Technical know-how fee exclusion from customs value where payment was unrelated to imported goods and not a sale condition.

Technical know-how and assistance fees paid for manufacturing in India, where they are not consideration for the imported goods and are not shown to be a condition of sale, are not includible in the assessable value under the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988. The attempted inclusion under Rule 9(1)(c) failed because the necessary conditions for that provision were not established, so the fee could not be added to the transaction value of the imported goods.

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Issues: Whether the technical know-how fee paid by the importer to the foreign supplier was includible in the assessable value of the imported goods under the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988.

Analysis: The payment was made as consideration for technical know-how and assistance for manufacturing in India, and not as consideration for the imported goods. It was also not established that the payment was a condition of sale of the goods. The attempt to support inclusion under Rule 9(1)(c) could not succeed, and the conditions for invoking that provision were not shown to exist.

Conclusion: The technical know-how fee was not liable to be added to the transaction value of the imported goods.

Ratio Decidendi: A payment for technical know-how and assistance, unconnected with the imported goods and not forming a condition of sale, is not includible in the transaction value under the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988.

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