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TMI Blog2024 (7) TMI 1324X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... larification from the Advance Ruling Authority. The Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Customs Authority for Advance Ruling, Mumbai, by impugned order, held that Roasted Area Nut/Beetle Nut and Roasted Area Nut/Beetle Nut Cut would fall under Custom Tariff Heading 2008, specifically CTI 2008 19 20 'Other roasted nuts and seeds' of Chapter 20 of the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Against the said order, the Commissioner of Customs, Tuticorin, is on appeal. 3. Learned counsel for the appellant contended that the Advance Ruling Authority has erred in classifying the impugned goods under Chapter 20 which is contrary to the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Crane Betel Nut Powder 2007 (210) E.L.T. 171 (S.C.) and the order of the Tribunal in the case of S.T. Enterprises, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court vide judgment 2021 (378) E.L.T. A142 (SC). He further submitted that the advance ruling authority failed to appreciate and apply the Chapter Notes contained in Chapters 8 and 20, which would clearly show that the areca nut in question cannot be brought under Chapter 20, in view of the express exclusion contained in Note 1(a) to Chapt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed that 'Roasted Areca/Betel nuts' are specifically covered under Chapter Heading 2008, such assertion would not support his case, as the process said to have been performed on areca nuts in the instant case is adequately covered under Chapter 8 in the form of 'moderate heat treatment' which will change the colour of any food item, but that by itself would not mean that the essential characteristics of the item processed are changed. He further submitted that Authority for advance ruling did not order to test the impugned goods and solely relied on the submissions of the respondent which are not backed by any empirical evidence. 6. It is also submitted that boiling will also change the chemical and physical characteristics of areca nut by reducing the arecoline and tannin content and even sun drying will also reduce the arecoline and tannin content. Hence, the change in characteristics will not be the sole basis for deciding the classification of the impugned goods, as Chapter 8 provides inclusion of the process of "moderate heat treatment" for additional preservation. According to the appellant, this fact was not at all considered by the learned advance ruling aut ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er Heading 2008. But the advance ruling authority without considering the above facts has come to the wrong conclusion on a partial reading of the HSN Explanatory Notes. The explanatory notes, if considered holistically, would provide for the inclusion of Areca nuts in Chapter 20 only if they are presented in the packaged condition specified therein. In the present case, the proposed import is in the bulk form and therefore it cannot be covered within the ambit of Chapter 20. It is also contended that during the personal hearing on 30.10.2023, the respondent stated that the dictionary meaning of the word ''generally'' is ''usually'' or ''commonly'' thereby indicating that there are some exceptions to the packing methods mentioned in HSN Explanatory notes. Therefore, as per the abovesaid meaning, the packing methods will be applicable to all the products covered under the chapter heading 2008 without any exceptions. 8. Learned counsel for the appellant further submitted that Chapter 20 deals with ''Preparations of Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts or other parts of plants'' then there should be some preparations. The HSN explan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e made on the basis of the Tariff entries. Once legislature has chosen / provided for separate and independent entry under the Tariff for roasted areca nut, it is no longer necessary nor open to examine whether roasted areca nut is commercially the same as areca nut or whether the process of roasting results in emergence of a commercially new/different commodity having a different name, character and use. It really does not matter whether roasting of betel nut results in emergence of a new commodity for even if it does not, it is still open to the legislature to classify the product differently. Once the legislature has classified roasted betel/arecanut under a separate entry, it is not open to the Revenue to discard/abandon the entries in the Tariff while examining / determining the classification of the product. 10.2. The above judgments would show that HSN is a safe guide in resolving dispute relating to Tariff classification. A perusal of HSN Explanatory Notes would show that Chapter 20 would cover roasted areca / betel nuts. The AAR being in conformity with the HSN Explanatory Notes, which are treated to be a safe guide in matter of Tariff classification, is yet another reas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s of the House of Lords in Seward v. Vera Cruz [(1884) LR 10 AC 59 ] and the Privy Council in Barker v. Edger [1898 AC 748 )] and has been affirmed and put into effect on many occasions?. Corpus Juris Secundum, 82 C.J.S. Statutes 482 states: when construing a general and aspecific statute pertaining to the same topic, it is necessary to consider the statutes as consistent with one another and such statutes therefore should be harmonised, if possible, with the objective of giving effect to a consistent legislative policy. On the other hand, where a general statute and a specific statute relating to the same subject-matter cannot be reconciled, the special or specific statute ordinarily will control. The provision more specifically directed to the matter at issue prevails as an exception to or qualification of the provision which is more general in nature, provided that the specific or special statute clearly includes the matter in controversy (Edmond v. United States [137 L Ed 2d 917] , Warden v. Marrero [41 LEd 2d 383] )." 11.6. We are of the view that CTH 20 08 is a specific entry insofar as it covers roasted nuts and would thus prevail over CTH 08, in view of the above settle ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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