its notification. Like in previous cases, he requested that the notified documents be translated into the three official languages of the WTO. They would then submit written questions, as appropriate The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next S. Ukraine The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to the examination of the national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/UKR/1 and G/VAL/N/2/UKR/1, respectively. Ukraine had also notified amendments to its Custom Code, which had been circulated in G/VAL/N/1/UKR/2. The European Union; Norway; and the United States had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/179, G/VAL/W/199, as well as G/VAL/W/188 and G/VAL/W/207, respectively. Ukraine had provided responses to these questions in G/VAL/W/182, G/VAL/W/200 and G/VAL/W/212. The United States had submitted additional questions in document G/VAL/W/221, to which Ukraine had replied in document G/VAL/W/230. A new set of questions had been submitted by the United States in document G/VAL/W/ The representative of United States thanked Ukraine for its responses in G/VAL/W/230. The United States had submitted questions in response to the replies contained in G/VAL/W/230, which had been circulated in G/VAL/W/235. The United States looked forward to Ukraine's written responses to the additional set of questions The representative of the European Union noted that her delegation continued to examine the notification and expressed interest in the responses to the questions of the United States The representative of Ukraine thanked the United States for its additional questions, which related to questions posed to Ukraine in document G/VAL/W/230. The delegation of Ukraine would respond to these questions at the earliest possible time The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next Before concluding the discussion under this agenda item, the Chairperson drew Members' attention to the fact that 41 of the 159 WTO Members still needed to notify their national legislation and 68 Members had not provided responses to the checklist of issues. In addition, it appeared, from interventions that had been made at previous meetings that many Members had not notified changes introduced to their national legislations since they first made a notification The Committee took note of this information. 3 INFORMATION ON THE APPLICATION OF DECISIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 3.1. The Chairperson recalled that, under this agenda item, the Committee examined notifications pursuant to two Decisions that had been adopted by the Committee at its meetings of 12 May These were the Decisions on "Treatment of Interest Charges in the Customs Value of Imported Goods" and "Valuation of Carrier Media Bearing Software for Data Processing Equipment". A summary report of the notifications received had been prepared by the Secretariat and circulated in G/VAL/W/5/Rev.23. Since the last meeting, new notifications had been received from Ecuador in G/VAL/N/3/ECU/1, Macao, China in document G/VAL/N/3/MAC/1, and from Uruguay in documents G/VAL/N/3/URY/1 and G/VAL/N/3/URY/ The Chairperson noted that Uruguay had submitted a proposal to update the Decision on the "Valuation of carrier media bearing software for data processing equipment" on the agenda of the The same question was addressed in the communication by the Chairman of the Technical Committee which circulated in document G/VAL/W/ The representative of Uruguay confirmed the position of his delegation and noted that the results of the work of the Technical Committee could be found in the referred document. Uruguay

10 had proposed new text for the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of the Decision, which could be found in document G/VAL/W/229 (Annex III to WCO document VT0889E1a, Draft letter to the Chair of the Committee on Customs Valuation). The new text should read as follows: "For the purpose of this Decision, the expression "carrier medium" shall not be taken to include integrated circuits, semiconductors and similar devices or articles incorporating such circuits or devices, with the exception of those which take the form solely of a means of temporary storage for transfer of data or instructions (software) to data processing equipment in order to be used; the expression "data or instructions" shall not be taken to include sound, cinematic or video recordings" The delegation of Japan was not able to attend the meeting, but the Chairperson read a statement on its behalf. In Japan's view, the magnitude and implication of the proposal by Uruguay went beyond technical aspects of interpretation, and might in fact lead to amending the Decision. For this reason, Japan considered that the WTO's Customs Valuation Committee was the appropriate forum to discuss this issue. In the future discussion, Members had to bear in mind that the Decision had been drafted in 1984, and some element failed to reflect on the changed circumstance derived from the rapid pace of innovation in information technology With a view to making progress on this matter, the Chairperson invited Uruguay, as well as other delegations interested, to submit a written proposal so that it could be circulated to Members for their review and discussion at the next Committee 3.6. The committee took note of this information and statements made, and agreed to revert to this matter at its next 4 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE - Information on Technical Assistance 4.1. The Chairperson recalled that, as reflected in section B.4 of document G/VAL/5, the Committee had agreed that greater transparency of technical assistance activities would be ensured if information documents prepared for the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation were also circulated as WTO documents. The objective was to enable developing countries Members to avail themselves of broader information and to help them organize their efforts in this regard. For this reason, the WCO Secretariat periodically provided information of the technical assistance activities carried out under the auspices of the WCO. Document G/VAL/8/Add.28 contained the most recent information that had been compiled by the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation concerning technical assistance activities carried out by Members, as well as by the WCO Secretariat The Committee took note of this information. - Article 20.3 Technical Assistance and Trade-Related Technical Assistance 4.3. The Chairperson recalled that the Committee's work programme on technical assistance for capacity-building concerning the implementation and administration of the Agreement was now incorporated in the overall technical assistance programme of the WTO. The WTO was in the process of implementing the biennial TA plan in document WT/COMTD/W/180/Rev.1, which foresaw regional activities on "Market Access Issues", which included customs valuation as one of the areas covered in that training. Regional activities had already been undertaken in 2013, namely: for English Speaking Africa in Pretoria, South Africa; for Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Central Asia countries in Austria; and for Arab and Middle East countries in Kuwait. The regional activity for Caribbean countries had been scheduled to take place in Saint Lucia at the end of October The Chairperson drew Members' attention to the fact they can individually submit requests for technical assistance, which would result in a national activity tailored to the specific needs of the beneficiary country. In this regard, national activities had been carried out in the following Members and acceding countries in 2013: Costa Rica, Ukraine, Iran, Brunei, Tajikistan, and Togo. The majority of these activities had been held jointly by the Secretariats of the WTO and the WCO. No other technical assistance activity at national level had been scheduled for 2013.

