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TMI Blog1984 (8) TMI 324X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ading 15.08/13 of the Customs Tariff Schedule and so did not attract additional duty by virtue of Customs exemption Notification No. 48, dated 1-3-1979. The Assistant Collector rejected the claim on the basis that lauryl alcohol is a chemically define alcohol falling under Chapter 29 and only crude fatty alcohols which are in a complex mixture are excluded from Chapter 29. The Assistant Collector passed a similar order in respect of certain consignments of lauiyl alcohol cleared vide Bill of Entry Cash No. 4091 dated 29-12-1979. Both the orders were taken up in appeal. Allowing both the appeals, the Appellate Collector, vide his order dated 25-7-1980, held that alcohol of less than 99.7% purity would not fall under Chapter 29 but under Chapter 15 and, hence, it would be exempt from additional duty of Customs. The alcohol in these cases was of 95% purity. 3. In exercise of its powers under Section 131(3) of the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Government called for and examined the records relating to the proceedings leading to the impugned order. It appeared to the Central Government that, though fatty alcohols were included in Heading 15.08/13, what was included was only crude fa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d to be a workable solution to have 90% purity as the demareation line. VSP has fixed 90% purity for a pharmaceutical grade octa decanol. The Chief Chemist was, therefore, of the opinion that the products merited classification under Heading No. 29.01/45(1). 6. The Departmental Representative also relied on the Explanatory Notes under heading 29.04 of the CCCN to the effect that the Heading excludes fatty alcohols as also those under Chapter 15 to the effect that mixtures of fatty alcohols fall under the said chapter. Reliance was also placed on the Compendium of Classification opinion of the CCCN which showed fatty alcohols less than 90% pure as falling under beading 15.10. This showed the international trade and commercial understanding. Reference was also made to Interpretative Rule 3(a) in support of the argument that Chapter 29 was more specific Finally, it was stated that as the invoices would show, the goods were not bought and sold as fatty alcohols but as chemicals, viz. lauryl alcohol, etc. 7. On behalf of Hico Products, Shri Tamhane submitted that the Chief Chemist s opinion bristled with ambiguities and had no firm basis. Words like reasonably pure did not form ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s necessary to note that the Indian Customs Tariff Schedule of 1975 is not fully in pari materia with the CCCN though the latter forms the broad frame work on which the former is patterned. While, therefore, the Explanatory Notes to the CCCN which constitute expert opinion or commentary of an international organisation, have considerable persuasive value and are a useful aid to the understanding of the scope of the entries in our tariff schedule and of the terms employed therein the Tribunal has held so in its decision in Kanwar Sewing Machine Co. v. Collector of Customs, Bombay - 1983 E.L.T. 804, the limitations in this approach have to be recognised. These notes have no legal force. The Customs Tariff Schedule is a self-contained code having its own rules for interpretation. For legal purposes, classification has to be determined according to the terms of the Headings read with relative Section and chapter notes, if any. Provided these Headings or Notes do not otherwise require, the Rules of interpretation will govern classification of goods. If the CCCN notes or opinions do not accord with the classification determined on the above basis, the latter shall hold the field. In this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The principal fatty alcohols falling under this heading are : (1) Lauryl alcohol which is a mixture of saturated fatty alcohols obtained by catalytic reduction of the fatty acids from coconut oil. It is liquid at normal temperatures, but is semi-solid in cold weather. (2) Cetyl alcohol which is a mixture of cetyl and stearyl alcohols, the former greatly predominating, obtained from spermaceti and sperm oil. It is a crystalline, translucent solid at normal temperatures. (3) Stearyl alcohol which is a mixture of stearyl and cetyl alcohols obtained by reduction of stearin or oils rich in stearic acid, or from sperm oil by hydrogenation and hydrolysis followed by distillation. It is a white crystalline solid at normal temperatures. (4) Oleyl alcohol which is obtained by reduction of olein, or from alcohols derived from sperm oil by hydraulic pressure. It is liquid at normal temperatures. (5) Mixtures of primary aliphatic alcohols commonly comprising alcohols in the range from six to thirteen carbon atoms. They are liquids generally produced by the Oxo process. x x x x The heading does not include : (a) Chemically defined alcohol ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ogy-Natural Organic Products , Volume 5, by Longman de Bussy), the approximate composition of commercial fatty alcohols [alcohols present in terms of percentage having a particular number of carbon atoms) ranges from 95 in the case of Myristyl alcohol (C14) through 96 (C10) in the case of decyl alcohol to 97% (C8, C12, and C18 in the case of Ocytl, lauryl and stearyl alcohols respectively]. However, according to the data sheet (furnished by Hico Products) of the West German suppliers-Henkel KGaA the minimum composition of chemically pure octyl alcohol is shown as 99.4% (C8), lauryl alcohol as 99.7% (C12 and myristyl alcohol as 99.5% (C14). Viewed in this light, the demareating line of 90% adopted by the Chief Chemist does not seem supportable in the absence of any authority. The Chief Chemist says he is not aware of the reason why the CCCN Compendium of Opinions has adopted 90% as the dividing line. Nor has the Departmental Representative thrown light on this. 14. The Departmental Representative has urged that the subject products have not been bought and sold as fatty alcohols, but as chemicals. The invoice in one case, for instance, shows the description as Lauryl alcohol C-1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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