- Laws of Fiji

Last Updated: 16 July 2022

1 Interpretation, application etc

(1) In this Schedule, unless the context otherwise requires—

computed value: means the value determined in accordance paragraph 7 of Part 2 of this Schedule;

country of export: or the country from which goods are exported, means the country from which the goods are shipped directly to Fiji or, as the case may be, goods exported to Fiji from any country but passing through any other country on their voyage to Fiji (whether transhipped in that other country or not) shall be deemed to be shipped direct from the first mentioned country;

country of importation: means country or Customs territory of importation;

customs value of imported goods: means the value of goods for the purposes of levying ad valorem duties of Customs on imported goods;

deductive value: means the value determined in accordance with paragraph 6 of Part 2 of this Schedule;

effective date: means 1 January 1997;

generally accepted accounting principles

refers to any generally recognised consensus or substantial authoritative support regarding—

(a)which changes in assets and liabilities should be recorded;
(b)how the assets and liabilities and changes in them should be measured;
(c)what information should be disclosed and how it should be disclosed; and
(d)which financial statements should be prepared;

goods of the same class or kind

means imported goods that—

(a)are within a group or range of imported goods produced by a particular industry or industry sector that includes identical goods or similar goods in relation to the goods being valued; and
(b)for the purposes of—
- (i)paragraph 6 of this Schedule, were exported from any country; and
- (ii)paragraph 7 of this Schedule, were produced in and exported from the country in and from which the goods being valued were produced and exported;

identical goods

means imported goods that—

(a)are the same in all respects, including physical characteristics, quality, and reputation, as the goods being valued, except for minor differences in appearance that do not affect the value of the goods; and
(b)were produced in the country in which the goods being valued were produced; and
(c)were produced by or on behalf of the person who produced the goods being valued,

but does not include imported goods where engineering, development work, artwork, designwork, plans or sketches undertaken in Fiji were supplied, directly or indirectly, by the buyer of those imported goods free of charge or at a reduced cost for use in connection with the production and sale for export of those imported goods;

packing costs: means the cost of all containers (exclusive of instruments of international traffic) and coverings of whatever nature and of packing, whether for labour or materials, used in placing goods in condition, packed ready for shipment to Fiji;

price actually paid
or
payable: means the total payment (whether direct or indirect, and inclusive of any charges, costs or expenses incurred for transportation, insurance and related services incident to the international shipment of the goods from the country of exportation to the place of importation in Fiji) made, or to be made, for imported goods by the buyer to, or for the benefit of, the seller;

produced: includes grown, manufactured or mined;

similar goods

means imported goods that—

(a)closely resemble the goods being valued in respect of component materials and parts and characteristics and are functionally and commercially interchangeable with the goods being valued having regard to the quality and reputation of the goods and the goods being valued; and
(b)were produced in the country in which the goods being valued were produced; and
(c)were produced by or on behalf of the person who produced the goods being valued—

sufficient information: in respect of the determination of any amount, difference or adjustment, means objective and quantifiable information that clearly establishes the accuracy of the amount, difference or adjustment;

to produce: includes to grow, to manufacture or to mine; and

transaction value: means the value determined in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Schedule.

(2) In this Schedule, unless the context otherwise requires “assist” means any of the following if supplied directly or indirectly, and free of charge or at reduced cost, by the buyer of imported goods for use in connection with the production or the sale for export to Fiji of the goods—

(i)materials, components, parts and similar items incorporated in the imported goods;
(ii)tools, dies, moulds and similar items incorporated in the imported goods;
(iii)goods consumed in the production of the imported goods;
(iv)engineering, development, artwork, design work and plans and sketches that are undertaken elsewhere than in Fiji and are necessary for the production of the imported goods.

(3) No service or work to which subparagraph (2)(iv) applies is to be treated as an assist if the service or work is—

(i)performed by an individual domiciled within Fiji;
(ii)performed by that individual while acting as an employee or agent of the buyer of the imported goods; and
(iii)incidental to other engineering, development, artwork, design work or plans or sketches that are undertaken within Fiji.

(4) The following apply in determining the value of assists described in subparagraph (2)(iv) —

(i)the value of an assist that is available in the public domain is the cost of obtaining copies of the assist;
(ii)if the production of an assist occurred in Fiji and one or more foreign countries, the value of the assist is the value added outside Fiji;
(iii)if the assist was purchased or leased by the buyer from an unrelated person, the value of the assist is the cost of the purchase or of the lease.

(5) For the purposes of this Schedule, persons shall be deemed to be related only if—

(a)they are officers or directors of one another’s business;
(b)they are legally recognised partners in business;
(c)they are employer and employee;
(d)any person directly or indirectly owns, controls or holds 5% or more of the outstanding voting stock or shares of both of them;
(e)one of them directly or indirectly controls the other;
(f)both of them are directly or indirectly controlled by a third person;
(g)together they directly or indirectly control a third person;
(h)they are members of the same family.

(6) For the purposes of this Schedule, persons shall be deemed to be members of the same family if—

(a)they are connected by blood relationship within the fourth degree of relationship;
(b)they are married to one another or if one is married to a person who is connected within the fourth degree of relationship to the other; or
(c)one has been adopted as the child of the other or as a child of a person who is within the third degree of relationship to the other.

(7) For the purposes of this Schedule, where there are no goods that were produced by or on behalf of the person who produced the goods being valued and that are otherwise identical goods or similar goods, goods that were produced by or on behalf of a different person and that are otherwise identical goods or similar goods shall be deemed to be identical goods or similar goods, as the case may be.

(8) For the purposes of this Schedule, charges for interest under a financing arrangement entered into by the buyer and relating to the purchase of imported goods shall not be regarded as part of the Customs value in any case where—

(a)the charges are distinguished from the price actually paid or payable for the goods;
(b)such goods are actually sold at the price declared as the price actually paid or payable; and
(c)the buyer, if required, can demonstrate that—
- (i)the financing arrangement was made in writing;
- (ii)the claimed rate of interest does not exceed the level for such transactions prevailing in the country where, and at the time when, the finance was provided.

(9) The provisions of this Schedule shall apply to the appraisement of goods imported into Fiji on or after the effective date.

(10) Imported goods will be appraised on the basis, and in the order, of the following—

(a)the value for duty of imported goods shall be determined in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 9 of this Schedule;
(b)the Customs value of goods shall if possible be appraised on the basis of the transaction value of the goods in accordance with conditions set out in paragraph 2 of this Schedule.
(c)where the value for duty of goods cannot be appraised in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Schedule, it shall be appraised in the following order and on the following bases—
- (i)the transaction value of identical goods that meet the requirements set out in paragraph 4 of this Schedule;
- (ii)the transaction value of similar goods that meet the requirements set out in paragraph 5 of this Schedule;
- (iii)the deductive value of the goods as set out in paragraph 6 of this Schedule;
- (iv)the computed value of the goods as set out in paragraph 7 of this Schedule.

(11) Upon receipt of a written request from the importer to the Comptroller, the order of consideration of the valuation basis provided for in subparagraph (10)(i)–(iv) shall be reversed and confirmed in writing by the Comptroller.

(12) Where the value for duty of goods is not appraised on the basis of any of the methods referred to subparagraph (10)(i)–(iv), the Customs value of those goods shall be appraised under paragraph 8 of this Schedule.

(13) Information submitted by an importer, buyer or producer in regard to the appraisement of goods may not be rejected by Customs because of the accounting method by which that information was prepared, if the preparation was in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.