This book was written in response to the coming into force on the first of January 1981 of the Customs Valuation Code of the GATT, an agreement which has been applied unilaterally by the EEC and the US since the first of July 1980. As a result of the new agreement a uniform system for the valuation of goods for customs purposes will be used for the first time in history of international trade by the most important trading nations. This can be seen as an important step in the removal of trade barriers, as the use of a uniform system enables any­ one occupied with international trade to foresee with reasonable accuracy the treatment he will receive in other countries. This book provides a survey of the new system, together with the application and interpretation which to our opinion may be expected on the basis of the international discussions. Some attention is paid, moreover, to the remaining systems of valuation of goods which the exporter may encounter. In writing this book we have not only had the aim of providing a source of information for exporters, but we believe it will be of use to anyone who is, or has to be, interested in the customs valuation. March 1981, the authors. V Richard van Raan, after studying civil law at the university of Leiden, specialised himself in fiscal law. Henk de Pagter studied fiscal law in Rotterdam.