is imported, is such as to injure or threaten to injure a domestic industry, or is such as to prevent the establishment of a domestic industry. Article 12. Tariff Valuation 1. Members undertake to work toward the standardization, in so far as practicable, of definitions of value and of procedures for determining the value of products subject to customs duties or other restrictions based upon or regulated in any manner by value. With a view to furthering such cooperation, the Organization is authorized to investigate and recommend to Members such bases and methods for determining the value of products as would appear to be best suited to the needs of commerce and most capable of widespread adoption. 2. The Members recognize the validity of the following general principles of tariff valuation, and they undertake to give effect to such principles, in respect of all products subject to duty based upon or regulated by value, at the earliest practicable date: a. The value for duty purposes of imported products should be based on the actual value of the kind of imported merchandise on which duty is assessed, or the nearest ascertainable equivalent of such value, and should not be based on the value of products of national origin or on arbitrary or fictitious valuations. b. The value for duty purposes of any imported product should not include the amount of any internal tax, applicable within the country of origin or export, from which the imported product has been made exempt. c. In converting the value of any imported product from one currency to another, for the purpose of assessing duty, the rate of exchange to be used should be fixed in accordance with prescribed standards to reflect effectively the current value of each currency in commercial transactions, and until the elimination of dual or multiple rates of exchange either one or more than one rate for each dual- or multiplerate currency may be so fixed. d. The bases and methods for determining the value of products subject to duties regulated by value should be stable and should be published in full detail, in order that traders may be enabled to estimate, with a reasonable degree of certainty, the amount of duty likely to be imposed. Article 13. Customs Formalities 1. The Members recognize the principle that subsidiary fees and charges imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation should be limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered and should not represent an indirect protection to domestic products or a taxation of imports or exports for fiscal purposes. They also recognize the need for reducing the number and diversity of such subsidiary fees and charges, for minimizing the incidence and complexity of import and export formalities, and for decreasing and simplifying import and export documentation requirements. 2. Members undertake to review their customs laws and regulations with a view to giving effect to the principles and objectives of paragraph 1 of this Article at the earliest practicable date and shall report to the Organization from time to time on the progress made. The Organization is authorized to request such reports of Members and to assist and cooperate with them in carrying out the provisions of this paragraph. 3. Greater than nominal penalties shall not be imposed by any Member in connection with the importation of any product of any other Member country because of errors in documentation which are obviously clerical in origin or with regard to which good faith can be established. Moreover, Members shall remit any penalty imposed on or in connection with the importation of any product of any other Member country if it is officially found that the penalty has been imposed because of actions which resulted from errors or advice of responsible customs officials. 4. The provisions of this Article shall extend to fees, charges, formalities and requirements relating to all customs matters, including a. Consular transactions; b. Quantitative restrictions; c. Licensing; d. Exchange regulations; e. Statistical services; f. Documents, documentation and certification; g. Analysis and inspection; and h. Quarantine, sanitation and fumigation (plant, animal and human). Article 14. Marks of Origin 1. The Members agree that in adopting and implementing laws and regulations relating to marks of origin, the difficulties and inconveniences which such measures may cause to the commerce and industry of exporting countries should be reduced to a minimum. 2. Each Member shall accord to the products of each other Member country treatment with regard to marking requirements no less favorable than the treatment accorded like products of any third country. 3. Whenever administratively possible, Members shall permit required marks of origin to be imposed at the time of importation. 4. The laws and regulations of the Members relating to the marking of imported products shall be such as to permit compliance without seriously damaging the products, or materially reducing their value, or unreasonably increasing their cost. 5. Members shall exempt from their marking requirements the following products: a. Products incapable of being marked; b. Products which cannot be marked except at unreasonable expense; c. Products in transit and their containers; d. Products in bond and their containers; e. Samples and products without commercial value and their containers; f. Containers of properly marked products of a type not ordinarily imported and sold at retail in sealed containers; g. Products of a type ordinarily imported and sold at retail in sealed containers, provided such containers are properly marked; h. Products over 20 years old and their containers; i. Products intended for the personal use of the importer or his family or for use in his factory or place of business, and not intended for sale, and the containers of such products; j. Crude substances and raw materials; and also the containers of such products if the products are intended for use by the person for whom the importation is made, or for his account in manufacturing new and different products. 