 
   ./. RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/12 
14 February 2000 
 (00-0536) 
Working Party on the Accession 
of the Russian Federation Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
 
Information on Customs Valuation and Procedures  
 
 
In accordance with the existing accession proced ures, the Russian delegation filled in and 
submitted the customs valuation questionnaire prepared by the WTO Secretariat (WT/ACC/1, Annex 4) in the summer of 1996 (see document WT/ACC/RUS/14). This subject was further 
addressed in documents WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/9 (Inform ation on Customs Valuation and Procedures) 
and WT/ACC/RUS/28 (Additional Info rmation on Customs Issues) as well as in numerous extensive 
explanations in reply to questions from members of the Working Party for customs valuation and 
procedures for its implementation in Russia. 
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A comprehensive overview of the Russian legisl ation in force on customs valuation of goods, 
submitted as a part of WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/9 of  12 May 1998, was based on the information 
provided by the Russian State Customs Committee. It included a complete list of laws and regulatory acts currently in effect in the area of customs va lue assessment of the imported goods. In addition the 
overview contained answers to questions concerning th e reflection of the provisions of Article VII of 
GATT-94 and the Agreement on the Implementation of Article VII of GATT-94 (WTO Agreement 
on Customs Valuation) in the Russian legislation. 
Annexes 1 and 2 to the above WTO document respectively contained the text of Sections III 
and IV of Law No. 5003-1 of the Russian Federati on “On Customs Tariff” dated 21 May 1993, which 
stipulate the procedure for customs valuation of imported goods, and the text of Resolution No. 1461 
“On the Procedure for Determining Customs valu e of Goods Exported from the Territory of the 
Russian Federation” of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 7 December 1996, and other 
attachments included the texts of main relevant regulatory documents issued by the Russian State 
Customs Committee.  
Thus, the document WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/9 contai ns exhaustive information on the Russian 
customs valuation legislation in force. Since its submission in 1998 there has been no development in 
the national legislation on this issue. 
As regards the measures to bring the Russian  legislative framework on customs valuation 
further into conformity with the WTO requirements it is necessary to add as follows. 
The Russian State Customs Committee proposed to  include a customs valuation section in the 
new version of the Customs Code of the Russian Federation. The suggested Draft was submitted to 
the State Duma of the Russian Federation and was a dopted in the first reading in late November 1999. WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/12 
Page 2  
 
In terms of compliance with the WTO disciplin es, the main improvement of the present Draft 
Customs Code on its predecessors is that the Artic les setting forth the methods of customs valuation 
incorporate nearly the complete text of Articles 1 to 8 of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation, 
and that the Draft includes provisions of the Annex es to the Articles of the said Agreement. Further 
amendments with a view to greater harmonisat ion of the Russian legislation with the WTO 
regulations may be made in the course of consid eration of the Draft Customs Code by the State 
Duma. 
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