Customs valuation by contemporaneous imports fails where Revenue relies on enhanced comparable values instead of declared transaction values.

Declared transaction value could not be rejected on the basis of contemporaneous imports where the department relied on enhanced customs values rather than the declared values of comparable imports. Rule 5 of the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988 required adoption of the lowest comparable value, and the revenue also failed to produce contrary evidence to displace the importer's documents supporting the stated transaction price. The declared value was therefore required to be accepted as the transaction value, and the enhancement by the lower authorities was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the declared transaction value of the imported goods was liable to be rejected and enhanced on the basis of contemporaneous imports.

Analysis: The valuation was made under Rule 5 of the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988, which requires adoption of the lowest value where more than one comparable value is available. The values relied upon by the department were not the declared values of the comparable imports but enhanced values fixed by customs, whereas the declared values in those imports were lower than or comparable to the appellant's declared price. The record also did not show any contrary evidence from the Revenue to displace the appellant's documents showing the stated transaction price.

Conclusion: The declared value of US $ 1100 PMT was required to be accepted as the transaction value, and the enhancement made by the lower authorities was unsustainable. The appeal succeeded.

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