RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/W/37
29 July 1999
(99-3226)
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:  English
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON CUSTOMS VALUATION
CANADA
The following communication1, dated 28 July 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Canada with the request that it be circulated.
_______________
1.  During the last three years, as co-sponsor with the United States, Canada has been actively
involved in the APEC Valuation Technical Assistance initiative to deliver various types of valuation
training to ten APEC economies.  The ten APEC economies involved are: Thailand, BruneiDarussalam, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, China, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Philippines and
Singapore.  In addition, the three new APEC me mbers-designate economies of Peru, Russia and
Vietnam have all requested the technical assistance provided under this program.  Along with Canada
and the United States, the WCO, Australia and New Zealand are partners in this initiative.  The plan
approved by the APEC Secretariat is a phased approach whose objective is to develop training
packages to address common implementation issues and technical assistance requests.  Initially, a
series of  “focus papers” on various implementation issues were prepared and distributed and needsanalysis workshops were held in a number of the economies.  Revenue Canada valuation officers also
gave a five-day WCO Valuation legislation course in Brunei Darussalam in March of 1998 and in
Thailand (together with the United States) in April 1998.  The development of the three individualized
training modules has also been completed.  The delivery of the first of these modules was begun in
January 1999 and the delivery of the second is set to begin in May of this year.  The third will begiven later this year.  The three training modules are currently available to all WCO members directly
from the WCO.   For further details of this project, please refer to Appendix 1.
2. The Chief of Policy, Valuation Division, Revenue Canada, attended the WCO Symposium in
Brussels in September 1995, in conjunction with the 1st Session of the WCO’s Technical Committeeon Customs Valuation.  It was attended by most of the WCO Members represented in Brussels.
3. The Chief of Policy, Valuation Division, Revenue Canada, attended the Interamerican
Seminar on Customs Valuation for South and Central American countries in Viña del Mar, Chile, in
April 1996.  In addition to Canada, the following countries participated in the seminar: Argentina, TheBahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Sa lvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the United States.
4. Two officers from Chilean Customs attended a five-day Canadian Valuation legislation
training course at the Revenue Canada College, Rigaud, Québec, in December 1996.
                                                     
1 Circulated informally at the meeting of the Committee on Customs Valuation on 26 April 1999.G/VAL/W/37
Page 2
5. Canada participated in the WCO Seminar on Customs Valuation for Caribbean and Central &
South American countries bordering the Caribbean, held at the Revenue Canada College  Rigaud,
Québec, in early May 1997.  The WCO, the United States and Canada were the sponsors of the
seminar.  The following participated in the seminar:  Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, The Bahamas, Belize,
Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Haiti, Panama, St. Lucia, St. Vincent,
Turks and Caicos, Venezuela and the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council.
6. Canada participated in a WCO Mission to Tanzania to provide the WTO Valuation training
and implementation workshop, in January 1998.
7. Canada participated in a WCO Mission to Uganda, in March 1998, as part of the WTO
Seminar on Enforcement.G/VAL/W/37
Page 3
Appendix 1
CAP 5 Project: Adoption of the Principles of the WTO Valuation Agreement
Objective:
• To facilitate the implementation and the administration of the World Trade Organization’s
Valuation Agreement on standard procedures for valuing goods.  The project furthers Part 1 of the
Osaka Action Agenda by providing economic and technical co-operation that directly supports
APEC’s liberalization and facilitation objectives.
Background:
• Canada and the United States are the co-ordinators for this project and, with  assistance from
Australia and New Zealand, are providing the technical assistance to requesting APEC members.Singapore is being kept advised of progress.
• There are ten recipient economies:  Brunei Darussalam, Chile, People’s Republic of China,
Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Singapore
and Thailand.  In addition, the three new APEC  members-designate economies of Peru, Russia
and Vietnam have all requested the technical assistance provided under this program.
• The technical assistance is being delivered in a phased approach and covers a wide range of issues
and activities, including the legislative framework, creating the organization, clearance andverification procedures, undervaluation, and training needs.
Phase Details:
Phase I:  Gathering Information
& Confirming Needs• A brief outline of the approach to be taken was forwarded in
August 1996 to each economy that requested assistance.
• A preliminary questionnaire was distributed in December 1996.
The purpose of this questionnaire was to provide donors with
background material to prepare for workshops and, in order toidentify specific needs, to begin to obtain information on their
organizations, etc.
Phase II:  Focus Papers on
Management Challenges• The complete series of focus papers (i.e. implementation issues,
organization structure, legislation, etc.) were forwarded to the
economies and donor partners in September 1997.  Copies of thefocus papers are available.
Phase III:  Workshops on WTO
Valuation Agreement• Nine economies requested workshops to assess their individual
and common training needs.  The workshops were conducted, in
the economies themselves, during November and December o
f
1997.G/VAL/W/37
Page 4
Phase IV:  WCO Customs
Valuation Training Course• The WTO Valuation Agreement training course, as prepared by
the WCO, was delivered to Brunei Darussalam and Thailand in
March and April 1998.
• It was suggested to other economies that they could undertake
self-delivery of the course as part of expanding their technical
expertise.
Phase V:  Development of
Valuation training modules• The design and development of specific valuation training
modules to address the common training needs of the recipient
economies was completed by the end of 1998.
• Three training modules were developed which focus on the
practical application of the Valuation Agreement and its
implementation.
• Specifically, Module 1 has as its theme the “Complexities of the
Valuation Agreement”;  Module 2 deals with “Organizing theInfrastructure of the Valuation Program”; and, Module 3 is
concerned with “ Post Importation Verification”.
• The three modules have been provided to the APEC Secretariat
and the WCO Secretariat.  They are available, in electronic
format, to all their members.
Phase VI: Delivery of Valuation
training modules• The delivery of module 1 of the three valuation training modules
began in January 1999.
• Delivery of module 2 (Canada) is set to begin this coming May
and is scheduled to be completed by the end of August 1999.
Module 3 (USA) is scheduled to be completed by the end of the
year.
__________