Origin Verification requirement prevents reliance on third party certificate findings; appellants' certificates retained absent specific retroactive check.

Annexure-III and Rule 14 require a formal origin verification addressed to the issuing authority and a retroactive check before a certificate of origin may be displaced; verification or adverse findings concerning certificates issued to other importers or different certificates from the same supplier do not suffice to displace an appellant's certificate absent the prescribed verification directed to that specific certificate. Consequently, documentary certificates of origin must be respected unless the mandated origin verification/retroactive check is carried out in relation to the particular certificate at issue.

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Issues: Whether a verification or adverse finding in relation to a certificate of origin for shipments of a different importer (or different certificate) but from the same supplier can be relied upon by Customs to displace the certificate of origin and sustain demands against the present appellants.

Analysis: The Tribunal examined the requirement under Annexure-III and Rule 14 of the relevant Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of India and Malaysia) Rules, 2011, which mandates a formal origin verification process including a request to the issuing authority and a retroactive check before displacing a certificate of origin. The Tribunal noted that the department relied on verification or discrepancies concerning certificates pertaining to other parties supplied by the same exporter, but no specific verification request or retroactive check in respect of the appellants' certificate was on record. The Tribunal followed its earlier decision in Shirazee Traders v. CC Mundra and subsequent consistent orders, holding that absent the prescribed verification procedure directed to the issuing authority in relation to the appellant's certificate, documentary certificates of origin cannot be displaced on the basis of verification carried out for other parties.

Conclusion: The reliance on verification or findings relating to certificates of origin of other parties from the same supplier is not sufficient to displace the appellants' certificate of origin in the absence of a specific origin verification/retroactive check as required under Annexure-III and Rule 14 of the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of India and Malaysia) Rules, 2011. The appeals are allowed in favour of the appellants.

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