Rule 7 - Non-qualifying operations - Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of India and the Republic of Korea) Rules, 2009

7. Non-qualifying operations. - (1)Notwithstanding any provision contained in these rules, a good shall not be considered to have satisfied the requirements for an originating good referred to in rule 5 merely by reason of going through the following operations or processes namely:- (a) preserving operations to ensure that the products remain in good condition during transport; (b) changes of packaging or packing, and breaking-up and assembly of packages; (c) washing, cleaning or removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings; (d) simple painting and polishing operations; (e) sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading or matching, including the making-up of sets of articles; (f) simple combining operations, labeling, pressing, cleaning or dry cleaning, packaging operations, or any combination thereof; (g) cutting to length or width and hemming, or stitching or over locking of fabrics which are readily identifiable as being intended for a particular commercial use; (h) trimming and joining together, whether performed in combination or not, by sewing, looping, linking or attaching accessory articles such as straps, bands, beads, cords, rings and eyelets; (i) one or more finishing operations on yarns, fabrics or other textile articles, such as bleaching, waterproofing, decanting, shrinking, mercerizing, or similar operations; (j) husking, partial or total bleaching, polishing, and glazing of cereals and rice; (k) operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps; (l) peeling, stoning and unshelling; (m) unflaking, crushing, squeezing, slicing, macerating and removal of bones; (n) sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting and repackaging; (o) simple placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and all other simple packaging operations; (p) affixing or printing marks, labels, logos and other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging; (q) simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds; (r) simple assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article or disassembly of products into parts; (s) simple testing or calibrations; (t) mere dilution with water or another substance that does not materially alter the characteristics of the goods; (u) slaughtering of animals; or (v) a combination of two or more operations referred to in clauses (a) to (u). (2) All operations carried out in the territory of a State party on a given product shall be considered together when determining whether the working or processing undergone by that product is to be regarded as insufficient within the meaning of sub-rule (1). Explanation:- For the purposes of this rule,- (a) "preserving operations" include drying, freezing, keeping in brine, ventilation, spreading out, chilling, placing in salt or sulfur dioxide, removal of damaged parts, and like operations; (b) "simple mixing" generally describes activities which need neither special skills nor machines, apparatus or equipment especially produced or installed for carrying out the activity but does not include chemical reaction which is a process, including a biochemical process, resulting in a molecule with a new structure by breaking intra-molecular bonds and by forming new intra-molecular bonds, or by altering the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule.