MULTAN: Despite strong resistance by importers, the Directorate General Customs Valuation Karachi has revised upward customs values on the import of 13 toiletry products including face/talcum powder, face and skin cream/lotions, tooth paste, after shave, shaving cream/Gel/goam, soap in other forms and facial wash according as per new ruling.
The increase in the rates of duties and taxes at the import stage would further raise prices of these products in Pakistan. The prices of face/talcum powder, face and skin cream/lotions, tooth paste, after shave, shaving cream/gel/foam, soap in other forms and facial wash have already increased due to the heavy taxation at the import stage. During the meetings, the importers/stakeholders contended that the values and demand of subject goods have gone down due to Covid factor globally, and therefore the same should be reflected in valuation rulings. Some importers submitted few documents which were examined along with market surveys and past clearance data to determine customs values of subject goods.
According to a valuation ruling issued by the Directorate General Customs, earlier the customs values of these items were determined under Section 25A of the Customs Act, 1969 vide (“Valuation Ruling No.1410/2019 dated 01-11-2019, which was challenged under section 25-D of the Customs Act, 1969. The Director General of Customs Valuation had upheld the said ruling. He, however, directed that the valuation ruling was almost one year old and, therefore, a fresh valuation ruling may be issued. Therefore, an exercise was undertaken by the Directorate General of Customs Valuation to determine the customs values of subject goods in terms of Section 25-A of Customs Act, 1969.
The new ruling has divided these items into four categories of brands i.e. A-category brands; B-category brands; C-category brands and D-category brands for setting minimum customs values of the imported items. The valuation methods given in section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 were duly applied in their sequential order to arrive at customs values of subject goods. The transaction value method under sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 was found inapplicable because requisite information was not available as per law. The wide variations of values displayed in the import data as available on record also strengthened the aforementioned fact.
Hence requisite information required under law was not available to arrive at the transaction value. Therefore, identical/similar goods value methods as provided in Sub-Sections (5) and (6) of section 25 ibid were examined for applicability to the valuation issue in the instant case. The same provided some reference values but could not be exclusively and solely relied upon. In line with statutory sequential order of Section 25, this office conducted market inquiries and Deductive Value Method under Sub-Section (7) of Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969, and was applied to arrive at assessable customs values of these items.
