Preferential customs exemption based on certificates of origin...

Preferential customs exemption based on certificates of origin requires the importing country, where authenticity or accuracy is doubted, to seek retroactive verification from the issuing authority in the exporting country. The article notes that an investigation into diamond-studded gold jewellery imported from Thailand instead relied on third-party material and statements without using that prescribed mechanism. It states that denial of preferential treatment for alleged overstatement of local value content was therefore procedurally improper. The duty demand was dropped, consequential penalties were unsustainable, and the impugned order was set aside with consequential relief.