The WCO Secretariat recently conducted a national workshop on Customs valuation in Suzhou, China for China Customs officials. Topics discussed included the high level principles of the WTO Valuation Agreement and a number of technical issues including the linkage between Customs value and transfer pricing, royalties and licence fees and software-related questions.
Information was also provided on the WCO’s Revenue Package programme which has been designed to assist Customs administrations in the identification and collection of revenue legally due on imported goods. In particular, discussions focused on the management of valuation risk, including good practices for the use of a valuation database as a risk assessment tool, and post-clearance audit as the preferred method for conducting effective valuation controls.