KARACHI: The Directorate General of Customs Valuation revised the customs value of various spices and nutmeg through Valuation Ruling No 1047/2017 under Section 25A of the Customs Act, 1969.
According to details, the Directorate General earlier circulated reference value slabs vide National Valuation Database letters No: 19 dated 27-07-2016 for cloves, No: 22 dated 29-07-2016 for big cardamom, No: 23 dated 29-07-2016 for Mace, No: 24 dated 04-08-2016 for nutmeg, No: 25 dated 08-08-2017 for cinnamon and No: 26 dated 08¬08-2016 for tej patta.
Furthermore, Valuation Rulings Numbered 598/2013 dated 24-10-2013, No. 687/2014 dated 22-09-2014 and a Valuation Ruling No: 743/2015 dated 10-06-2015. In this context the Collectorate vide letters no: SI/MISC/118/2016-Group-1(aw) dated 01.09.2016 did not agree to some of the prices being hedged with the international ledger-trading and conducted fresh market surveys for items like nutmeg, cinnamon, cassia, tej patta, cloves etc.
Pakistan Kiryana Merchants Association also approached the Directorate General and requested to issue valuation ruling for subject goods, pointing out various impediments in the uniform applicability of the notified and reference values, besides other issues. Therefore, the Directorate General initiated an exercise for determination of customs values of various spices & nut.
A Meeting for the determination of customs values of Spices & nuts was held on 03-01-2017 which was duly attended by all importing stakeholders. All the stakeholders strongly contended that the international trading prices have fluctuated and requested that the above mentioned National Valuation Database values and Valuation Ruling’s values may be reviewed in the light of prevailing international and local market prices.
They further contended that never in customs recent history international ledger has been adopted for valuation as their imported goods are of different quality and category and also that their usage in Western Europe is minimal.
The point of view of all participants was heard in detail and was considered to arrive at the assessable/determined value of subject goods. The kistan Kiryana Merchants Association also submitted proposed C&F values of subject goods. The stakeholders insisted to conduct fresh market surveys from wholesales market to determine the veracity of their points of view regarding the value of the subject goods.
The perishable nature of the subject goods was also highlighted and importers insisted that the limited shelf life be considered while determining the assessable value, because near the expiry dates, these perishable items are invariably sold on sale and discounted prices.
