From 27 February to 3 March 2023, the WCO Secretariat organized a national workshop on Customs Valuation in Azerbaijan with the support of the Customs Cooperation Fund of Germany.  More than 40 Customs Officials from various directorates of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan (the SCC) attended the workshop. 

In his opening remarks, Mr. Ismayil Huseynov, the First Deputy Chairman of the SCC, emphasized the importance of Customs valuation in duty collection process.  He encouraged the attendees to actively participate in the workshop and leverage this opportunity to address valuation issues they encounter in their daily work.

In his opening speech, Mr. Mirhasan Seyidzade, Acting Director of ROCB Europe emphasized the importance of valuation in international trade, stating that it plays a vital role in determining the customs value of imported goods. He highlighted that proper valuation is essential for ensuring that the right amount of duties and taxes are collected and that the trade is conducted in a fair and transparent manner.

During the five-day workshop, the participants were familiarized with the key principles of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement (the Agreement) and the methods provided for in the Agreement, with a specific focus on the transaction value method.  The importance of applying the process as described in Decision 6.1 of the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation was highlighted in cases where Customs have doubts about the truth or accuracy of the value declared.

The workshop also covered tools and guidelines developed by the WCO Secretariat to assist Members in establishing effective valuation control programme, such as the use of a Customs valuation database and mirror analysis as risk management tools, importer segmentation to address specific risks, conducting post clearance audit.

The workshop concluded with a session on advance rulings as a means of trade facilitation and control.