Declared transaction value requires independent valuation support; market opinions alone cannot justify customs revaluation and confiscation.

Declared transaction value under the Customs Valuation Rules, 2007 cannot be rejected merely on opinions from competing market participants when no independent technical evidence supports revaluation. The valuation adopted in the impugned order was held unsustainable because no report from an approved laboratory, government laboratory, or competent independent valuer was obtained. The proper course is to have the goods tested or valued by a competent approved authority and then finalise valuation after giving the importer an opportunity to object. The rejection of declared value and consequential revaluation were set aside, and the matter was remanded for fresh valuation in accordance with law, with provisional release of the goods on bond and bank guarantee.

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Issues: Whether the declared transaction value of imported goods could be rejected and the goods revalued under the Customs Valuation Rules, 2007 on the basis of opinions obtained from private market participants, leading to confiscation and penalty.

Analysis: The valuation adopted in the impugned order rested on opinions furnished by manufacturers competing in the same line of business, while no test report or valuation report from an approved laboratory, government laboratory, or competent independent valuer was obtained. In the absence of such independent technical evidence, the rejection of the declared value and the consequential revaluation were found to be unsustainable. The appropriate course was to have the goods tested or valued by a competent approved authority and then finalize valuation after granting the importer an opportunity to object.

Conclusion: The rejection of declared value and revaluation were set aside and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner for fresh valuation in accordance with law, with provisional release of the goods on bond and bank guarantee.

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