Entitlement to nil basic customs duty under the ASEAN...

Entitlement to nil basic customs duty under the ASEAN preferential notification requires accepting a valid Certificate of Origin when the importer furnishes prescribed documents and importing Customs do not conduct the mandated verification or challenge authenticity. The legal effect clarified is that importing Customs must refer doubts to the issuing authority; failure to verify or merely presumptive rejection does not justify denial of preferential exemption, and invocation of verification powers was held improper where no inquiry occurred. Consequently, denial of nil BCD based solely on procedural assumptions is unsustainable and the preferential exemption must be granted where authenticity is not disproved on record.

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