1999 (12) TMI 59

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....der]. - A brief question arises in these appeals, namely, having for the purposes of assessment of Customs duty, assessed landing charges at the rate of 1.4 per cent of the CIF value of imported goods, can the Customs authorities also add to their value stevedoring charges. 2.The appellants manufacture fertilisers. For this purpose they imported large quantities of rock phosphate and sulphur. T....

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....city, depreciation, approximate maintenance cost, administrative overheads and notional interest on capital. He found that the stevedoring charges ranged between Rs. 6.86 to Rs. 9.49 per metric tonne of the said goods. 4.The appellants succeeded before the Appellate Collector, who took the view that landing charges and stevedoring or unloading charges were one and the same. The Customs authorit....

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....s had already loaded the value of goods with landing charges at the rate of 1.4 per cent of their CIF value. We do not think that we have received any satisfactory answer to the question at the conclusion of the hearing. 6.Mr. Bajpai referred to Sect-Ion 42 of the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 and submitted, quite rightly, that the Board of Trustees of a major port furnish a variety of services, ....

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....ncurred by an importer for bringing goods on board ship to land. Landing charges, in law, must be assessed on actuals, but, as a matter of practice, particularly to facilitate expeditious clearance, landing charges are assessed at a percentage of the value of the goods and such assessment is accepted. When so assessed, landing charges cover the totality of all that an importer expends to bring imp....