KARACHI: Directorate of Customs Valuation has revised the customs values of car speakers, horns, loud speakers and wall-mounted/ceiling/column speakers, (low-end brands) Valuation Ruling No 971/2016 under Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969.
The customs values above mentioned items were earlier determined vide Valuation Ruling No.656/2014. The values required revision in line with the prevailing prices in the international market.
Different meetings with stakeholders were held and a final meeting was held on 26-07-2016. Importers had been requested to furnish the following documents before or during the course of meeting:
- 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 meeting was attended by the importers and the officers from field formations. No documents were submitted in the Directorate General on or even after the said scheduled meetings.
During the meeting importers were of the view that the values of these items have considerably reduced in the international market as compared to the values determined in the existing valuation ruling. Importers requested that market inquiry shall be conducted from valuation methods given in Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 were followed to arrive at customs values of different types/brands car speakers, horns, loud speakers and wall-mounted/ceiling/column speakers, (low end brands).
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 on due to wide variation in the local market.
The market inquiry was conducted of the above mentioned items of different brands, types and sizes from different shops in Karachi. However, importers did not submit import invoices, sales tax invoices, literature, representative samples, evidences and other relevant requisite import documents in support of their contentions.