Certificate-of-origin verification procedure governs denial of preferential customs duty benefits, making unverified duty demands and penalties unsustainable.

Preferential customs-duty benefits supported by certificates of origin issued by the designated exporting-country authority are governed by the Interim Rules of Origin. Where doubts arise about a certificate's authenticity or the accuracy of origin particulars, Rule 15 of Annexure B requires the importing party to seek retroactive verification from the issuing authority. Reliance on statements and third-party material without obtaining verification from the Thai issuing authority does not follow the prescribed procedure for challenging the certificates. Accordingly, the preferential-notification benefit could not be denied, and the resulting duty demand and penalties were unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether preferential customs-duty benefit based on certificates of origin could be denied without following the prescribed procedure for verification of those certificates.

Analysis: A claim for preferential concession supported by a certificate of origin issued by the designated authority of the exporting country is governed by the Interim Rules of Origin. Where there is doubt regarding the authenticity of the certificate or accuracy of origin particulars, Rule 15 of Annexure B requires the importing party to seek retroactive verification from the issuing authority. The investigation relied on statements and third-party material without obtaining verification from the Thai issuing authority. The prescribed mechanism for questioning and rejecting the certificates was therefore not followed.

Conclusion: The preferential-notification benefit could not be denied; the duty demand and penalties were unsustainable, in favour of the assessee.

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