A customs broker ordinarily functions as agent of the exporter...

A customs broker ordinarily functions as agent of the exporter and acts on the exporter's instructions; primary responsibility for correctness of shipping bill particulars, including valuation, rests with the exporter. Penalty for facilitating overvaluation cannot be sustained without a specific adjudicatory finding and positive evidence that the broker committed acts or omissions that enabled over invoicing or rendered goods liable to confiscation. Where investigation and orders fail to establish the broker's role in alleged overvaluation, imposition of penalty is not justified and must be set aside.

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