On 23 October 2025, the World Customs Organization WCO advised that at its 61 st session, the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation TCCV had concluded its examination of a technical question submitted by Uruguay concerning the meaning of the expression price actually paid or payable for the goods under the transaction value method . As a result, a new instrument, Explanatory Note EN 7.1, will be submitted for approval to the WCO Council at its June 2026 sessions.
The instrument examines the expression price actually paid or payable from a broader perspective, focusing on elements found in the World Trade Organization WTO Customs Valuation Agreement CVA and in TCCV instruments.
Under the CVA, the starting point for determining the customs value of imported goods is the transaction value , that is to say, the price actually paid or payable by the buyer to the seller for the imported goods. EN 7.1 clarifies how that price should be interpreted, which payments must be included, and which can be excluded.
