The topic of Customs valuation and transfer pricing was the theme of a WCO Workshop for the East and Southern Africa (ESA) Region held in Harare, Zimbabwe between 20 and 24 February.  22 participants from 17 ESA Region countries took part in the event which was kindly funded by the China Customs Cooperation Fund and hosted by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).  Acting Commissioner General, Mr. H. Kuzvinzwa opened the Workshop on behalf of ZIMRA.

The linkage between transfer pricing and Customs valuation has been an emerging issue over recent years for Customs administrations in many parts of the world.  It has been established that transfer pricing information prepared for tax purposes can be useful in respect to Customs verification of related party transactions for multi-national companies.  The Workshop provided technical background on both topics and gave examples and exercises on the use of transfer pricing data by Customs.  Representatives of three administrations, the South African Revenue Service, Uganda Revenue Authority and ZIMRA, gave interesting presentations on their experiences regarding the themed topics.

The Workshop also included sessions on the WCO’s Revenue Package programme, designed to assist countries in the enhancement of fair and efficient revenue collection, with a special focus on the challenges of implementing the WTO Valuation Agreement in developing countries.  Information was also provided on best practices in the provision of advance rulings for valuation and the WCO’s “Guidelines for strengthening cooperation and exchange of information between Customs and Tax authorities at the national level”.