Assessable value of imports cannot be enhanced on an unverified foreign price reference without contemporaneous import evidence or disclosure.

Imported plastic resin cannot have its assessable value enhanced merely by relying on a minimum far east international price reference. In the absence of contemporaneous import evidence, and where the material relied on was not shown to have been disclosed to the importer before adjudication, the declared transaction value remained unshaken on the facts recorded. The material therefore did not provide a proper basis to disturb the importer's declared value, and the revenue challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether the declared value of the imported plastic resin could be enhanced by relying on a minimum far east international price in the absence of evidence of contemporaneous imports and without supplying the material to the importer before adjudication.

Analysis: The enhancement of assessable value was founded on a price reference from an international publication and not on evidence of contemporaneous imports. The cited material was not shown to have been supplied to the importer before the matter was decided, and the record disclosed no basis to disturb the declared transaction value on the facts available.

Conclusion: The value could not be enhanced on the material relied upon by the department, and the dismissal of the revenue appeal left the importer's declared value undisturbed.

Final Conclusion: The decision affirms that imported goods cannot be revalued on the basis of an unverified foreign price reference in the absence of contemporaneous import evidence and fair disclosure of the material relied upon.

Ratio Decidendi: Assessable value cannot be enhanced merely on the basis of an external price reference unless supported by contemporaneous import evidence and disclosed to the importer for rebuttal.

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