11 The Committee took note of this information. 5 UNITED STATES - ARMENIA'S REFERENCE PRICE SYSTEM IN CONNECTION WITH THE VALUATION OF GOODS 5.1. The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to this issue. In 2003, Armenia had notified its national legislation and responses to the checklist of issues in G/VAL/N/1/ARM/1 and G/VAL/N/2/ARM/1, respectively. The Committee had concluded its review of these notifications at its meeting of 18 October Subsequently, the United States had posed new questions to Armenia, which had been circulated in G/VAL/W/208, which had been answered by Armenia in G/VAL/W/213. Canada had submitted questions in G/VAL/W/ The representative of Canada noted that his delegation had submitted questions on the possible use of reference prices, and remained interested in receiving responses. He requested that the item would remain on the agenda until then The representative of the United States stated that his delegation appreciated Armenia's past statements regarding reference or control prices, but it continued to be concerned about the issue. The United States understood that Armenia was in the process of amending its customs code, which would impact Armenia's customs valuation procedures. His delegation looked forward to receiving any amendments to Armenia's customs valuation legislation or procedures, and would continue to engage bilaterally to address any concerns The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next 6 PARAGRAPH 12 OF THE DOHA MINISTERIAL DECLARATION: IMPLEMENTATION- RELATED ISSUES - Paragraph 8.3 of document WT/MIN/(01)/ The Chairperson recalled that, at its meeting in December 2002, the General Council had authorized the Committee to continue its work under the existing mandate in paragraph 8.3 of the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns, and to report back to the General Council once its work had been completed. Under this item, India had argued that "in recognising the legitimate concerns of importing Members on the accuracy of the declared value" Ministers had directed this Committee to identify and assess practical means to address such concerns, including through the exchange of information on export values. India considered that this was a separate mandate that should be addressed by the Committee. However, other Members were of the view that the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation was the appropriate venue to continue those discussions, in particular because it was examining proposals that contained elements that were very similar to those contained in India's proposal The representative of India reiterated its position on this issue and argued that Members should work constructively to implement paragraph 8.3 of the Ministerial Decision. For this reason, the item should be kept on the agenda of the Committee The representative of Ecuador supported India's position and noted that this Committee was the right forum to deal with this matter, especially because it had not yet been possible to conclude the negotiations of the new Trade Facilitation Agreement The representative of the European Union noted that the position of her delegation remained unchanged. The Committee was not the appropriate forum to discuss this issue, because there were on-going negotiations in the context of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation. Therefore, such negotiations provided the appropriate venue to pursue those discussions and there was no point in keeping the item on the agenda of the Committee The representative of the United States continued to believe that the negotiations on trade facilitation were the appropriate venue to have those discussions and was examining proposals which contained elements very similar to those contained in India's paper.

