Four of the member reviews—for Cabo Verde, Mauritania, the Philippines and Senegal—were concluded at the meeting.
A WTO committee recently reviewed 63 notifications pertaining to the customs valuation legislation of 37 members and adopted a report aimed at enhancing transparency.
The committee chair noted that 121 members had now notified their national legislation on customs valuation and 94 members had provided responses to the checklist of issues regarding implementation of the WTO’s Customs Valuation Agreement.
Committee chair Judith Yu-Ying Kuo noted that 121 members had now notified their national legislation on customs valuation and 94 members had provided responses to the checklist of issues regarding implementation of the WTO’s Customs Valuation Agreement, an official release said.
The committee also adopted a draft report to the WTO’s council on trade in goods on the status of customs valuation notifications to itself. The report was requested by the chair of the council with the aim of improving the rate, quality and timeliness of customs valuation notifications.
The WTO also heard from the World Customs Organization (WCO), one of whose officials shared information on a new instrument adopted at its 61st session in October: an explanatory note on ‘price actually paid or payable’, a fundamental principal of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement’s valuation methodology.
The official also updated the committee on the WCO’s draft guidelines on e-commerce fulfilment and its implications for customs. The guidelines aim at helping members and stakeholders in dealing with the growing volume of small, low-value consignments ordered online and destined for consumers.
The next meeting of the committee will take place on May 8, 2026.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
