20th June
The Technical Committee on Customs Valuation at WCO has at its 48th Session recently adopted an instrument (Advisory Opinion 23.1) on valuation of goods purchased in a flash sale.
Reiterating transaction value as primary basis under the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT 1994, Committee concluded that highly discounted price is acceptable for Customs valuation purposes, provided the conditions of application laid down in Article 1 of the Agreement are met.
It was also held that transaction value in a flash sale could be used to determine transaction value of identical or similar goods for which there is no transaction value.
It was however noted that such value can be applied only if these goods fall within a definition set out in Article 15.2 of the Agreement and all the requirements under Article 2 or Article 3 are met. The Opinion also notes that it is unlikely that the commercial practices and market conditions prevailing under flash sales would exist in situations other than flash sales.