Classification of cassette components follows material-based tariff headings, not automatic treatment as parts of audio cassettes.

Corrugated liner and spring pad used in audio cassettes were classified by reference to the material of which they were made, rather than as parts of audio cassettes under Heading 8523. The Board's Section 37B instructions required cassette housings, hubs, rollers and stoppers to be classified according to material, and that uniform approach was applied to these components as well. The view that Section Note 2(b) read with Note 5 to Section XVI compelled classification as cassette parts was not accepted. The adopted classifications were CTH 3920.62 for corrugated liner and 7416.00 for spring pad.

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Issues: Whether corrugated liner and spring pad, being components of audio cassettes, were classifiable as parts of audio cassettes under the relevant section notes to Section XVI of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, or according to the material of which they were made.

Analysis: The Board's instructions issued under Section 37B of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 directed that cassette housings/casings, hubs, rollers and stoppers used in cassettes falling under Chapter 85 were to be classified under Heading 39.26. The reasoning adopted was that once plastic components of audio cassettes are treated according to their material, the same principle should extend to the other imported components. The view that the goods must necessarily follow classification as parts of audio cassettes under Section Note 2(b) read with Note 5 to Section XVI was therefore not accepted, and the classification adopted by the lower authorities was held to be inconsistent with the Board's uniformity directive and the approach followed in similar classification decisions.

Conclusion: Corrugated liner and spring pad were held correctly classifiable under CTH 3920.62 and 7416.00 respectively, and not as parts of audio cassettes under Heading 8523.

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