The Landmark Decision in Jockey Canada Company v. President of Canada Border Services Agency

On 4 January 2013, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (‘CITT') issued its reasons for the landmark decision in Jockey Canada Company v. President of Canada Border Services Agency (‘Jockey') respecting Canadian customs valuation  compliance in related party cross-border transactions. The CITT's reasons provide valuable guidance to multinational  companies relating to: (1) the importer's burden of proof to establish the correctness of declared values for duty, particularly as it relates to the nature of the sale for export (i.e., which party is the vendor in the sale for export to Canada), (2) the applicability of the transaction value method of customs valuation, as opposed to alternative methods of valuation, when pricing between a related party vendor and the purchaser in Canada is based on a formulaic transfer pricing policy, and (3) the permissibility of downward adjustments to the price paid or payable to account for post-importation adjustments made in accordance with an accepted transfer pricing policy. (2013 Wolters Kluwer) Global Trade and Customs Journal, Volume 8, Issues 7&8, pp. 209-216