Vaduz Convention: see EFTA Convention 2001.

Value-added criterion: a concept used in the administration of rules of origin under preferential trade agreements. It means that a specified amount of transformation or processing, usually expressed as a percentage of the total value of the good, has to have occurred in the country exporting the good if the good is to benefit from preferential tariff treatment. See also change in tariff classification and substantial transformation.

Value-added tax: a consumption tax levied ad valorem on goods and services at the point of retail sale.

Value-added telecommunications: also called enhanced services. It includes services such as electronic mail, voice mail, enhanced facsimile services, including store-and-forward services. See also basic telecommunications.

Variable geometry: another way to describe matters concerning special and differential treatment for developing countries in the multilateral trading system. It appears to have been taken from the European Union practice of sometimes allowing separate paths to integration for less developed member states. It seems that the term has been drawn from the shape and function of swing-wing aircraft which are equally versatile at high and low speeds.

Variable levies: customs duty rates which vary in response to domestic criteria. They are intended to ensure that the price of a product on the domestic market remains unchanged regardless of price fluctuations in world markets and always well above world prices. Variable levies are a feature of the Common Agricultural Policy.