Dear Professional colleagues,

Greetings of the Day !

The Central Board of Indirect taxes and custom had issued Circular No. 01/2023 – Customs and Notification No. 03/2023-Customs (N.T.) dated January 11, 2023, regarding Customs (Assistance in Value Declaration of Identified Imported Goods) Rules, 2023.

Legal provisions

Second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 14 of the Customs Act lists out certain matters which may be provided for in the rules. The said sub-section was amended vide the Finance Act, 2022 to insert the following text under its second proviso – “(iv) the additional obligations of the importer in respect of any class of imported goods and the checks to be exercised, including the circumstances and manner of exercising thereof, as the Board may specify, where, the Board has reason to believe that the value of such goods may not be declared truthfully or accurately, having regard to the trend of declared value of such goods or any other relevant criteria:”

CAVR, 2023

Customs (Assistance in Value Declaration of Identified Imported Goods) Rules, 2023 have been formulated and they shall come into force from February 11, 2023.

Provisions of CAVR, 2023 are self-contained and these rules include:–

(a) the processes to be followed before the Board may specify a class of imported goods, for which there is a reason to believe that the value may not be declared truthfully or accurately but below it, as identified goods.

(b) the procedures for an importer of identified goods, once the relevant class of goods have been specified as identified goods by the Board. These include declaring certain aspects while filing the bill of entry. Further, if required by the Customs Automated System, such importer shall also fulfil the specified additional obligations, and specified checks shall be performed so as to enable and assist the importer to demonstrate the truthfulness and accuracy of the declared value.

(c) the specification that where the proper officer still has reasonable doubt about the truth or accuracy of the value declared in relation to the identified goods, the further proceedings shall be taken in accordance with rule 12 of the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007 (CVR, 2007) only.

These rules provide guidance to both, the person making the reference to the Board, as well as in the undertaking of detailed examination.