WTO Seminar on Technical Assistance in WTO Seminar on Technical Assistance in Customs Valuation Customs Valuation

Developing capacity building in the area of customs valuation

- a perspective from the Commonwealth Secretariat

Presented by

Angela Strachan

Chief Programme Officer

Special Advisory Services Division

Commonwealth Secretariat

Trade and Commonwealth StatesTrade and Commonwealth States

The Commonwealth:– 54 countries– 30% of the world ’s population– 32 small states– 14 LDCs– 23% of world trade– 40% of WTO membership

Trade and Commonwealth StatesTrade and Commonwealth States

WORK PROGRAMME IN TRADE Goals:

To assist developing countries to protect their interests and benefit from trade, investment and new information technology

To provide practical assistance that supports their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals

To promote international attention to and provide support for the special needs of small states

Trade and Commonwealth StatesTrade and Commonwealth States

Assistance to:Develop and implement trade policy capacityPromote regional integrationExpand enterprise developmentImplement emerging priority areas for the

Commonwealth

ACV Implementation concernsACV Implementation concerns

Economic, political and infrastructural challenges: High turnover of customs personnel in some

administrations Fear of loss of Customs revenue since imported

duties and related taxes still represent a significant % of total revenue in most countries

Political instability Informal trade Presence of PSI companies Insufficient political will

Trade Capacity BuildingTrade Capacity Building Customs ValuationCustoms Valuation

– CFTC/WTO sponsored Training programmes to better understand Article V11 of the GATT and to better implement spirit of the Agreement (ACV)

Accomplishments to date2000 and 2001 ACV training programme done for 33 countries from Africa, Asia,Pacific and the

Caribbean2002 34 customs officials from English speaking Africa will take part in 2 week training course

in South Africa (11-22, Nov)2003 French instructed Course designed for Francophone African countries (possible venue-

Mauritius)– Training programmes are unique: combination of lectures, case studies,group work and on-

the-job training– Plus Handbook on Frequently Asked Questions on Customs Valuation

Customs Valuation TrainingCustoms Valuation Trainingbeneficiary countries 2000 - 2002beneficiary countries 2000 - 2002

Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica,Kiribati,Tonga,Tuvalu,Solomon Islands,Vanuatu,Samoa,Maldives, TanzaniaMalaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ghana,Nigeria, Maldives, Brunei Darussalam,Fiji, Papua New GuineaSierra Leone, The Gambia, Mozambique, Botswana

+Philippines,Laos, Bhutan,

Mongolia, Nepal *(N.B. Non-Commonwealth funded

by WTO)

Mauritius, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Swaziland,Lesotho,NamibiaMalawi, Seychelles,ZimbabweSudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt,Zimbabwe

Project Partners:WTO, WCO, plus Host country Revenue Authority/Customs

Administration

-India (2000, 2001)-South Africa (2002)

,

ACV Implementation concernsACV Implementation concerns

High levels of tariff encourage undervaluation and other valuation fraud

Commonwealth developing countries rely heavily on revenue from customs duties Avg. 30 -60 percent of Govt. Revenue

More time required to develop infrastructure including:– legislation– human resources– administrative procedures

ACV Implementation concernsACV Implementation concerns Core capacity building needs:

– Design and adopt model customs legislation– Establish Valuation Divisions– Design and deliver public education programmes– Develop training material incl.procedures manuals– Acquire or update computer systems– Develop declaration forms– Develop valuation databases– Develop and implement appeals mechanisms

ACV Implementation concernsACV Implementation concerns

Computed value method presents some difficulty because of inability to get:

Information :– On cost of production in developed countries – Other elements of cost

Other Issues such as: - Distance from manufacturing locations– Confidentiality regarding commercial costing– Insufficient confidence in levels/type of mutual assistance

provided by customs administrations in developed countries

ACV Technical Assistance ACV Technical Assistance Best PracticesBest Practices

Modality for training programmes– practical courses required

Target group for training need to be senior officials

Sustainability of assistance is an issue South -south assistance is desirable in many

cases

ACV technical assistance needs to ACV technical assistance needs to enhance WTO compliance enhance WTO compliance

In depth training on the ACV Attachments to suitable administrations of comparable size and

effective competence based on applying the Agreement Assistance to develop the machinery for appeals as provided for in

legislation Introduction of computerisation and databases in Valuation

Divisions - essential to facilitate administration of the identical value method, similar value method and deductive value method

Assistance with developing and administering an ACV implementation plan and work programme

Assistance with developing funding briefs for donors

Notes for ConsiderationNotes for Consideration

Problems universal but solutions local - so each country encouraged to develop recommendations to solve its own constraints

Further CFTC technical assistance possible particularly where other donors have an interest.