. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/W/55
22 December 1999
(99-5512)
Committee on Customs Valuations Original:  Spanish
STATEMENT BY URUGUAY REQUESTING A
DEROGATION ON MINIMUM VALUES
The following communication, dated 21 December 1999, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of Uruguay.
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The Permanent Delegation of Uruguay to the World Trade Organization hereby advises that
the Government of Uruguay has decided to make the reservation provided for in Annex III,
paragraph 2, of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII on the General Agreement on Tariffsand Trade (GATT) 1994, in order to retain officially established minimum values for a one-year
transitional period.
Over the last five years, Uruguay has not only introduced and implemented the GATT/WTO
customs valuation legislation, but also undertaken a thorough reform aimed at modernizing andsimplifying customs administration rules and procedures.  Among the reforms carried out, the
National Customs Directorate has put into operation a new computerized system (Lucia system) to
control customs operations.  Uruguay has also received technical assistance from the WTO Secretariat
which has been most useful for customs administration.
On 29 December 1994, Uruguay reserved inter alia  the right to retain the system of minimum
official values for the valuation of goods in accordance with paragraph 2 of Annex III of theAgreement on Customs Valuation.  As from 1 January 2000, Uruguay will be fully applying the
provisions of the Customs Valuation Agreement, most of which entered into force in recent years,
with the sole exception of the clause relating to minimum values for a small list of goods.
"Minimum export prices" have been applied under Decree 315/993, and in keeping with the
decision gradually to dismantle this system the scope and number of products covered by these
measures have been steadily and significantly reduced in recent years.  In 1994 minimum prices were
applied to 429 tariff lines corresponding to a variety of products and sectors.  At present, the
minimum export prices still in effect apply to a small and limited number of products (122 tariff lines)
in the textiles, clothing and sugar sectors.
The tariff lines (HS ten-digit level) to which minimum prices currently apply correspond to
products falling within heading 1711 (sugar, 4 tariff lines) and chapters 52, 54, 55 (textiles, 45 tariff
lines) and 60 to 63 (made-up articles, 73 tariff lines) of the Harmonized System, which together
represent a small percentage of the total tariff nomenclature and of imports.
The reservation made for this small group of products for a one-year period is prompted by a
number of factors.  For the economy as a whole, fo llowing a long period of GDP growth the forecasts
for this year indicate a negative growth rate for 1999.  In the case of textiles in particular, the critical
situation experienced by the world economy has directly affected the conversion process under way inthe sector.  The crisis has had a strong impact in the region and a number of serious adverse effects onG/VAL/W/55
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the industry and on the level of employment, especially in recent months.  As regards sugar, apart
from the above-mentioned situation the current negotiations on the formulation of a common policy
for the sector within Mercosur has led the Government to retain additional measures on a transitional
basis with a view to the reconversion of this sector.
Uruguay will proceed to abolish these minimum values and apply measures that are fully
compatible with the WTO agreements within the period for which this reservation is made.  Taking
into account, furthermore, that the recently elected new government is to take office in March 2000,
the authorities considered it necessary to have reco urse to this additional short period of one year in
order to complete the process of eliminating this instrument, which has been under way steadily and
progressively in recent years, and so comply fully and completely with the provisions of the
Agreement.
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