NEW GUIDELINES ON PROCEDURE FOR IMPORT OF SECOND -HAND MACHINERY

[K. Senguttuvan]

The CBEC has issued fresh guidelines for Valuation of Second Hand Machinery that are imported into India. In this regard, the Board has issued Circular No 25/2015- Cus that has superseded its earlier circular No- 4/2008.

In brief the Boards wants

1. All the expenses incurred on such second hand machinery whether paid to machine vendor or to some other vendor till it reaches Indian Port AND
2. Obtain Inspection/Appraisement Certificate from a overseas Chartered Engineer in Form A or Indian Chartered Engineer (CE) in Form B and workings as per Circular No 493/124/86-Cus VI dated November 19,1987.[1] shall be compared with the value declared by the Importer.

The new Circular states that the AV shall be determined on the basis of the price paid or payable by the buyer which includes any cost incurred on improvement of such machinery or cost on repair, refurbishment, or modernization before importation ; also include any cost incurred in the nature of crating charges, dismantling or cost incurred for pre-shipment inspection.

Guidelines enunciated by the Circular:

Chartered Engineer Certificate

1. Machinery imported shall be accompanied with an Inspection/Appraisement report prepared by an Overseas CE in Form A;
2. In case of failure to obtain such report from a overseas CE, the importer can obtain from an agency empanelled by the DGFT in Form-B. In the event agencies notified by DGFT are not present in Customs Station, importers may avail Services of other agencies empanelled in Customs house in Form-B
3. Comparison:Value of CE report and Working made in accordance with Circular No 493/124/86-Cus VI dated November 19,1987 shall be compared with the Declared Value.
4. If significant difference is noticed, the proper officer will seek explanation u/r 12 of Customs Valuation (Determination of Price of Imported Goods) Rules 2007 (CVR 2007) in writing intimating grounds of doubts.
5. Submission by importer will be evaluated by the proper officer and will examine whether it conforms to Rule-3 CVR 2007; if not the valuation is done in accordance with Rule 4-9 of the Customs Valuation Rules.

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[1] The Circular prescribes the % of Depreciation for computing AV of the imported machinery considering the CIF price specified in the CE; para 3 was amended clarifying to consider the price of new machinery mentioned in the CE Certificate as value of machinery without going into the question as to whether this price pertained to the current CIF price or CIF price of year of manufacturing