Tribunal Rules FTA Benefits Valid for Cocoa Powder Imports; Lack of Verification Renders Department's Demand Time-Barred.

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....Import of Alkalised Cocoa Powder from Malaysia - Denied FTA benefit - The Tribunal observed that the benefit was denied solely based on the department's suspicion that the value addition condition was not met. However, no independent verification was conducted to support this allegation. - The Tribunal highlighted that according to Annexure-III of the Customs Tariff, a retroactive check by the customs authorities of India or reference to issuing authorities for verification is required to dispute the certificate of origin. In this case, no such verification was carried out, failing to comply with the requirements of the Free Trade Agreement. Further the CESTAT concluded that no mala fide could be attributed to the appellant. Therefore, the demand was considered time-barred.....