Customs valuation excludes technical assistance and trade mark fees absent linkage to imported goods and sale condition.

Lump sum technical information and assistance fees are not includible in the transaction value of imported goods under Rule 9(1)(c) unless they are linked to the imported items and form a condition of sale. On the stated facts, the DM 50,000 payment related to manufacture of the contract product in India, not to the imported goods, so the twin conditions for inclusion were not met. The same reasoning applied to the trade mark fee, which was treated on the same footing as royalty or licence fee. Neither amount was therefore added to the assessable value.

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Issues: Whether the lump sum technical information and assistance fee of DM 50,000 and the trade mark fee paid to the foreign collaborator were liable to be added to the transaction value of the imported goods under Rule 9(1)(c) of the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988.

Analysis: The fee of DM 50,000 was paid for technical information and assistance relating to manufacture of the contract product in India, and the agreements did not show that it was linked to the imported items or that such payment was a condition for the sale of the imported goods. The twin conditions for addition under Rule 9(1)(c) were therefore not satisfied. The trade mark fee was also treated as a form of royalty or licence fee covered by the same rule, but the department was not seeking inclusion of the royalty already paid on the same footing, and the same treatment applied to the trade mark fee.

Conclusion: Neither the technical information and assistance fee nor the trade mark fee was includible in the assessable value under Rule 9(1)(c).

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