KARACHI: M/s Firpo (Pvt) Ltd has approached Sindh High Court challenging the Customs assessment staff for implying Valuation Ruling No. 661/2014 to assess their import consignment comprising mini motorcycle lamps.

M/s Firpo (Pvt) Ltd submitted in their petition that the company is a manufacturer, importer, wholesaler and trader of replacement Auto and Motorcycle parts and imported a consignment from Hungary comprising of two different kinds of Mini Motorcycle Lamps and declared the same at the true transaction value of $0.012/piece and $0.022/piece respectively under HS Code 8539.2110 and paid duty/taxes thereupon.

By way of brief background it is submitted that despite there always being a Valuation Rulings for Motorcycle spare parts, these do not contain values as to the bulbs/lamps and, therefore, historically Valuation Rulings for Auto Parts have been applied to Motorcycle bulbs/lamps on account of having the same HS Code ( 8539.2110).

As regards Auto Parts, lastly the Valuation Ruling No. 661/2014 had been issued, which was challenged by M/s Firpo before the competent authority, which remanded the matter back to Director Customs Valuation giving direction to reconsider, among others, the values for lamps/bulbs.

It was in the backdrop that the company had imported and declared the consignment, when there was no valued in field in terms of Section 25(A) of the Customs Act.

But, when the GD was filed, the assessing staff refused to accept the declared values, the assessing staff even refused to apply the values as stated in the amended valuation ruling No. 661/2014 which had been issued two days after the filing of goods declaration.

M/s Firpo prayed to the Court to declare Valuation Ruling No. 661/2014 is not applicable to the imported consignment and direct the assessing staff to assess and release the imported consignment at the declared true transactional value.