Customs valuation evidence and invoice rejection on weak records justified a strong prima facie case for stay and waiver

Unauthenticated photocopies said to have been obtained from customs and excise authorities in Hong Kong were treated as insufficient support for the valuation adopted by the lower authorities. Discrepancies in the quantity and quality of the goods were also noted, and the Revenue did not show which valuation rule had been applied to reject the invoice value. On that interim assessment, the orders did not appear to satisfy the governing customs valuation principles or justify the confirmed duty and penalties, and a strong prima facie case was stated to exist for complete stay of recovery and waiver of pre-deposit pending the appeals.

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Issues: Whether the applicants made out a prima facie case for complete stay of recovery and waiver of pre-deposit of customs duty and penalty in the pending appeals.

Analysis: The relied upon documents obtained from Customs and Excise authorities at Hong Kong were found to be unauthenticated photocopies and did not satisfactorily support the valuation adopted by the lower authorities. The record also disclosed discrepancies in quantity and quality of the goods, and the Revenue was unable to show which valuation rule had been applied for rejecting the invoice value. In these circumstances, the impugned orders did not, at the interim stage, appear to comply with the governing principles for customs valuation or justify the confirmed duty and penalties.

Conclusion: A strong prima facie case was made out for complete stay of recovery and waiver of pre-deposit pending disposal of the appeals.

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