The Landmark Decision in Jockey Canada Company v. President of Canada Border Services Agency. Lessons for Compliance with Canadian Customs Valuation Requirements

摘要

This paper analyses the reasons for the Canadian International Trade Tribunal's decision in Jockey Canada Company v. President of Canada Border Services Agency respecting Canadian customs valuation compliance in related party cross-border transactions. It offers practical insights into the precautions that should be taken by multinational companies when structuring import transactions in order to satisfy their evidentiary burden to prove the accuracy of declared values for duty, including the maintenance of probative supporting documentary evidence and the need for customs valuation oriented contemporaneous documentation such as granular transfer pricing studies and agreements between related parties that discretely cover intercompany payments. The application of the transaction value method when pricing is based on a formulaic transfer pricing policy is also examined.