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TMI Blog2014 (8) TMI 282X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 8 dated 08.10.2005. The said goods were examined and assessed by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, patrapole observing that the goods imported were 'Jute Cuttings' and classifiable under Chapter Sub-Heading 530390.10, consequently, not eligible to the benefit of the aforesaid exemption Notifications which are applicable to Raw Jute only. On the issue of valuation, the ld. Adjudicating Authority had accepted the Appellants contention that freight upto the place of CWC, Patrapole since not paid separately by the importer and hence not to be included in the assessable value declared. 3. Aggrieved by the said Order, the Appellants had filed Appeals before the ld. Commissioner (Appeals)Customs, who after analyzing the Orders of the Adjudicating Authority held that the goods are correctly classifiable under the Customs Tariff Sub- Heading 53039010 and remanded the matter to the Adjudicating Authority to re-consider the other issues, namely, Whether: (i) freight charges are to be added to the assessable value and ( (ii) benefit of SAPTA Notification No.105/99-Cus. dated 10.04.1999 be allowed. Ag ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as long as any goods answer the description of jute fibre, raw or retted, the same are classifiable under CTH 53031010. Further, he contends that since 53031010 is the specific entry for jute fibre, raw or retted, the goods in question, being cuttings grades of raw jute fibre, ought to be classified under the said Tariff Item and not under the residuary sub-heading 53039010, which relates to jute cuttings or waste obtained after carrying out the processes on the raw jute and cannot apply to raw jute itself. It is his submission that HSN only mentions - 'cuttings' which are butt ends of fibres and not jute cuttings, as appearing in CTH 530390.90 of CTA,1975 . The goods imported by the Appellant are raw jute and cuttings grade so described in the purchase invoices and not to be considered as jute cutting, within the meaning of Tariff Item 53039010 of CTA,1975. 4.4. The ld. Advocate further submitted that under the six-digit code, 'raw Jute', was classified under Customs Tariff Heading 5303.10, whereas the CTH 5303.90 was the residuary sub-heading and was made applicable to 'others'. Under the old classification, the raw jute enjoyed an exemption under notification 21/2002 cus. Dt. 0 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... It is his submission that under six digit Tariff Classification, there were only two sub-headings viz. 5303.10 (jute and other textile bast fibre, raw or retted) and 5303.90 (Other). Accordingly, the impugned goods were classified under Customs Tariff Heading 5303.10, as there was no specific entry for jute cuttings. He has contended that after introduction of eight digit classification code, jute cuttings had been specifically classified under Customs Tariff Heading 53039010 as per the description of the impugned goods in the Bill of entry as well as in the invoices. The goods imported by the Appellant were physically examined in the presence of the representative of the appellant and on examination, the imported goods were found to be 'jute cuttings', hence, classified under the Customs Tariff Heading 53039010. 5.2 He has further referred to the meaning of cuttings mentioned in HSN as butt ends of the fibre, which are cut off and marketed separately. He submits that in the trade parlance, as is evident from the website and from other jute customers and traders, jute cuttings (BWCA), stands for raw jute cutting of Bangla White Cutting Grade A, which could have cutting range ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 33 bales collectively weighing 149.11 MT, it was recorded as follows: opened and examined 20 bales. The goods examined w.r.t party classification letter dated 28.2.06 and find the goods are jute cuttings correctly classifiable U.T.N 53090010(not covered N/F no.21/02Cus) 6.4 Similar examination reports were recorded on the respective Bills of Entry filed by the other two appellants. On the basis of said physical examination, the adjudicating authority, concluded that the imported goods were 'jute cuttings' and correctly classifiable under the new tariff sub-heading 530390.10 of CTA,1975. Advancing reasons, the adjudicating authority had observed that jute plant is of 2 meter or more in height; the fibre is stripped off after retting the plant and the whole fibre so collected, is the 'raw jute bast fibre'. It is not continuous throughout length either content wise or quality wise. The lower portion is stronger and contains more fibre. The fibre contents both qualitatively and quantitatively becomes less towards top, hence, the lower portion is costly and more in demand for better commercial use. Fu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the subheading 5303.90. It is their submission that when the raw jute is cut into different length, it cannot be considered as processed one, but continues to remain as raw jute only, but of cutting grade. It is their further contention that the jute cuttings which emerge during the course of processing of raw jute, are covered under this residuary entry. 6.9 We find that the claim on the classification of the goods by the appellant under the old tariff entry is not disputed by the revenue. The revenues contention is that after restructuring of the said tariff entry under the new 8 digit code, the subheading 5303.10 is further divided into two, namely, 53031010, which covered jute, raw or retted and entry 53031090 for 'other'. Similarly, the residuary entry 5303.90 has also been divided into two, namely, 53039010 'jute cutting' and 53039090 for 'other'. In other words, the contention of the revenue is that when there is a specific entry for jute cutting, irrespective of processed or raw, the same should be classifiable under the specific heading 5303 9010. 6.10 Thus, the moot point , precisely in this case is, whether, after the introduction of 8 digit classification, the raw j ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e contest while explaining different types of raw fibers that are covered under the said sub-heading. It is explained to mean the butt-ends of the fibers which are cut off and marketed separately. 6.13 This meaning of 'cuttings' mentioned under the category of raw fibers, in our opinion, has been misunderstood by the authorities below. The authorities had observed that on adopting the meaning of 'cuttings', to the raw jute of cutting grade imported by the Appellant, the same are classifiable under Chapter Heading 53039010 of restructured eight digit tariff entry. During the course of arguments, the ld. AR for the Revenue while referring to the information contained in the websites submitted that varieties of raw jute are available in the market including the jute cuttings that are bought and sold in the market, hence the items imported by the Appellant are classifiable as 'jute cuttings' under CSH 53039010 being the specific entry. 6.14 On going through the said literature, we find that it has been mentioned that jute cuttings are lower in quality, but have commercial value for the paper, carded yarn, and other fiber processing industries; the lower part is hard fiber which is ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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