Aluminium rivets excluded from concessional customs notification because finished articles are not covered as aluminium "shapes"

Aluminium rivets are not covered by Notification No. 172/92-Cus because the term "shapes" must be read in context with the specified forms of aluminium such as wires, strips, sheets, rods, bars, pipes, plates, sections and ribbons. Rivets are finished articles of aluminium, not aluminium profiles or shapes, and are classified separately under Tariff Heading 76.16 as other articles of aluminium. The omission of rivets from the later notification, after earlier specific inclusion, confirms that the concession was not intended to extend to them. Prior clearances and a DGTD certificate cannot create eligibility where the notification does not apply.

---

---

Issues: Whether aluminium rivets are covered by Notification No. 172/92-Cus as "aluminium purity of 99% or above in the form of wires, strips, sheets, rods, bars, pipes, plates, sections, ribbons or shapes".

Analysis: Rivets are well understood as finished articles in trade and technical parlance, not as aluminium profiles or shapes. The tariff itself distinguishes between aluminium in the form of bars, rods, profiles, wires, plates, sheets, strips, foils, tubes and pipes, and articles of aluminium, with rivets specifically classed under Tariff Heading 76.16 as other articles of aluminium. The expression "shapes" in the notification must therefore be read in the context of the enumerated forms of aluminium and cannot be extended to finished articles such as rivets. The omission of rivets from the later notification, when they had earlier been specifically included, also showed that the concession was not intended to extend to rivets. Prior mistaken clearances and a DGTD certificate could not create eligibility where the notification itself did not cover the goods.

Conclusion: Aluminium rivets are not covered by Notification No. 172/92-Cus and are not entitled to the concessional benefit.

---