Declared import standard controls confiscation; re-export should be allowed where examination uses the wrong benchmark.

Imported bulk drug declared as USP-24 standard goods could not be subjected to absolute confiscation or penalty where the examination report relied on a comparison with IP standard rather than the declared USP-24 standard. The analysis states that the report did not establish non-conformity with USP-24, so the basis for confiscation was unsound. In these circumstances, re-export of the goods should have been permitted instead of imposing confiscation and penalty on the importer.

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Issues: Whether the imported bulk drug, declared as USP-24 standard goods, could be absolutely confiscated and penalty imposed on the basis of a report comparing it with IP standard, and whether re-export of the goods ought to be permitted.

Analysis: The goods were imported as USP-24 standard. The report relied upon did not show that the goods failed to conform to USP-24; instead, the examination proceeded on an IP standard, which was not the declared standard of the goods. On that basis, absolute confiscation could not be sustained. In the circumstances, the request for re-export ought to have been allowed rather than visiting the importer with confiscation and penalty.

Conclusion: Absolute confiscation and penalty were not justified. Permission for re-export was warranted.

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