Study Of The Customs Valuation System

Customs valuation is a professional and intensively technical working link in a chain of every country's customs valuation, which is regarded as a difficult problem in the world. Every country's customs is trying to promote the technical level of valuation and to set up the uniform standard in the world. The Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (hereinafter referred to as the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement) , one of the compulsory international legal documents to China's customs, has been adopted and implemented in the customs legal framework in China. Presently, the customs valuation system has already taken shape in China. Generally, the principles and spirits of WTO Customs Valuation Agreement have been manifested, while there are still some issues that cannot be ignored.This paper, besides foreword, consists of five chapters. The main content is about the countermeasure research on the customs valuation system. Through employing the methods of historical analysis, comparative analysis, positive analysis etc, this paper analyzes the relevant substantive and procedural rules of WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, combined with the positive study of the substantive and procedural issues in the current legal system of customs valuations in China, in order to discuss the ways of perfecting the legal system of customs valuations in China.Chapterâ… : Beginning with the fundamental concepts of customs valuation, this chapter analyzes the origin and development of customs valuation. Customs valuation is the product of ad valorem tax, i.e. it is an inevitable operating procedure of levying ad valorem tax. Meanwhile, customs valuation, originating from commercial valuation and taking commercial valuation as its basis, is closely connected with commercial valuation. Customs valuation may influence domestic revenues, foreign exchanges and international commerce management. Out of settling the contradiction between trade protectionism and free trade, also based on the consideration of national interests, there gradually formed a set of customs valuation system on the international level. Currently, the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, facilitating the international trade and considering the commercial reality, has been the most widely accepted document in customs valuation.This chapter also analyzes the origin and the basic elements of customs valuation. Customs valuation is of the dual attributes of tariff barrier and non-tariff barrier. In order to cut and reduce the non-tariff barriers, there have long been efforts of unifying different customs valuation systems internationally, aiming to make it only with the attribute of tariff barrier. Different principles are provided in international documents of customs valuation in different historical periods. The GATT principles provides a basis for the international legal system of customs valuation; the BDV (Brussels Definition of Value) provides the principles of protecting the honest importers and against the unfair competition; and the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement distinctly puts forward the principles of fairness, neutrality, uniformity, definitude, respecting commercial reality, facilitating logistics and valuation procedure never applied in antidumping. Based on the legislative spirits of international customs valuation, and considering the current economic and social features, China has taken the "objective, fair and uniform" principles in customs valuation. Customs valuation, one of the important legal systems relating to the smooth flow of international trade, must be with freedom as its ultimate idea. The idea of freedom in customs valuation complies with the purpose and the fundamental principles of the World Trade Organization.Chapterâ…¡: This chapter, through comparing and analyzing the value elements and value adjustment elements in the Convention on the Valuation of Goods for Customs Purpose and the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, aims to probe the law of motion of customs valuation system.The value norm of customs valuation, as a historical concept, is perfecting itself with the development of intemational trade and comprises three elements, i.e. value, adjustment elements and valuation methods. The concept of value in customs valuation is the theoretical basis and guiding principle of establishing the value norm, instead of defining the value itself. The value adopted in customs valuation should reflect the international trade reality and be applied fairly, justly and without discrimination among all of the importers. When ascertaining the dutiable value, whether the relevant value thoroughly reflects all of the value elements should be regarded. Where it fails to or partially to reflect them, then the relevant value should be regulated based on the objective and quantitative data. There are six methods of ascertaining the dutiable values of imported goods, i.e. the methods of transaction value, transaction value of identical goods, transaction value of similar goods, deductive method, computed method and the fall-back method. The six above-mentioned methods should be applied in strict sequence, i.e. the latter applies only under the condition that the former fails to. But the exception that the deductive method and the computed method apply exists under the circumstance that the receiver of the imported goods makes application, provides necessary materials and is confirmed by the customs administration. The method of transaction value, the most frequently employed method in customs valuation practices, is based on the transaction value to ascertain the dutiable value. The transaction value refers to the four basic elements: paid or payable value, valued goods, sales and inputting the imported state, with which the ascertainment of the transaction value should accord. To make sure that the customs administration' s flexibly made decisions will not deviate seriously from the customs valuation norms, Article 7.2 of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement provides seven prohibited methods of valuation.Chapterâ…¢: This chapter probes the procedural rules of customs valuation. The customs valuation procedure is a type of administrative procedure; Meanwhile, it is a dynamic process which consists of value declaration, value inspection (confirmation, inquisition, negotiation) etc.The system of value declaration manifests the customs' power of value inspection vested by