On 09 May 2025, the World Trade Organization (WTO) members marked the 30th anniversary of the Customs Valuation Agreement (CVA) by noting the CVA’s achievements and future challenges arising from digital trade. Speaking at a meeting of the Committee on Customs Valuation (Committee), the Deputy Director-General (DDG) said the challenge for members was to “ensure uniformity in interpretation and application of the CVA in this volatile trading environment and constantly evolving business models”.
“In today’s complex and tariff-sensitive trading environment, the CVA is more critical than ever,” the DDG said. “The way a product is valued at the border can be just as important as the tariff rate itself. Even a low tariff can result in significant duties if the customs value is high. That is why the CVA – by providing transparent and uniform rules – plays a foundational role in ensuring predictability for traders and stability for all members,” the DDG said. “This standardisation helps minimise costs and delays for developed and developing members alike by enabling traders to understand, in advance, how their goods will be valued,” the DDG emphasised.
She underscored the CVA’s forward-looking design, noting its introduction of market-based valuation principles and its emphasis on collaboration between customs authorities and the private sector. These features have become increasingly relevant in light of current challenges, such as digital trade, artificial intelligence and rapidly evolving global supply chains.
Looking forward, the DDG acknowledged the new phase of challenges posed by rapid technological advancements. Digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and evolving trade dynamics require innovative interpretations and applications of the CVA. Customs administrations must adapt to these changes to ensure uniformity in the CVA’s implementation amidst a volatile trading environment.
She called on the Committee to continue working with the World Customs Organization (WCO) Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, a partnership she said was indispensable for addressing the complexities introduced by digital trade and ensuring the CVA remained resilient and effective.
The Committee also heard from several Customs experts. The Dominican Republic noted that implementing the CVA in its country had reduced time and costs for goods to clear customs.
Senegal underlined the importance of the Committee’s work on transparency. At the same time, the chairperson of the WCO Technical Committee on Customs Valuation provided an overview of the Technical Committee’s work over the past 30 years and its close cooperation with the CVA. The Federal Revenue Office of Brazil shared Brazil’s most recent customs valuation-related developments with members.
In wrapping up, the Committee chair said, “I believe that our exchanges have provided us with a very valuable opportunity to highlight and, hopefully, learn from the various experiences of 30 years of implementing the CVA.”
Committee regular work
At the Committee meeting, the chair updated members on the current notification status regarding customs valuation legislation. Under Article 22 of the CVA and the decision on “Notification and circulation of national legislation in accordance with Article 22 of the Agreement”, members must submit the complete texts of their national legislation on customs valuation in one of the three official WTO languages. They should also inform the committee of any changes in their laws and regulations relevant to the CVA and the administration of such laws and regulations.
Following the consideration of 34 specific notifications at the committee meeting, the chair noted that to date, 119 members had notified their national legislation on customs valuation, and 92 members had provided responses to a checklist of issues.
The chair welcomed eight (8) new notifications that resulted directly from the Customs Valuation Workshop on notifications organised by the Secretariat in May 2024 to assist developing and least-developed members with notifications.
The chair also brought to the Committee’s attention a new WTO Secretariat report, “Notifications Status of Regular/Periodic and One Time Only Notifications in the Goods Area (1995-2024) (G/C/W/859).”
The report’s results indicate room for improvement concerning the rate of customs valuation notifications, the chair said. The rate of notifications under CVA Article 22.1 –notifications of any changes in a member’s laws and regulations relevant to the Agreement – stood at 85.4% for 1995-2024. However, the report also shows that three CVA notification categories are among the five notification requirements with the lowest submission rates for one-time-only notifications. These three categories are the Carrier Media Decision of the Committee with a rate of 47.4%, the Decision on Interest Charges of the Committee with a rate of 49.6% and the “Checklist of Issues” with a rate of 65.7%.
“This new report could provide an opportunity for the Committee to address the issue of outstanding notifications and to try to identify a means by which members can be assisted in fulfilling their notification requirements promptly,” the chair said.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for 10 November 2025.