Amount spent by Customs on opinion

[Pradeep Jain]

Sir,

 

Customs department  want to take Technical  opinion about the product classfication made by us in past under DEPB is appropriate or not.

In this connectioIn the said amount is to be  paid / reibmbursed on behalf of Customs Department to the opinion Agency .

Are we liable to pay the same . If yes under which section or rule.

 

Please confirm

 

Regards

 

Pradeep Jain

 

[shamanthaka mani]

There is no proviison to reimburse Custom Officers for expenses incurred by them in conducting enquiries as deemed fit by them to arrive at assessment of the goods which will include re-assessment.  Therefore there is no reason to reimburse them for opinion obtained on classification.  The Section 145 of Customs Act, 1962 provides that the owner etc. has to perform operation incidental to compliance with the Customs Law which on a plain reading would call for expenses to be incurred by the owner for facilitating examinaiton of the goods and this provision cannot be extended to opinions obtained on classificaiton.  It is well settled that examinaiton or testing of the goods when done by any expert  should only result in report of what are the goods impugned.   The examinaiton and testing authority cannot opine on the classificaiton and their opinions are not relevant or binding as regards classificaiton and valuation.   Therefore there is cause to reimburse the Custom Officers for   opinion obtained on classification or valuation.

AI Summary

Reimbursement for classification opinions: no provision to pay officers or agencies; expert tests do not bind classification.
The department advises there is no provision to reimburse Customs officers or pay for technical opinions on product classification; statutory duties imposing operational expenses on owners relate to facilitating examination of goods and do not extend to meeting costs of classification opinions, and expert examination reports identify goods but do not bind legal classification or valuation.