Course on implementation of WTO pact on Customs valuation begins

Course on implementation of WTO pact on Customs valuation begins
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, APRIL 30: Delegates from 18 Commonwealth countries will be attending a course on the implementation of the WTO agreement on Customs valuation in Mumbai from May 1 to May 26. Organised by the directorate of valuation, a wing of Indian Customs, with the support of the Export and Industrial Development division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, the course will enable the participants to share experiences and insights, particularly of developing countries.

Most of the participant countries represented by their delegates have either not implemented the WTO customs valuation agreement or have done it very recently. As host country for the course, India's own experience in implementation of the agreement, particularly in light of the dependence on international trade taxes and problems of undervaluation and capital flight, will be worth sharing.

Incorporating on-the-job training sessions also, the course will cover areas like GATT/WTO Valuation agreement, methods of valuation, legislative and documentation requirement for implementing the agreement, valuation control, transfer pricing, related party transactions, mutual assistance between customs administrations, and others. Case studies on valuation frauds will also figure in the sessions.

The participants will also be exposed to the expert system software indigenously built by the National Centre for Software Technology to detect customs valuation frauds.

While international WTO experts are also to address the participants, senior Indian Customs and Excise officers will constitute the core faculty of the course.