KARACHI: The Directorate General of Customs Valuation has determined the customs values of milk powder vide Valuation Ruling No 696/2014 and No Misc/28/2007-I dated October 1, 2014.
The Directorate initiated the exercise to re-determine the customs values of powder milk after it received a reference No 3(15) S.Val Audit/2013 (4) dated April 10, 2014 from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Islamabad along with a letter from Louis Dreyfus Commodities Australia dated March 27, 2014 regarding fluctuation in the international price of skimmed milk powder.
The valuation methods provided in Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 were followed. The Transaction value method under sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Act was found inapplicable because the requisite information was not available. identical/similar goods valuation methods provided in sub-section (5) & (6) of section 25 of the Act were found inapplicable because of non-availability of sufficient information, particularly the quality of goods. Deductive value method under sub-section (7) read with sub-section (9) of section 25 of the Act was, however, applied to arrive at the assessable customs values of milk powder.
The directorate held meetings with importers, representative of FPCCI, KCCI and other stakeholders on August 7, 11 and 27, 2014. Contentions forwarded by the importers dated September 10 and 12, 2014 were also scrutinized to assess and re-determine the customs values of milk powder.
Finally, the Directorate General of Valuation re-determined the customs values of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate to be assessed to duty/taxes as below.
According to details, New Zealand and Australia origin skimmed milk powder having PCT code 0402.1000 & proposed PCT for WeBOC of 0402.1000.1000 shall be assessed for duty/taxes at Customs Values (C&F) at $ 4.00 per Kilogram.
Moreover, West Europe Origin skimmed milk powder having PCT code 0402.1000 and proposed PCT for WeBOC of 0402.1000.1100 shall be assessed for duty/taxes at Customs Values (C&F) at $ 3.00 per Kilogram.
The Iran origin skimmed milk powder having PCT code 0402.1000 and proposed PCT for WeBOC of 0402.1000.1200 shall be assessed for duty/taxes at Customs Values (C&F) at $ 2.20 per Kilogram.
The skimmed milk powder from other origins having PCT code 0402.1000 and proposed PCT for WeBOC of 0402.1000.1300 shall be assessed for duty/taxes at Customs Values (C&F) at $ 2.75 per Kilogram.
Similarly, Instant Milk Powder with vegetable fat from all origins having PCT code 1901.9020 & 1901.9090 and proposed PCT for WeBOC of 1901.9020.1000 & 1901.9090.1100 shall be assessed for duty/taxes at Customs Values (C&F) at $ 2.00 per Kilogram.
In cases where the declared/transaction values are higher than the customs values determined in this ruling, the assessing officers shall apply those values in terms of sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act and in cases of consignments imported by air, the assessing officer shall take into account the differential between air freight and sea freight while applying the customs values determined in this Ruling.
