English for customs officers

indicated any problems. It is expected that the production version of the modified COMTRADE data base will be ready for implementation shortly.

Text 5

Some 400 amendments have been made to the Harmonized System. In order to keep the Harmonized System truly harmonized it is necessary that Contracting Parties and other users of the HS implement the amendments in their Customs tariff and statistical nomenclatures on…, the date scheduled for simultaneous change – over to the new version.

In view of the extensive nature of the amendments, a large number of the present HS Codes will be non-existent in… , giving way to new codes and resulting in entirely different classifications for hundreds of products.

Thus, delayed implementation by administration could result in the existence of different versions at the same time. This would inevitably result in confusion in trade circles, delay and extra costs.

III. Read the following information:

More than 200 countries, Customs and economic unions, representing more than 98% of world trade, use the HS as a basis for:

Customs tariffs;

Collection of international trade statistics;

Rules of origin;

Collection of internal taxes;

Trade negotiations (e.g., the World Trade Organization schedules of tariff concessions);

Transport tariffs and statistics;

Monitoring of controlled goods (e.g., wastes, narcotics, chemical weapons, ozone layer depleting substances, endangered species);

Areas of Customs controls and procedures, including risk assessment, information technology and compliance.

Find 13 users of HS in the following list:

1.Customs administrations

2.Sportsmen

120

3.Customs brokers

4.Importers and exporters

5.Manufactures

6.Freight forwarders

7.Universities

8.Transport organizations

9.Intergovernmental organizations

10.World Health Organization

11.Pre-shipment inspection companies

12.Customs lawyers

13.Statisticians

14.Economists

15.Trade libraries

16.Police

17.Trade associations and organizations

18.Dog handlers

DO IT FOR FUN

I. Exercise your brains by solving these puzzles.

1.

2.

121

3.

4.

5.

II. Speculate about the following:

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

N. Machiavelli1

III. Name the following terms:

1.The process of releasing goods from Customs.

2.A list of goods that have been supplied or work that has been done, showing how much you owe for them.

1 Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) – Italian writer and statesman. He was the first to propound the thesis of historical cycles; to built a political science based on the study of man.

122

3.The area in which sales are made.

4.A shop, company, or organization through which products are sold.

5.Money which has to be paid when goods enter a country.

6.A tax added to the price of goods and services in Britain and the EU.

7.Money added to someone's wages, especially as a reward for good

work.

8.Not paying taxes owed. This is illegal.

9.A company that is owned or controlled by another larger company.

10.Managing of financial matters so as to lower taxes as much as is legally possible.

IV. Explain the meaning of the following proverb in English and translate it into Russian:

Birds of a feather flock together.

V. Complete the sentence:

A bank is a place where _______________

Now read what R. Frost thought about it.

A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.

Robert Frost1

VI. Solve the crossword.

Across:

1.Faults or weaknesses.

2.Avoiding something that someone is supposed to do or deal with.

3.Changing of something that is not true or not acceptable.

4.No longer needed because something better has been invented.

1 Robert Frost (1875–1963) – US poet and poet-in-residence at a number of colleges and universities, best known for his use of colloquial language, familiar rhythms, and symbols taken from common life to express the quiet values of New England life.

123

6.Payment, tax.

7.Patronage, protection.

8.Collecting of a tax or another payment.

14.Giving a description or name.

Down:

5. Absolutely essential.

9.Preliminary plan or sketch of writing.

10.System of naming.

11.Basic structure, arrangement or system.

12.Correction, revision or change.

13.Any article of commerce.

15. Changing things so that they all have the same features.

124

UNIT 6. CUSTOMS VALUATION

Study the following words and word combinations from the text.

125

TEXT. VALUATION OF GOODS

Customs valuation is a major feature of modern Customs tariff systems. Customs valuation is a Customs procedure applied to determine the Customs value of imported goods1. It is important for the assessment of Customs duties, whether for purposes of producing revenue or as a means of encouraging and protecting domestic industry. It is also a significant element in a variety of other aspects of international trade such as statistics, quota and licensing arrangements, taxes and other charges levied at importation and in the application of preference systems.

Customs valuation systems have been the subject of a number of international harmonization and standardization efforts. International efforts toward harmonization began in the early 20th century, but significant results did not come until the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

The Tokyo Round of multilateral trade negotiations (1973–1979) recognized that certain valuation practices can have restrictive effects on

1 GATT/WTO Customs valuation.

126

international trade. These negotiations were one of the major trade policy initiatives of our time; they were intended «to achieve the expansion and ever-greater liberalization of world trade, inter alia, through the progressive dismantling of obstacles to trade».

One of the results of the trade negotiations was the adoption of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the GATT which entered into force on 1 January 1981. The Agreement established a positive system of Customs valuation based on the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods («transaction value»). It provides a fair, uniform and neutral system for the valuation of goods for Customs purposes, conforming to commercial realities; a system which outlaws the use of arbitrary or fictitious Customs values.

The Agreement laid down the general principles for an international system of valuation.

The Agreement stipulates that Customs valuation shall be based on the actual price of the goods to be valued, which is generally shown on the invoice. This price, plus adjustments for certain elements, is called the transaction value. This is the first and most important method of valuation set out in the Agreement.

For cases in which there is no transaction value, or where the transaction value is not acceptable as the Сustoms value because the price has been distorted as a result of certain conditions, the Agreement lays down five other methods of Сustoms valuation, to be applied in the prescribed hierarchical order. Overall the following six methods are considered in the Agreement:

Method 1: transaction value

Method 2: transaction value of identical goods

Method 3: transaction value of similar goods

Method 4: deductive method

Method 5: computed method

Method 6: fall-back method

The Agreement also contains certain other provisions concerning, for example, currency conversion, the right of appeal to a judicial authority, the publication of law and regulations concerning Customs valuation, and the prompt clearance of goods.

In addition to the Agreement itself, a Protocol, which is deemed to be part of it, contains provisions for the special problems and training needs of developing countries, permitting them some flexibility in applying the

127

Agreement. The Agreement also provides for technical assistance to these countries to help them set up new valuation systems based thereon.

The Agreement establishes a Committee on Customs Valuation composed of representatives from each of the Member States for the purpose of consulting on matters concerning its management.

The Agreement also establishes a Technical Committee on Customs Valuation under the auspices of the World Customs Organization with a view to ensuring, at the technical level, uniformity in interpretation and application of the Agreement

A uniform Customs valuation system enhances transparency and predictability of international transactions and contributes to the preparation of good trade statistics.

EXERCISES

I. What are the synonyms from the text of the following words?

II. Match the words/phrases from the text with their corresponding definitions.

128

III. Make phrases by matching words from the left with words from the right and translate them.

1.Customs valuation is very important for …

2.A Committee on Customs Valuation has been established to

supervise …

3.Developing countries are supposed to get technical assistance in order …

4.The government adopted these restrictive measures ….

5.All participants at the talks worked very hard ….

6.Certain provisions of the Valuation Agreement contain regulations concerning …

7.One of the results of the negotiations in Geneva between 1973 and 1979 was …

8.The Agreement is intended to provide a fair, uniform and neutral system ...

9.The protocol contains provisions for training needs of developing countries which delayed ...

10.Authorities have always ... on goods being moved across their territorial boundaries.

129