The Directorate General of Customs Valuation Karachi Wednesday fixed the customs values (C&F) on the import of synthetic soda ash of all origin within the range of US $0.200 to 0.255 per kilogram. According to new valuation ruling of the directorate, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969, Customs values of Soda Ash have been determined.
The directorate has superseded Valuation Ruling Nos. 540/2013 dated 22-01-2013 and 553/2013 dated 10-05-2013. The customs values of soda ash of different grades were earlier determined vide Valuation Ruling No 540/2013 dated 22.01.2013 and Valuation Ruling NO.553/2013 dated 10-05-2013. Representations were received from commercial importers, for determination of customs value of soda ash afresh. Hence existing Valuation Ruling, which is over three years old is required to be revised in the light of Sindh High Court's orders dated 10.11.2015 in Constitutional Petition No D-6918/2015. Since 90 days have passed and representations were received from commercial importers regarding values determined in afore mentioned Valuation Ruling, an exercise was initiated to re-determine the values of soda ash.
The meeting with all the stakeholders including importers and representatives from Clearance Collectorates was held on 7-12-2016 to discuss the current international prices of the subject item. The commercial importers stated that the prices of subject items are showing downward trend in the international markets; however, M/s ICI Pakistan. Ltd, local manufacturers, on the other hand submitted that the prices of soda ash are showing upward trend. They supported their submissions with ICIS and HIS chemicals for current prices of soda ash. The viewpoint of all participants was heard in detail and considered to arrive at customs value of soda ash.
The ruling said that the valuation methods provided in Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 were duly applied in their regular sequential order to address the particular valuation issue at hand. The transaction value method as provided in Sub-Section (1) of Section 25, found inapplicable in light of the wide variety of invoices submitted at import stage the veracity of which could not be ascertained fully, hence requisite information required under law was not available to arrive at the correct transaction value. Identical/similar goods value method provided vide Sub-Sections (5) & (6) of Section 25 ibid were examined for applicability to determine customs value of subject goods, this data provided some references, however, it was found that the same cannot be solely relied upon due to the absence of absolute demonstrable evidence of qualities, and quantities of commercial level etc, and also it was observed that importers usually provided misleading description while declaring goods, as other types and varieties of similar goods to avoid the application of valuation ruling. Information available was, hence, found inappropriate. In line with the statutory sequential order of Section 25, this office then conducted a market inquiry using Deductive Value Method under Sub-Section (7) of the Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969; however, it was found that the determination of customs value could not be based solely upon this method either. Therefore, valuation method provided vide Section 25 (8) of Customs Act 1969, could not be applied as the conversion cost from constituent materials and allied expenses, at country of export were not available. Finally, PRAL database, market information and international prices through web were examined thoroughly. All the information so gathered was analysed for determination of customs value of the subject items. Consequently, the Fall Back Method as provided under section 25(9) of the Customs Act, 1969 was applied to arrive assessable customs values of the soda ash, the ruling added.