KARACHI: The Directorate General of Customs Valuation has revised the customs values of ginger and garlic vide Valuation Ruling No 1339/2018 under Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969.
Earlier the customs values of fresh/dry ginger and garlic were determined vide Valuation Ruling No. 1299/2018 dated 26-04-2018. A number of importers filed representations requesting for the revision of the ruling in line with the prevailing prices in the international market.
Keeping in view the prevailing prices in the international , Directorate General initiated an exercise for re-determination of the Customs Values of the fresh/dry ginger and garlic in terms of Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969.
Meetings were held with stakeholders on 02-08-2018, 16-08-2018 and 13-09-2018 in Directorate General. The importers / stakeholders were requested to submit 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 their contention.
The importers contended that the customs values in the impugned Valuation Ruling are high and therefore, require revision in line with the prevailing prices in the international market.
They emphasized that due to the new crops of ginger and garlic in China this season, the prices in international markets have declined and therefore the existing ruling needs to be rationalized accordingly.
The importers of dry ginger also contended that the prices of dry ginger have also seen a downward trend. The stakeholders also produced documents to substantiate their view point that prices in international markets have declined substantially. The view point of all stakeholders was considered before arriving at customs values of fresh/dry ginger and garlic.
Valuation methods provided in Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 were duly applied in their regular sequential order to address the valuation issue at hand.
The transaction value method as provided in Sub-Section (1) of Section 25 was found inapplicable due to wide variation of values displayed in the import data, hence requisite information was not available to arrive at the correct transaction value. Identical/similar goods value method provided vide Sub-Sections (5) & (6) of Section 25 ibid were examined for applicability to determine Customs value of subject goods.
