RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/VAL/W/15
1November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4620)
Committee onCustoms Valuation
USEOFTHE TERM "ENTRETENIMIENTO" INTHE
INTERPRETATIVE NOTE TOARTICLE 1OFTHE
AGREEMENT ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
Communication from theWorld Customs Organization
Thefollowing communication, dated 22October 1996, addressed totheChairman oftheWTO
Committee onCustoms Valuation, hasbeen received from theChairman oftheWCO Technical
Committee onCustoms Valuation.
_______________
AttheFirstSession oftheTechnical Committee onCustoms Valuation inOctober 1995, during
thediscussion onthescope oftheword "maintenance" intheInterpretative Note toArticle 1ofthe
Agreement, thedelegate ofArgentina pointed outthattheword "entretenimiento" usedintheSpanish
version asthetranslation oftheFrench word "entretien" ("maintenance" intheEnglish version) did
nothavethesamemeaning inSpanish-speaking countries. Following themeeting, theWCO Secretariat
received aletter from Argentina confirming thisstandpoint. Argentina alsorequested thatthisissue
beraised before theWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation inGeneva withtheviewtosubstituting
theterm"mantenimiento" for"entretenimiento" intheAgreement.
TheWCO Secretariat circulated Argentina 'sletter toother Spanish-speaking Members ofthe
Committee seeking theirviews ontheobservations ofArgentina. Responses werereceived fromChile,
Mexico, PeruandSpain. Allofthesecountries expressed support fortheproposal made byArgentina.
Atitssecond session, theTechnical Committee noted theconcern oftheSpanish-speaking
countries andasked metonotify theWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation withaviewtoensuring
auniform interpretation andunderstanding ofthethree official language versions oftheAgreement.
Youmayrecall thattheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation wasinformed ofthismatter atits
lastmeeting during thereport oftheSecond Session oftheTechnical Committee.1
AttheThirdSessionoftheTechnicalCommitteewhichtookplaceearlierthismonth,thedelegate
ofArgentina asked about theprogress ontheproposal toamend theSpanish version oftheAgreement.
Itappears, duetoanoversight, thatthere hasbeennoformal written communication toadvise you
oftheTechnical Committee 'sdecision and,consequently, thisissuehasnotbeenincluded intheagenda
ofthenextmeeting oftheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation. TheTechnical Committee has
asked metowrite toyouandrequest thatthismatter beincluded intheagenda ofthenextmeeting
oftheWTO Committee onCustoms Valuation.
Iappreciate thatmaking anamendment totheAgreement would beverydifficult toachieve.
ThemattermightbeappropriatelyaddressedbyadecisionoftheWTOCommitteeonCustomsValuation
regarding theinterpretation oftheword "entretenimiento" intheSpanish version oftheAgreement.
Thiswasthecourse ofaction adopted bytheGATT Committee onCustoms Valuation inrelation to
similar problems inthepast.
1Seedocument G/VAL/M/3.