KARACHI: The Directorate General of Customs Valuation has revised the customs values of switches and sockets vide Valuation Ruling No 1165/2017 under Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969.
Customs values of switches and sockets were determined under Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969, vide Valuation Ruling No.993/2016, dated 14-12-2016. Some representations were received for revision of valuation ruling owing to difference in prices of some brands and origins, which were not included in the said valuation ruling.
The valuation ruling also required revision in line with the prevailing prices in the international market. Therefore, this Directorate General, in light of orders of superior courts in Danish Jehangir and Saadia Jabbar cases, initiated an exercise for determination of customs values of switches and sockets.
Meetings with stakeholders were held on 02-05-2017, 16-05-2017, and 17-05-2017. Importers had been requested to furnish invoices of imports during last three months showing factual value. Websites, names and e-mail addresses of known foreign manufacturers of the item in question through which the actual current value can be ascertained.
Copies of contracts made / LCs opened during the last three months showing the value of item in question. Copies of sales tax invoices issued during last four months showing the difference in price (excluding duty and taxes) to substantiate that the benefit of difference in price is passed on to the local buyers.
The meetings were attended by different stakeholders. During the course of the meetings, some importers were of the view that the values of Switches & Sockets required revision as the difference in prices of different origins was more than actual, others claimed that there was no such difference. An importer from Sri Lanka origin objected that difference in determined Customs Values of China vis-à-vis Sri Lanka origin needed to be revised in line with market realities.
Resultantly, this Directorate General decided to re-determine Customs Values after comprehensive exercise. Method adopted to determine Customs values: Valuation methods given in Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 were followed to arrive at customs values of Switches & Sockets. Transaction value method provided in Section 25 (1) was found inapplicable owing to wide variation in the values being declared to the customs.
Identical / similar goods value methods provided in Section 25 (5) & (6) were examined for applicability to the valuation issue in the instant case which provided some reference values of the subject goods but the same could not be exclusively relied upon due to wide variation in declared values of subject goods. Thereafter, market enquiry as envisaged under section 25(7) of the Customs Act 1969, was conducted. For the purpose, different markets were surveyed repeatedly.
