Customs valuation of imported cars: ATA Carnet value cannot replace transaction value when contemporaneous imports and free-market pricing support the declaration.

ATA Carnet value could not be adopted as the assessable value for customs duty on sale of imported cars because it reflected commercial value in the country of issue for insurance and bank guarantee purposes, not customs valuation under Section 14 of the Customs Act. The declared transaction value in the Bills of Entry was to be accepted because contemporaneous imports of identical cars supported it, the importer-principal relationship had not influenced the price, and Rule 8(2)(iii) barred valuation by reference to the domestic market price of the country of exportation.

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Issues: Whether the value declared in the ATA Carnet could be adopted as the assessable value for customs duty on sale of the imported cars, and whether the transaction value declared in the Bills of Entry could be rejected.

Analysis: Goods imported under ATA Carnet were duty-free subject to conditions under Notification No. 157/90-Cus dated 28.3.1990, and sale was later permitted on payment of customs duty with prior approval. The Carnet declaration represented the commercial value in the country of issue and was intended for insurance and bank guarantee purposes, not as the assessable value for customs purposes. The contemporaneous imports of identical cars at lower values supported acceptance of the declared values in the Bills of Entry. The record also showed that the relationship between the importer and its principal had not influenced the price, so the transaction value could not be discarded on that ground. Rule 8(2)(iii) of the Customs Valuation Rules also barred determination of value on the basis of domestic market price of the country of exportation.

Conclusion: The Carnet value was not the assessable value under Section 14 of the Customs Act, and the appellant's declared transaction value was liable to be accepted.

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