Ship demurrage charges excluded from assessable value as a post-importation cost under customs valuation principles.

Ship demurrage charges paid for detention of a vessel beyond lay time are not includible in the assessable value of imported goods for customs duty purposes. The Tribunal treated the issue as settled by binding precedent that demurrage arises only after the goods reach the Indian port and is therefore a post-importation event. It also followed the larger bench view that such charges cannot form part of assessable value, including where assessments are provisional. The demand was therefore not sustainable.

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Issues: Whether ship demurrage charges paid for detention of the vessel beyond lay time are includible in the assessable value of imported goods for customs duty purposes.

Analysis: The dispute concerned inclusion of demurrage charges in the value of imported LPG. The issue was treated as settled by binding precedent holding that demurrage arises after the goods reach the Indian port and is a post-importation event. The Tribunal also followed the larger bench view that such charges cannot be included in the assessable value, even where assessments are provisional.

Conclusion: Ship demurrage charges are not includible in the assessable value of the imported goods. The impugned demand could not be sustained.

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