The Indian Central Board of Excise and Customs hosted a sub-regional WCO Workshop on Valuation Control via Post Clearance Audit (PCA) from 28 January to 1 February 2013 in Faridabad, India.

Customs officials from nine countries in the south and west Asia region attended the Workshop; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The structure and content of the Workshop was based on a new programme being developed collaboratively by the WCO and participants who attended a WCO expert-accreditation event which took place in Japan last December.

This programme is designed to assist Customs administrations in strengthening Customs valuation controls conducted after importation, primarily through PCA – acknowledged as the most effective means to control Customs valuation, as well as being an enabler of trade facilitation.

The programme covers the principles of the WTO Valuation Agreement, recent instruments of the WCO Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, strategic planning for PCA and the operational conduct of PCA, including case studies.

After the event, feedback was sought from the students so that the programme can be fine-tuned to ensure that it meets WCO Members’ needs.

The Workshop facilitators were from the WCO Secretariat, the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building for the Asia/Pacific region and a participant from the earlier accreditation event.