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2024 (4) TMI 696
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....e Additional Commissioner and rejected the appeal filed by the appellant. 2. The appellant imported Ethylene Vinyl Acetate [EVA] from M/s. International Polymers Company, of Saudi Arabia and filed a Bill of Entry. The Vinyl Acetate content of EVA declared by the appellant was 18%. Samples were drawn and sent for testing to the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology [CIPET] and the test report indicated the vinyl acetate content was 22.4%. 3. Since the vinyl acetate content of EVA is a major determinant of the price of EVA, the declared value was rejected and it was re-determined based on the contemporaneous imports and duty was demanded accordingly. 4. Aggrieved, the appellant appealed to the Commissioner (Appeals....
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..... The only import of EVA from Saudi Arabia was by the appellant and therefore, its transaction value must be accepted. SUBMISSIONS OF THE RESPONDENT 6. Learned authorised representative for the Revenue made the following submissions: i) The impugned order is correct and proper and calls for no interference; ii) Test reports are as good as the samples which are collected. The only sample of the imported good which was tested as is evident from the test reports is the sample tested by CIPET; iii) The two test reports relied upon by the appellant do not say anywhere that the samples which they tested were from the consignment in the disputed Bill of Entry; iv) The test report of the supplier of the app....
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....s per the Customs Valuation (Determination of value of imported goods) Rules, 2007 [Valuation Rules] based on the values of contemporaneous imports; and x) Since there were no contemporaneous imports of EVA with 24% vinyl acetate content from Saudi Arabia, the lowest of the values of imports from other regions was adopted. FINDINGS 7. We have considered the submissions of both sides. The contention of the appellant is two-fold: a) Reliance on the test report of CIPET is not correct; and b) Even if the test report is accepted, the method of re-determination of value is not correct. 8. The appellant assails the CIPET's test report on the ground that it had adopted the incorrect method for testing and that t....
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....as ASTM E 1131 (TGA method). The appellant says ASTM D 5594-98 was the correct method and it will give the result according to its declaration. ASTM stands for American Society for Testing and Materials which lays down standards for materials as well as testing protocols which are followed world over. We find no reason to believe that the ASTM standard followed by the CIPET is incorrect. While various testing methods and protocols are developed, we do not believe, in the absence of any evidence, that two methods prescribed by the ASTM will give such varied results -one giving vinyl acetate percentage as 22.4 and the other giving it as 18. It is also to be noted that the test report of the supplier of the appellant relied upon also had not f....
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....ourt in Reliance Cellulose is that the test report of the government laboratory cannot be discarded in favour of some private test report. 13. For all these reasons, we hold in favour of Revenue and against the appellant insofar as the test report is concerned. 14. Coming to the second question of valuation, the imported EVA was declared to have 18% vinyl acetate but on testing by CIPET was found to contain 22.4% vinyl acetate. So, the proper officer had a reasonable doubt and correctly rejected the transaction value under Rule 12 of the Valuation Rules. 15. Learned counsel submits that in the absence of any evidence that any additional amount was remitted by the appellant for the consignment, the transaction value must be acc....
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....ot be entitled to ask 'B' to remit more for the car because Customs determined the duty reckoning GBP 10,000 as the assessable value. 16. If the assessing officer rejects the transaction value under Rule 12, then the value has to be re-determined under Valuation Rules 4 to 9. 17. The assessing officer determined the value under Rule 9 observing that the other Rules from 4 to 8 do not apply and, therefore, determined the assessee value as per the contemporaneous values as per Independent Commodity Intelligence Service (ICIS) data. Learned counsel submits that if contemporaneous values must be considered they must originate from the same area. While its imports were from Saudi Arabia, the contemporaneous values adopted were based on the....