. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/VAL/W/58/Add.1
14 March 2000
(00-1018)
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:  French
COMMUNICATION FROM THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA
CONCERNING ANNE X III, PARAGRAPH 1, OF  THE AGREEMENT
ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL
AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Addendum
The following communication, dated 7 March 2000, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Mauritania.
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Further to my previous letter (G/VAL/W/58), I have the honour to transmit herewith the letter
in which the Minister for Trade, Crafts and Tourism explains the reasons why my country is
requesting a further delay of three years for the entry into force of the Agreement on Customs
Valuation.G/VAL/W/58/Add.1
Page 2
As a founding Member of the WTO, Mauritania undertook to apply the Agreement on
Implementation of Article VII of GATT 1994, commonly known as the Agreement on Customs
Valuation.
Under an initial postponement of the entry into force of this Agreement, the new deadline for
doing so became May 2000;  as you know, a certai n number of developing countries expressed a
desire for a longer transition period, but this coul d not be achieved at the third WTO Ministerial
Conference in Seattle.
In keeping with the spirit of the GATT 1994, our country wishes to draw up rules for the
implementation of major provisions of Article VII that will be based on simple, clear and equitable
criteria.
Attaining the specific objectives will mean adapting our structures to this new situation
(amendment of legislation, in particular the Customs Code, a process already begun but which will
take a relatively long time, reorganization of the administrative services, introduction of appropriate
equipment, training of personnel, making customs auxiliaries and economic operators aware of thepossible negative repercussions of the new Agreement on Customs Valuation, adoption of special
measures to combat possible fraud, etc.).
This structural constraint means that it is currently impossible to achieve these objectives by
means of measures that are compatible with the GATT 1994.
For all of these reasons, the Government of my country opts to delay application for
three years, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Annex III of the Agreement on
Implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994.
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