Weight-based valuation for small pre-packaged goods: no MRP declaration required, so customs duty follows transaction value.

Imported adhesive sticks packed in 5 g or 8 g units were treated as pre-packaged commodities sold by weight, so quantity had to be declared in mass under the Legal Metrology framework. Because the net weight was below 10 g, the packages were exempt from retail sale price declaration under the Legal Metrology Rules, 2011. In the absence of a statutory MRP declaration requirement, customs duty under section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 could not be assessed on MRP basis and had to be determined on transaction value. The Tribunal followed its earlier decisions on similar small-pack goods and applied the weight-based valuation approach.

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Issues: Whether imported adhesive sticks packed in 5 g or 8 g packages, being pre-packaged commodities sold by weight, were exempt from retail sale price declaration under the Legal Metrology Rules, 2011, and whether customs duty under section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 was therefore required to be assessed on transaction value rather than on MRP basis.

Analysis: The packages declared the net weight as 5 g or 8 g, the goods were in semi-solid form, and the declarations in the invoices, packing lists and bills of entry consistently reflected weight-based description. In such circumstances, the goods fell within the definition of pre-packaged commodity under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, and quantity had to be expressed in terms of mass under section 5 read with rule 12 of the Legal Metrology Rules, 2011. Since the net weight was below 10 g, rule 26 of the Legal Metrology Rules, 2011 exempted the packages from declaring retail sale price. The Tribunal followed its earlier decisions on similar small-pack commodities and held that where no statutory requirement exists to declare MRP, assessment cannot be made on MRP basis.

Conclusion: The exemption from retail sale price declaration applied, and customs duty was to be assessed on transaction value, not on MRP basis.

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