the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement. When the WTO members constitute their domestic value declaration systems, the following should be clearly prescribed: declaration subject, declaration content, declaration scope, declaration specific requirements and the rights and obligations of the customs. Every Member's value declaration system should be applied to all imported goods without discrimination. The value inspection of customs valuation deals with all investigations concerning the statements, written evidences, and the truth or accuracy of declaration, which mainly includes inspecting, inquisition and negotiating. Value checking, a valuation method of ascertaining the final dutiable values of imported goods, is the procedure for the customs to ascertain the dutiable values of imported goods, and to investigate the truth or accuracy of the declaration values of the imported goods. In the course of value checking, the customs has the authorities of examination, copy, investigation, inspection, testing, checking, assistant checking etc. Where the customs reasonably doubts about the truth or accuracy of the declared value, or doubts that the relationship between the buyer and the seller may affect the transaction value, the valuation inquisition procedure will be launched, aiming to respect the importers' commercial interests. Meanwhile, balancing the burden of proof between the customs and the relative party should be attached attention to. Value negotiation is the necessary procedure when the customs makes the valuation using other methods instead of the method of transaction value, also is a course during which the importers participate and get knowledge of the valuation decision. The purpose of value negotiation is to avoid assertive valuation made by the customs and to protect importers' rightful interests.The dispute of customs valuation is with the attribute of administrative law. The distribution of burden of proof, playing a key role in customs valuation, should consider the equal status of the two parties and the balance between the administrative power and the relative party's interests. The value negotiation in essence is the process of constantly transferring the burden of proof between the two parties. To further ascertain the accuracy and the truth of the declared value, the customs is responsible for the follow-up burden of proof by value checking, value investigation and value monitoring.The establishment of judicial review principle marks the legal attribute of the Word Trade Organization. This chapter, analyzing the requirement of the judicial review in the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, then identifies the subject of judicial review with courts and other agencies independent of the customs. Meanwhile, the Agreement clarifies that the subjects with the rights of filing a lawsuit are the importers and the other tax payers. Considering that the America has a ripe and complete judicial review system that cannot be compared by other countries and regions, this chapter, making comparative analysis of the judicial review system in customs valuation by studying relevant cases in combination of the customs valuation practices in China, hopes to help further the theories and practices in this field.Chapterâ…£: Beginning with the provisions for the structure and classification of the illicit customs' conduct in Chinese customs law, and analyzing manifestation of many valuation frauds, this chapter poses the idea that valuation fraud hinds the free trade system based on the price competition, and so it is a smuggling conduct evading the customs' control. Valuation fraud and false declaration are different in the subjective content, behavioral manner and the extent to which the object is infringed. The customs is responsible for the anti-fraud, while confronted with procedural difficulties and with the influence of the emergence of e-commerce on the traditional manners featuring the control of physical goods and examination of documents and certificates in paper by the customs against valuation fraud.Though the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement is not specially designed against valuation fraud, its background determines that its sources are against valuation fraud, that its major principles manifest its spirits against valuation fraud, that its implementation grounds specify the customs' responsibility against valuation fraud, and that its valuation norms also contain the content against fraud. Meanwhile, the Agreement actually restricts the traditional simple ways against valuation fraud, since they fail to consider the commercial reality well, and put forward newer and higher requirements for the customs. The Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) , together with its members' customs, takes cracking down on the commercial fraud as one of their dominated items, publishes the Anti-valuation Fraud Handbook as the technical guide for its members, and suggests that the members establish a domestic special agency with certain legal power against valuation fraud. The Agreement and the CCC play positive roles in anti-valuation fraud.Chapterâ…¤: This chapter emphatically analyzes the influences brought by the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement and the newly emerging challenges to China's current customs valuation system. From the angle of the varied value definitions in the valuation system, China's valuation system is gradually improved to the widely accepted international standard. This chapter, comparatively studying China's current customs valuation system and the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, points out the existent issues in China's current valuation system, such as incomplete legislation for customs valuation, lacking integration of the propaganda of the laws and regulations of the customs valuation, the Assessment Provisions partially not complying with the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, lagging valuation model, flawed judicial review system etc. Therefore, helpful suggestions are put forward with the hope of perfecting China's current customs valuation system, such as accelerating the anti-fraud legislation process, creating a new value declaration form system, strengthening the transparency of customs valuation, establishing and perfecting the customs value management system, forming a judicial review system of valuation, and seeking effective ways of enforcing the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement through introducing international advanced experience etc.