Customs and the World Trade Organization

Sub-subject: Customs and the WTO (World Trade Organization). Syllabus:

1. The World Trade Organization and Customs
2. Multilateral Trading System.
3. Agreements of the World Trade Organization
4. Tariffs.
5. Agriculture.
6. Standards and safety.
7. Textiles.
8. Anti-dumping, subsidies, and safeguards.
9. Non-tariff barriers.
10. Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures.
11. Agreement on Customs Valuation.
12. Rules for the valuation of goods at customs.
13. Methods for the valuation of goods:
    - Transaction value
    - Identical or similar goods
    - Deductive or computed method
    - Fall-back.
14. Pre-shipment Inspection Agreement.
15. Rules of Origin Agreement
16. Customs and Regional Trade Agreements.
17. Customs Procedures and the Doha agenda.

Objectives of the subject are to understand the

1. Role of the World Trade Organization in customs
2. WTO's agreements
3. Fundamental concepts: non-tariff barriers, customs valuation, transaction value, pre-shipment inspection, rules of origin, and import licenses
4. Methods for the valuation of goods

Sample of the sub-subject (Customs and the World Trade Organization):

Sub-Subject Description (Customs and the World Trade Organization):

Import licensing

In international trade, import licensing are administrative procedures that need the compliance of documentation to the administrative organization as a previous condition for importation of products.

The Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures of the World Trade Organization refers to "import licensing should be simple, transparent and predictable."

Customs valuation.

Customs valuation is a procedure applied by customs find out the "Customs value of imported products."

In the case that the rate of duty is "ad valorem," the customs value is necessary to find out the duty to be paid on an imported product.

For importers, the process of estimating the value of a product at customs can present some troubles.

The World Trade Organization agreement on customs valuation aims for a fair, uniform and neutral system for the valuation of goods for customs objectives.

The World Trade Organization agreement on customs valuation defines that customs valuation should (excluding in specified circumstances) be based on the actual price of the products (usually marked on the invoice). The following six methods are considered in the Agreement on Customs of the WTO:
- Transaction value
- Transaction value of identical products
- Transaction value of similar products
- Deductive method
- Computed method
- Fall-back method.

Transaction value is the price paid by the importer to the benefit of the exporter for the imported products.

Pre-shipment inspection.

When the exporter or the importer outsource specialized private companies to control shipment details (price, quantity, and quality) of products. The Pre-shipment Inspection Agreement recognizes that General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) principles and obligations apply to these activities of pre-shipment.

Rules of Origin

The "Rules of origin" define where a product was produced. The concept of rules and certificate of origin is a fundamental pillar of international trade rules (quotas, preferential tariffs, anti-dumping, or counter export subsidies)

(Source: World Trade Organization).