Customs valuation based on a pre-examination Chartered Engineer certificate was held unsustainable, with duty and interest demand set aside.

A Chartered Engineer's certificate issued before examination of the imported goods, and without actual inspection of those goods, cannot support re-determination of customs value. Where the goods were later opened and 100% examined after the certificate was issued, the certificate had no evidentiary value for enhancing assessable value. The resulting demand for differential customs duty and interest was therefore unsustainable, and the valuation enhancement was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the enhancement of customs value and confirmation of differential duty and interest could be sustained on the basis of a Chartered Engineer's certificate issued before examination of the goods.

Analysis: The imported goods had been examined by the shed officer and released on the basis of the load port Chartered Engineer certificate furnished by the importer. The later finalization of the Bills of Entry rested on a different Chartered Engineer's certificate dated 07.05.2016, though the goods were opened and 100% examined only on 11.05.2016 and 12.05.2016. A certificate issued before examination of the goods, and without actual inspection of the impugned goods, was held to have no evidentiary validity for re-determining value. On that basis, the enhancement of value and the consequent demand of differential duty and interest were found unsustainable.

Conclusion: The enhancement of value on the basis of the said Chartered Engineer certificate was not sustainable, and the demand of differential customs duty along with interest was set aside in favour of the assessee.

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