Provisional customs assessment permits use of certified actual landing charges for assessable value, not a mandatory notional rate.

Where customs assessments remain provisional and bills of entry are still open for finalisation, assessable value may be determined on the basis of certified actual landing charges if supported by evidence. Earlier decisions did not prohibit actual landing charges; objections arose mainly where importers failed to prove the actual amount or where assessment had already been finally completed on a notional basis. On provisional assessment, there is no procedural bar to using actuals instead of a notional rate, and actual landing charges are includible in the final assessment.

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Issues: Whether, in cases where bills of entry were provisionally assessed and were awaiting final assessment, landing charges were required to be taken at actuals for determining the assessable value.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that earlier decisions did not bar inclusion of actual landing charges and that objections to actuals had been upheld mainly where importers failed to prove the actual amount or where assessments had already been finally completed on a notional basis. In the present matters, the bills of entry remained open for finalisation after provisional assessment, so there was no procedural obstacle to determining assessable value on the basis of certified actual landing charges rather than notional charges.

Conclusion: The issue was answered in favour of the assessee, and actual landing charges were held to be includible for final assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: Where customs assessment is still provisional, actual landing charges may be adopted for determining assessable value if they are available and supported by evidence; the notional rate is not mandatory in such cases.

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