You must declare a Customs value on anything you import into the Cook Islands.

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Customs value of imported items

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This is detailed in Schedule 2 of the Cook Islands Customs Revenue and Border Protection Act 2012.  If you are an online shopper, the Customs value is what you paid for an item. If you are importing items for business or other reasons, determining the items’ Customs value can be complicated. There are 6 methods for determining Customs value. You must use them in strict hierarchical order.

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Method 1 - transaction value

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The Customs value of imported goods must be their transaction value, that is the price paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the Cook Islands, the transaction value is the primary method. You should use this method first, whenever possible.

Customs value also includes:

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• commissions and brokerage fees, except buying commissions;

• packing and container costs and charges;

• the value of any items or services you supplied free – or at reduced cost – to the seller to get the product made or sold;

• royalties and license fees;

• any proceeds from resale, disposal or use that you must then pay to the seller;

• the value of any materials, parts, and services used to repair or refurbish the item before importing it;

• transportation and shipping costs, including loading/unloading and handling charges, before the item leaves the country you’re exporting from.

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You can deduct the following charges – if you paid them, and they are clearly separated from the price of your item(s):

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• transport and insurance costs, including loading/unloading and handling charges, after the item leaves its country of export;

• any (reasonable) costs related to constructing, maintaining or getting technical help with the item when it arrives in the Cook Islands;

• any (reasonable) costs for transportation or insurance of the item(s) within Cook Islands;

• any local Customs duties or other taxes.

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To use the transaction value method:

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• you must have evidence of a sale specifically for export to, i.e., a commercial invoice, contract or purchase orders;

• any relationship between the buyer and seller mustn’t have affected the item’s price;

• the item’s price or sale mustn’t be subject to any condition or consideration where a value can’t be determined;

• there mustn’t be any restrictions in the sale about how the buyer will dispose of or use the item, except for those:

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o imposed by law;

o that limit where the item can be sold;

o that don’t have a substantial effect on the item’s value.

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Examples of items where you can’t use the transaction value method include:

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• gifts;

• free samples;

• anything on consignment;

• anything imported by a company branch that isn’t a separate legal entity to the seller;

• Items that were imported under a hire or leasing contract.

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Other valuation methods

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If you can’t use the transaction value method, you should use the first possible method of the following five.

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Method 2 – transaction value of identical goods (“identical goods method”)

Based on the transaction value of identical items brought into the Cook Islands at the same time (or nearly). You must have proof of the identical items’ value.

 

Method 3 – transaction value of similar goods (“similar goods method”)

Based on the transaction value of similar items brought into the Cook Islands at the same time (or nearly). You must have proof of the similar items’ value.

 

Method 4 – deductive value

Applies if the imported goods are sold in the Cook Islands within 90 days of arriving in the country. The resale price of the item in the Cook Islands is reduced to the Customs value if the item had initially been sold for export to the Cook Islands.

 

Method 5 - computed value

Based on the production cost of the imported goods, plus an amount for profit and general expenses. This method is generally restricted to cases where you have access to the producer’s factory costs and profit margins. You must get our approval first if you want to use this method.

 

Method 6 - residual basis of valuation

If you cannot use any of the methods above, you can interpret – within reason – one of them to get the Customs value of an item. Depending on the items, how they are imported and the documents you have, you might be able to determine their Customs value based on:

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• the valid list price of the items. “list price” is what the seller in the country of export would charge a buyer in the Cook Islands;

• a valuation from an independent assessor.

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The insurance value of an item is not acceptable for determining residual value.

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Methods you CANNOT USE

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You cannot determine a Customs value by choosing:

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• the selling price of items made in the Cook Islands;

• a system which looks for the higher of 2 alternative values;

• the item’s price on the domestic market, in the country you exported from;

• the item’s production cost(s), other than using production values already worked out for identical or similar items;

• the sale price of the item to a country other than the Cook Islands;

• minimum Customs values;

• arbitrary or made-up values