Verified certificate of origin supports customs exemption; internal supplier cost data cannot defeat the claim without rebuttal evidence.

A duly issued and Government-verified certificate of origin supported the claim for preferential customs exemption, and the benefit could not be denied merely because the department could not obtain the supplier's internal cost data. Once the prescribed documents under the agreement and notification were produced, the evidentiary burden shifted to the department to rebut the claim with material evidence, which it did not do. The concessional duty claim was therefore upheld on the basis of the verified certificate-based entitlement.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to the benefit of the customs exemption based on the Malaysian certificate of origin, despite the department's inability to obtain the supplier's cost data.

Analysis: The certificate of origin had been verified through the Government-to-Government mechanism and the Malaysian authorities did not doubt its genuineness or contents. The absence of the manufacturer's cost data was a matter between the two Governments and could not be used against the appellant, who had produced the prescribed documents under the agreement and the notification. Once such evidence was produced, the burden shifted to the department to dislodge the claim by material evidence, which it failed to do.

Conclusion: The appellant was entitled to the exemption benefit, and denial of the concessional duty on the basis of non-availability of cost data was not justified.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and the relief followed as a consequence of acceptance of the certificate-based claim to preferential customs treatment.

Ratio Decidendi: When a duly issued certificate of origin is verified through the competent foreign authority, the benefit of a preferential customs notification cannot be denied merely because the department could not obtain the supplier's internal cost data, and the evidentiary burden shifts to the department once the prescribed documents are produced.

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