6. No special duty or penalty shall be imposed by any Member for failure to comply with the marking requirements prior to importation unless corrective marking has been unreasonably delayed or false marks have been intentionally affixed or the required marking has been intentionally omitted. Article 15. Publication and Administration of Trade Regulations- 1. Laws, regulations, decisions of judicial authorities and administrative rulings of general application made effective by any Member, pertaining to the classification or valuation of products for customs purposes, or to rates of duty, taxes or other charges, or to requirements, restrictions or prohibitions on imports or exports or on the transfer of payments therefor, or affecting their sale or distribution, or affecting their warehousing, inspection, exhibition, processing, mixing or other use, shall be published promptly in such a manner as to enable traders and governments to become acquainted with them. Agreements in force between the government or a governmental agency of any Member country and the government or a governmental agency of any other country affecting international trade policy shall also be published. Copies of such laws, regulations, decisions, rulings and agreements shall be communicated promptly to the Organization. This paragraph shall not require any Member to publish administrative rulings which would disclose confidential information, impede law enforcement, or otherwise be inimical to the public interest. 2. Members shall administer in a uniform, impartial and reasonable manner all laws, regulations, decisions and rulings of the kind described in paragraph 1 of this Article. Moreover, they undertake to maintain, or to establish as soon as practicable, for the review and correction of administrative action relating to customs matters, judicial or administrative tribunals which are in fact independent of the agencies entrusted with administrative enforcement. Finally, each Member will enforce all measures necessary to suppress and prevent the exaction of charges and the prescription of requirements in respect of international trade which are not provided for in its published laws or regulations. 3. No law, regulation, decision or ruling of any Member effecting an advance in a rate of import or export duty or other charge under an established and uniform practice, or imposing a new or more burdensome requirement, restriction or prohibition on imports or exports or on the transfer of payments therefor, shall, as a general rule, be applied to products of any other Member already en route at the time of publication thereof in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article: Provided, That if any Member customarily exempts from such new or increased obligations products entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, or cleared for export, during a period of thirty days after the date of such publication, such practice shall be considered full compliance with this paragraph. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to antidumping or countervailing duties. Article 16. Information, Statistics and Trade Terminology 1. Members agree to make available promptly to the Organization, in as detailed and accurate a manner as practicable, such statistics relating to their foreign trade as the Organization deems necessary in connection with the fulfillment of its functions, including as the minimum essential to the effective discharge of its duties data on the following subjects: a. Exports and imports of merchandise, distinguishing in so far as possible the movement of transit trade, and taking into account the desirability of uniformity in international trade statistics; b. Governmental revenue from import and export duties and from other taxes imposed on products moving in international trade, and subsidy payments affecting such trade. 2. Statistics of exports and imports of merchandise furnished to the Organization shall so far as practicable be related to tariff classifications and shall be in such form as to reveal the operation of any restrictions on importation or exportation which are based upon or regulated in any manner by quantity or value, or by amounts of exchange made available. 3. Members agree to make available to the Organization, in as detailed and accurate a manner as practicable, such statistics on other economic subjects as the Organization deems necessary in connection with the fulfillment of its functions, and in particular statistics relating to balances of payments and prices, so far as the statistics are not being furnished to any other international organization having functions to which the statistics are more particularly related and from which the Organization can obtain the required information. 4. The Organization shall act as a center for the collection and exchange of statistical and other information relating to international trade, thus facilitating the preparation of studies designed to assist Members in developing policies which further the purposes of this Charter. The Organization shall make such data available to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and to other interested international organizations and shall, in cooperation with these organizations, seek to bring about improvements in the methods of collecting, analyzing and publishing economic statistics, particularly those relating to international trade, and to promote the international comparability of such statistics, including the international adoption of standard commodity classifications. The Organization shall also, in cooperation with such other organizations, compile and publish summary comparative statistics relating to the subjects specified in paragraph 1 of this Article. 5. Members agree to publish the statistics referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article promptly and in as much detail as practicable and to cooperate with the Organization in carrying out the objectives of paragraph 1 of this Article. 6. Members undertake to cooperate with the Organization in promoting the international adoption of standard definitions of terms customarily used in commercial practice, and in developing standards to which goods may be manufactured or graded. Members undertake to |