12 The representative of Canada noted that his delegation's position remained unchanged. The proposal was contrary to the mandate of the Committee and this issue was under intensive discussions in the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation The Committee took note of statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next 7 PRESHIPMENT INSPECTION 7.1. The Chairperson recalled that Preshipment Inspection was a standing item on the agenda of the Committee on Customs Valuation and proposed to discuss two issues separately. The first one concerned the status of notifications, as well as information received from the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA), and the second one related to questions that had been posed by the United States to Indonesia. - Status of notifications by Members and information provided by IFIA 7.2 On the status of notifications submitted by Members, the Chairperson drew Members' attention to the new compilation that had been prepared by the Secretariat pursuant to Article 5 of the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection and circulated in G/PSI/N/1/Rev.1. New notifications had been received from Mali and Lesotho (G/PSI/N/1/Rev.1/Add.1), People's Democratic Republic of Lao (G/PSI/N/1/Rev.1/Add.2), and Samoa (G/PSI/N/1/Rev.1/Add.3). 7.3 With regard to the report of the IFIA pertaining to countries that use preshipment inspection services, the Chairperson informed the committee that the Secretariat had not received further information since document G/VAL/W/63/Rev.15 had been issued last year. 7.4 The representative of the United States thanked the People's Democratic Republic of Lao and Samoa for their respective notifications to the Committee. He also noted that his delegation would like to review the PSI legislation that had been notified by Mali. 7.5 The Committee took note of the three documents and statements made. - Question from the United States to Indonesia 7.6 The Chairperson recalled that it was agreed at the last meeting to revert to this issue. At the last meeting, the United States had indicated that it had not received responses to the questions that had been posed to Indonesia in documents G/VAL/W/167 and G/VAL/W/180. The representative of Indonesia had taken note of those questions and stated this issue had been discussed with capital. The United States had submitted follow-up questions in G/VAL/W/ The representative of the United States reported that several US exporters had been subjected to a growing number of preshipment inspection requirements that had not been notified to the Committee. The United States expressed concern about the rise of new requirements and the lack of transparency, including the failure of Members to notify the Committee of such requirements, which had been frequently referred to in Indonesia's law and regulations as "surveys". The United States had submitted a number of written questions and a request for Indonesia to notify its legislation, which had been circulated in document G/VAL/W/237. His delegation looked forward to receiving a prompt response to those questions. 7.8 The Committee took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next 8 PROPOSAL BY URUGUAY TO RECTIFY THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH VERSIONS OF ARTICLE 8:(1)(B)(IV) OF THE AGREEMENT ON CUSTOMS VALUATION 8.1. The Chairperson noted that the delegation of Uruguay requested to include in the agenda its proposal to rectify the English and Spanish versions of Article 8:(1)(b)(iv) of the Agreement on Customs Valuation, which was reflected in the communication sent by the Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs of the WCO (document G/VAL/W/225).

13 The delegation of Uruguay considered there were some differences in the English, French and Spanish versions of Article 8:(1)(b)(iv). As reflected in document G/VAL/W/225, these differences had been examined by the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, so his delegation would like to align the three versions texts. The new text in Spanish should read as follows: "ingeniería, creación y perfeccionamiento, trabajos artísticos, diseños, planos y croquis, realizados fuera del país de importación y necesarios para la producción de las mercaderías importadas." 8.3. The representative of the WCO confirmed that Uruguay had raised this question at the Technical Committee, which had examined the issue at its 35th and 36th sessions. It had found that the punctuation in Spanish was different from the English and French versions, and that this could have given rise to a different interpretation of the meaning of this provision in the Agreement. Therefore, the Technical Committee had decided to submit this question to the examination of the Committee on Customs Valuation, which it had done through a letter dated 13 May At the request of the Chairperson, a representative of the Legal Affairs Division of the WTO explained that Article 79 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties foresaw the possibility of correcting errors in treaties. In particular, Article 79.3 provided for the possibility of correcting errors when there was a lack of concordance among different authentic language versions of a treaty. As WTO Depositary, the Director-General had several errors in WTO treaties since Typically, there were two steps involved. First, a depositary notification was issued under the title "Rectification", identifying the error and the suggested language to correct it. It typically allowed 30 days for Members to object to the suggested correction. Second, once the 30 days had passed without objections, another depositary notification was issued under the title "Procès-verbal of rectification", announcing that, in the absence of objections, the Depositary had introduced the corrections into the original of the treaty in question. The most recent example was from 2012 and involved documents WT/Let/853 and WT/Let/854, which corrected a numbering error in the French version of Article II of the Protocol Amending the GPA. Another example involved the the Spanish version of the Agreement on Customs Valuation, where a correction was made to change the word "entretenimiento" to "mantenimiento" in the interpretative note to Article 1 of the Customs Valuation Agreement (cf. documents WT/Let/142 and WT/Let/147). The precondition for initiating this kind of procedure was, using the words of Article 79.3 of the Vienna Convention, that Members "agree [that the error] should be corrected". Accordingly, Members should first agree whether there was an error in the Spanish and English versions of Article 8.1(b)(iv) of the Customs Valuation Agreement. If that were the case, they should then agree on what language should be used to correct this error. Once such an agreement was reached, the Depositary could initiate the formal correction process described earlier The Chairperson thanked the representative of the Legal Affairs Division for the precise explanation. He then asked whether Members agreed with Uruguay that there was a mistake in Article 8:(1)(b)(iv) of the Agreement and, if affirmative, whether the Committee was ready to make an amendment as proposed by Uruguay The representative of the European Union thanked the Chairperson and the Legal Affairs Division of the WTO for their explanation, and noted that she would like to revert back to capital with the explanation provided The representative of the United States thanked the Legal Affairs Division for the explanation provided, and joined the European Union in requesting the opportunity to revert back to the capital with this explanation The Chairperson proposed to revert back to this matter at the next meeting of the committee. He invited Uruguay to submit a written proposal so that it could be circulated to Members for their review and discussion at the next Committee 8.9. The Committee took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next

14 PROPOSAL TO HOLD A SEMINAR ON THE POSSIBLE USE OF DATABASES TO SET REFERENCE PRICES 9.1. The Chairperson drew Members' attention to a proposal contained in document G/VAL/W/231, which was submitted by received from Australia; Canada; European Union; Chinese Taipei; and the United States. These Members proposed to hold an "informal workshop to discuss the possible use of databases to set reference prices", to which the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) would be invited together with the WCO and other relevant institutions or organizations. The Chairperson recalled that this subject had been brought to the attention of the Committee in 2012, following a letter that had been sent by the Chairman of the Committee on Customs and Trade Regulations of the ICC. As a result of consultations which had been held by the former chairperson, Members had agreed that, although the ICC could not be granted observer status, the Committee could explore other ways of cooperation, for instance through the organization of an informal seminar or workshop. The Chairperson also noted that he had asked the Chairman of the Technical Committee for factual information on the possible misuse of databases to set minimum or reference prices, to which a reply had been received in document G/VAL/W/229. He understood that the Technical Committee would examine the issue at its October 2013 The Chairperson observed that, as a result of recent informal consultations, some Members were in favour of holding a seminar back-to-back with the next Committee meeting, whereas others needed more time to receive a response from capital The representative of Canada thanked, on behalf of the cosponsors, the opportunity to present the joint proposal for an informal workshop to discuss the use of databases to set reference prices. His delegation believed that, in order to remain relevant, the WTO needed to be responsive to the real world challenges faced by businesses, and provide a forum to discuss issues of importance to the global trading system. He explained that reference prices referred to preestablished values which were used by certain customs administrations to establish the price on which import duties and taxes were assessed. Despite being prohibited under the Agreement on Customs Valuation, they continued to be used and had become an issue of growing concern to the cosponsors. Canada shared the concerns expressed by the ICC with respect to the establishment of such depositories of price information in databases, which could then be used by customs officials to set minimum or reference prices. Because the ICC could not attend a formal meeting of the Committee, the previous chairperson had held informal consultations to determine how to proceed. After several consultations, the Chairperson had reported, at the May 2013 committee meeting, that there was general willingness amongst Members to allow the ICC to participate through an informal seminar or workshop. Canada believed that such a format would provide an excellent opportunity for Members to better understand the concerns that had been raised by the ICC and proposed verbally that the ICC be invited to present on its work through an informal workshop. No Member had objected to such a proposal, though there had been few suggestions as to how to improve it, including to draw on the expertise of the WTO Secretariat, the WCO and the Technical Committee Canada noted further that the cosponsors had submitted a written proposal to increase transparency and to encourage the engagement of capital-based experts. As it had been outlined in the proposal, the cosponsors envisioned the workshop to begin with presentations by the WTO, WCO and ICC, so they can describe the nature, scope and consequences of the problem. Proponents did not intend to amend the Agreement on Customs valuation, but rather hoped that the workshop would help to inform and encourage a frank discussion on an important issue facing business today. The proponents were flexible on the possible date of the workshop, but would propose to hold it early in 2014, possibly back to back with the committee meeting in spring, in order to encourage greater capital-based representation. They proposed that the more technical and logistical issues of the workshop, such as dates and participation, be determined through informal consultations with the Chair and Secretariat. Canada stressed that proponents had no preconceived plans on what should happen after the workshop. Their proposal was to take note of the information, to then consider and digest the issues before deciding if and how to move ahead. Regardless of the outcome, Canada and the cosponsors remained dedicated to a member-driven process, and looked forward to discussing the proposal with other Members The representative of the United States considered that the ICC had brought a serious issue on the use and misuse of reference pricing databases to the Committee's attention. The United States supported the organization of an informal workshop to be carried out in conjunction with the committee meeting scheduled for Spring He hoped that this proposal would find