RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/ALB/16
24September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3776)
Original: English
ACCESSION OFALBANIA
Communication from Albania
Thefollowing information ontheImplementation anAdministration oftheCustoms Valuation
Agreement hasbeenreceived from theMinistry ofIndustry Transport andTrade oftheRepublic of
Albania.
_______________
TheAlbanian hasprepared adraftlawonCustoms Valuation, acopyofwhich wasprovided
totheWorking Party attheApril 1996 meeting. Webelieve thedraftlawisinconformity withthe
WTO agreement inthisfield. Thislawhasbeenapproved bytheCouncil ofMinisters inMarch 1996.
Duetodelay caused bytheelections heldattheendofMay1996 andtheestablishment of
thenewAlbania Parliament wearewaiting forparliamentary approval ofthedraft. Anticipation
Parliamentary approval theanswers tothequestionnaire arebased onthedraftlaw.
1. Questions concerning Article 1:
(a)Sales between related persons
(i)Aresales between related persons subject tospecial provision?
Yes. Article 1.5ofthedraftAlbanian lawdefines some terms usedfortheunderstanding and
implementation ofthelaw,including adefinition of"related persons". Inaddition, article 5defines
theresponsibilities ofeachimporter todeclare inwritten form tothecustoms authorities, ifhe/she
isrelated withtheseller within themeaning ofthelaw.
(ii)Isthefactofintercompany prices prima facie considered asgrounds forregarding
therespective prices asbeing influenced?
No.Article 5.3provides thatintercompany prices prima facie arenotconsidered grounds
forregarding therespective prices asbeing influenced.
(iii)What istheprovision forgiving thecommunication oftheaforementioned grounds
inwriting iftheimporter sorequests? (Article 1.2(a))
Therightoftheimporter tohavethecommunication inwriting oftheaforementioned grounds
isincluded inarticle 5.2.According tothisarticle, when thecustoms authorities havereason tosuspect
thattherelationship oftheparties hasinfluenced thetransaction value, theauthorities areobliged to
giveandexplanation inwriting, andtogivetheimporter theopportunity torespond.WT/ACC/ALB/16
Page2
(iv)How hasArticle 1.2(b) been implemented?
Since thelawisstillindraftform, Article 1.2(b) hasnotyetbeenimplemented.
(b)Price oflostordamaged goods
Arethere anyspecial provisions orpractical arrangements concerning thevaluation of
lostordamaged goods?
No.Itisintended thatthisissuewillbedealtwithinfuture implementing regulations forthe
law.
2. How hastheprovision ofArticle 4toallow theimporter anoption toreverse theorder
ofapplication ofArticles 5and6been implemented?
Article 11.1ofthedraftlawdefines thatinsituations where thecustoms value ofimported
goods cannot bedetermined according toarticles 4,5,6,8,9and10,thenthecustoms authorities
willdetermine itaccording totheprinciples ofArticle VIIoftheGATT Agreement andits
implementation.
3. How hasArticle 5.2been implemented?
Noimplementation yet,duetothedraftnature ofthelaw,butitiscovered byArticle 9of
thedraft.
4. How hasArticle 6.2been implemented?
Noimplementation yet,butitiscovered byArticle 10ofthedraft.
5. Questions concerning Article 7:
(a)WhatprovisionshavebeenmadeformakingvaluedeterminationspursuanttoArticle7?
Article 11.1 ofthedraft law, includes theprovisions ofArticle 7formaking value
determinations.
(b)What aretheprovisions forinforming theimporter ofthecustoms value determined
under Article 7?
Article11.3definestherightoftheimportertobeinformedinwritingbythecustomsauthorities
about themethod usedindetermining thecustoms value.
(c)Aretheprohibitions found inArticle 7.2delineated?
Article 11.2includes alltheprohibitions found inArticle 7.2.
6. Howhavetheoptions found inArticle 8.2beenhandled? Inthecaseoff.o.b. application,
areex-factory prices alsoaccepted?
Theaccepted prices including thecaseoff.o.b. application willbeincluded intheregulations
oflaw,which isunder consideration.WT/ACC/ALB/16
Page3
7. Where istherateofexchange published, asrequired byArticle 9.1?
Asnoted inArticle 3ofthedrafttheexchange ratewillbepublished.
8. What steps have been taken toensure confidentially, asrequired byArticle 10?
Article 16ofthedraftAlbanian lawensures thesame levelofconfidentiality asrequired by
Article 10.
9. Questions concerning Article 11:
(a)What rights ofappeal areopen totheimporter oranyother person?
(b)How ishetobeinformed ofhisright tofurther appeal?
Article 20ofthedraftAlbanian lawdefines therights ofappeal opentotheimporter, tothe
person whoistransporting thecommodities, totheperson whohasgiven theinsurance forthem as
wellastothecustom agent authorized bytheimporter. Thisarticle gives therequired information
tobeincluded inthepetition; thetime, procedures tobefollowed intheappellation; andtheresponsible
institutions todealwiththecase.
10. Provide information onthepublication, asrequired byArticle 12of:
(a) (i)therelevant national laws;
(ii)theregulations concerning theapplication oftheAgreement;
(iii)thejudicial decision andadministrative rulings ofgeneral application relating
totheAgreement;
(iv)general orspecific lawsbeing referred tointtherules ofimplementation or
application.
(b)Isthepublication offurther rules anticipated? Which topics would theycover?
Itisexpectedthatimplementingregulationswillbedraftedatsomepointfollowingparliamentary
approval ofthelaw.
11. Questions concerning Article 13:
(a)How istheobligation ofArticle 13(lastsentence) being dealt withintherespective
legislation?
(b)Have additional explanations been laiddown?
Article 18ofAlbanian lawdefines therights andobligations oftheimporter inconformity
withtheobligation ofArticle 13.Noadditional explanation havebeenlaiddown.
12. Questions concerning Article 16:
(a)Doestherespectivenationallegislationcontainaprovisionrequiringcustomsauthorities
togiveanexplanation inwriting astohowthecustoms value wasdetermined?
Yes. Article 17ofthedraftAlbanian lawrequires thecustoms authorities togiveanexplanation
inwriting astohowthecustoms value wasdetermined.WT/ACC/ALB/16
Page4
(b)Arethere anyfurther regulations concerning anabove-mentioned request?
There arenofurther regulations.
13. How have theInterpretative Notes oftheAgreement been included?
Albania hasunder consideration theirpreparation.
14. How have theprovisions oftheDecision of26April 1984 ontheTreatment ofInterest
Charges intheCustoms Value ofImported Goods (Val/6/Rev.1) been implemented?
Theprovision ofthedecision of26April 1984 ontheTreatment ofInterest charges inthe
Customs Value ofImported Goods willbeincluded intheimplementing regulations oftheCustoms
Valuation Law.
15. Forthose countries applying paragraph 2oftheDecision of24September 1984 onthe
Valuation ofCarrier Media Bearing Software forData Processing Equipment (Val/8),
howhave theprovisions ofthisparagraph been implemented?
These provisions willbeincluded intheimplementing regulations.
Forallquestions listed above, anindication ofthereference isrequested.