Customs valuation: invoice deductions for transit loss were not treated as a discount or price reduction, so the valuation stood.

Deduction of 2 kgs. per drum stated in invoices for transit and invisible loss was not treated as an excludible discount or price reduction in customs valuation. The invoices only referred to a price deduction for that quantity, and no material showed that it was a negotiated discount available to all customers or a general reduction in price. The importers also failed to establish actual loss by weighing the goods on arrival or otherwise proving loss before clearance. Since the existing US $ 64 per tonne discount had already been built into the invoice price, the further deduction was disallowed and the valuation adopted by Customs was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the deduction of 2 kgs. per drum shown in the invoice on account of transit and invisible loss could be excluded from the assessable value, and whether the claimed reduction could be treated as a discount or price reduction.

Analysis: The invoices expressly referred to deduction of price for 2 kgs. per drum on account of transit and invisible loss. No material was produced to show that the deduction was in the nature of a negotiated discount or a general price reduction. The appellants did not get the consignment weighed on arrival or establish actual loss before clearance. The existing discount of US $ 64 per tonne had already been accounted for in the invoice price, and the further deduction could not be treated as a discount available to all customers.

Conclusion: The deduction was not allowable and there was no ground to interfere with the valuation adopted by the Customs authorities; the appeal was dismissed.

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