Customs valuation excludes unrelated consultant fees where design work and sale-linked payments to the supplier are not shown.

Consultancy and engineering fees paid to an unrelated foreign consultant were not includible in the assessable value of imported machinery because the consultant had no role in designing the goods supplied by independent vendors. The agreement confined the consultant's work to project consultancy, supervision, review and assistance, while the machinery designs were the suppliers' own and were not shown to have been prepared under the consultant's control. Rule 9(1)(b)(iv) did not apply, as the design and drawings were already with the suppliers, and Rule 9(1)(c) also failed because no royalty or sale-linked technical fee payable to the suppliers was established.

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Issues: Whether the consultancy and engineering fee paid to a foreign consultant for project-related services was includible in the value of imported machinery under Rule 9(1)(b)(iv) or Rule 9(1)(c) of the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988.

Analysis: The imported machinery was purchased from unrelated foreign suppliers on an arm's length basis, and the consultant had no role in designing the machinery supplied by those vendors. The agreement showed that the consultant's role was limited to consultancy, supervision, review, and assistance in relation to the project, while the equipment designs were the suppliers' own and were not shown to have been prepared under the consultant's control. The facts were held to be materially different from the precedent where licence fees and technical services formed a pre-condition of sale. The conditions for addition under Rule 9(1)(b)(iv) were not met because the designs and drawings were already with the suppliers, and Rule 9(1)(c) did not apply because no royalty or sale-linked technical fee payable to the suppliers was established.

Conclusion: The consultancy and engineering fee was not includible in the assessable value of the imported goods, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Consultancy or technical fees paid to an unrelated third-party consultant are not includible in the assessable value of imported goods unless the payment is linked to the sale of the goods or relates to design or engineering work forming part of the manufacture or supply of those very goods.

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