The World Customs Organization reported recently that a new instrument affecting transaction value, Explanatory Note 7.1, will be submitted to the WCO Council in June 2026.
Under the World Trade Organization’s Customs Valuation Agreement, the starting point for determining the customs value of imported goods is the transaction value; i.e., the price actually paid or payable by the buyer to the seller for the imported goods.
According to a WCO press release, EN 7.1 clarifies how that price should be interpreted, which payments must be included, and which can be excluded. It explains various elements, including forms of payment, direct and indirect payments, adjustments as outlined in Article 8 of the CVA, specific considerations based on relevant decisions of the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation, and applicable deductions, such as payments not related to the goods and post-importation charges. It concludes by stating that, once all necessary inclusions and adjustments are completed, and provided no disqualifying factors are present, the final customs value is established using the transaction value method under Article 1 of the CVA.
The WCO notes that an illustrative conceptual framework is presented in the annex to EN 7.1 to support the general interpretation of the expression “price actually paid or payable,” connecting each concept to the statements made in the respective paragraphs of the instrument.
The WCO states that once EN 7.1 is approved by the WCO Council it will be published in the WCO Customs Valuation Compendium and on the WCO Trade Tools platform. No texts of the instrument appear to currently be available.
Copyright © 2025 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.