Copper exemption under tariff notification survives minor metal admixture where copper remains the predominant constituent.

Copper products made from old duty-paid copper scrap remained eligible for Notification No. 54/62-C.E. where they were classifiable under Tariff Item 26-A(2) and copper predominated by weight. Small additions of zinc, lead or tin added for technological necessity did not defeat the exemption, because the tariff concept of copper covered an alloy in which copper was the dominant metal. Earlier decisions on similar exemption language were followed, and minor admixture of other metals was treated as non-disqualifying. The denial of the concessional rate was therefore inconsistent with the notification.

---

---

Issues: Whether brass and copper plates, sheets, circles and similar products manufactured out of old duty paid copper scrap, with small admixture of zinc, lead and tin, were entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 54/62-C.E. dated 24-4-1962 as amended.

Analysis: The notification granted a reduced rate of duty to copper products falling under Tariff Item 26-A(2) made out of old scrap of copper or waste or scrap obtained from duty paid virgin metal. The products were not disputed to be classifiable under Tariff Item 26-A(2) and were manufactured out of the prescribed scrap. The fact that small quantities of lead or tin were added for technological necessity did not disqualify the goods, because copper under the tariff included an alloy in which copper predominated by weight over each of the other metals. The reasoning followed earlier decisions on similarly worded exemption notifications, which had held that the presence of minor quantities of other metals does not defeat exemption where copper remains predominant.

Conclusion: The products were entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 54/62-C.E. as amended, and the denial of exemption was unsustainable.

---