Master batch classification prevails for polyethylene resin with additive; surface active preparation heading rejected on the evidence.

Imported polyethylene resin containing glycerol monostearate was held to be classifiable as a chemical master batch under Heading 3204.90 because the test results and technical opinion treated it as a master batch on analogy with colourant master batches. Classification under Heading 3402.90 failed because the record did not show the product had the characteristics of a surface active preparation, and its declared use in manufacture of LDPE articles and expandable polyethylene supported the master batch classification.

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Issues: Whether the imported goods, described as a polyethylene resin containing glycerol monostearate additive, were correctly classifiable as a master batch under Heading 3204.90 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or as a surface active preparation under Heading 3402.90.

Analysis: The goods were found on test to consist of polyethylene synthetic resin with an additive of glycerol monostearate type, and the technical opinion on record treated the product as a chemical master batch on analogy with colourant master batches. The lower authorities proceeded on the basis that glycerol monostearate functioned as a surface active agent, but the material did not support classification under Heading 3402.90 because the product was not shown to answer the characteristics of a surface active preparation. The declared use of the goods in the manufacture of LDPE articles and expandable polyethylene also supported the appellant's classification claim.

Conclusion: The goods were classifiable under Heading 3204.90 as a master batch and not under Heading 3402.90.

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