RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/ALB/43
3 September 1999
(99-3684)
Working Party on the
Accession of AlbaniaOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF ALBANIA
Customs Code
The Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Trade of the Republic of Albania has submitted
the following information related to the Customs Code, with the request that it be circulated to
members of the Working Party.
_______________
1. Article 38 does not concern deductive value, but it concerns to elements that should not be
included in the customs value when the transaction value method is used. The  identified problem
relates to Article 35 (2) (c) of the Customs Code. This provision is explained in Article 64 of the
Implementing Provisions of Customs Code which is the Interpretative Note of Article 5 of theAgreement. Further explanations are given in the last lines of Annex 6 of the Implementing
Provisions.
2. There is an implementing provision for Articl e 7.3 of the Agreement in the “Implementing
Provisions of the Customs Code”. Article 81 (2) of these Provisions state the relations between parties
(customs - importers) in the cases when the  “fall - back” method should be used because that the
declared customs value is not acceptable.
3. Related to Article 9 of the Agreement, Article 40 (3) provides for the solution of this issue.
This Article defines not only the conversion rate that must be applied, but even the time to be referred
to define this conversion. The Article begins with the phrase “When it is necessary to define the
customs value of the imported goods…”. The conversion rate is defined when the goods are declaredfor import, i.e., the conversion rate is the rate in force at the time of importing. The case can not be
otherwise because the process of declaration of the goods at the customs, including the data for their
customs value, begins only when the goods are present physically at the customs office, as it is stated
at the Article 88 of the Customs Code.
4. Concerning the surety issue, Article 111 of  the Customs Code does not state that the
guarantee must be deposited to ensure any customs debt that may result because of the differences in
defining the customs value. This Article indicates that surety can be requested as a condition for the
suspension regime of the goods. Guarantees of debts are covered in Article 99 of the Customs Code.
The Code states that imported goods can be released only if the importer guarantees the customsoffice that he can pay all debts for customs purposes in the future. Article 15 (points 5 and 6) of the
Implementing Provisions provides for two methods according them Article 99 can be implemented
when the differences come out because of the origin or tariff classification. These methods are applied
mutatis mutandis even in the case of customs value of the goods.
__________