Implementation of WTO-customs valuation system in the Philippines: and ex-post impact assessment.

Date

4-2009

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Economics

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Robert Dominique E. Mariano

Abstract

The Philippine valuation system has traditionally been based on a system of minimum values where a database of applicable duties is mandatorily applied to imports, irrespective of the prices at which they were bought and sold. Complying with the commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Philippines needed to reform the country’s trade policies and valuation system to liberalize and facilitate international trade. A central element in the valuation reform process is the implementation of the trade facilitation measure of the WTO, the Transaction Valuation System (TVS), which is based on the invoice values declared by the importers. The implementation of the WTO- TVS in the country required not only a radical paradigm shift but also operational and procedural changes that had a potentially wide impact on the import performance and revenue collections of the country as well as on the problem of technical smuggling, particularly on the issue of under invoicing. The study discussed the challenges faced by Bureau of Customs (BOC) when the Philippines adopted the WTO-TVS to facilitate imports, and the way challenges were overcome. After seven years of implementing the WTO-TVS in the country, the paper assesses the impacts on the import performance of the country and revenue collections as recorded by the BOC using trend analysis and the test of significance using t-test of means. The study used the Partner-Country comparison and Trade-Misinvoicing ratio methods to determine the effects of the WTO-TVS on the issue of technical smuggling, specifically under invoicing. The study showed that after shifting to the WTO-TVS, the import performance of the country and revenue collections became better as recorded by the BOC. However, the study found that problem of under invoicing even worsened.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management

Call Number

LG 993.5 2009 E2 U43

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS