Customs value of different types of papers revised

Directorate General Customs Valuation (DGCV) has revised the customs values of different types of papers under section 25(7) of the Customs Act, 1969. According to details, the customs values of grease proof paper, glazed tracing paper and glassine paper were earlier determined under section 25A of the Customs Act, 1969 vide valuation ruling 1080 in 2017.
For the purpose of valuation revision, the meeting with stakeholders was held on January 18, 2018. The meeting was attended by importers, traders and representatives of All Pakistan Paper Merchants Association. They were of the view that the prices should be determined as per description given in the Pakistan Customs Tariff keeping in view current market trends. They pointed out the flaws in the previous ruling and asserted that vegetable parchment is an expensive item which has been confused with tracing paper, greaseproof paper etc and contended that values may be determined according to correct description and specifications. As for as grease proof paper and tracing paper is concerned, the year round, less than 100 MT has been imported. They asserted that if correct specification, PCT and values are indicated in the Ruling, importers would have no incentive to mis-declare the items is unrelated HS codes. The valuation methods given in section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969 were followed to arrive at customs values of vegetable parchment, grease proof paper, glazed tracing paper and glassine paper.
Transaction value method provided in section 25 (1) was found inapplicable owing to non fulfillment of prescribed requirements. Identical goods values methods provided in section 25(5) & (6) were examined for applicability to the valuation issue in the instant case which provided a number of reference values of subject goods but the same could not be exclusively relied on due to certain variations in declared values of subject goods. Thereafter, market enquiries as envisaged under section 25(7) of the Customs Act, 1969, were conducted. Online prices were also obtained to corroborate the findings of market survey. Consequently, the customs values of the vegetable parchment, grease proof paper, glazed tracing paper and glassine paper of various types have been determined under section 25(7) of the Customs Act, 1969.