Tariff classification of microcrystalline cellulose depends on final prior findings, trade understanding, and evidence on record.

Microcrystalline cellulose powder classification turned on whether an earlier final order favouring sub-heading 2942.00 could be displaced by later departmental material. The prior classification had attained finality, and the Chief Chemist's opinion was insufficient to override the tribunal's earlier findings. The analysis reiterates that Chapter 39 applies only where the product is cellulose or a chemical derivative in primary form, which the department did not establish on the evidence. It also applies the settled approach that tariff classification must follow the product's trade understanding and the record, not technical description alone. The assessee's classification was maintained and the departmental challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether microcrystalline cellulose powder was classifiable under sub-heading 2942.00 or under Chapter 39, and whether the departmental appeal could succeed in light of the earlier final classification order.

Analysis: The product had already been classified in the assessee's favour in earlier proceedings, and that decision had attained finality. The later order of the original authority relied on the Chief Chemist's opinion, but that opinion did not furnish material sufficient to displace the earlier tribunal findings. The tribunal had already held that Heading 39.12 applied only where the product was cellulose or its chemical derivatives in primary form, and the department had not established that the impugned product satisfied that description. The reasoning also applied the settled approach of classification on the basis of the product as known in trade and the evidence on record, rather than merely on technical description.

Conclusion: The product was not shown to be correctly classifiable under Chapter 39 in preference to sub-heading 2942.00, and the departmental challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The assessee's classification was maintained and the department's appeal did not succeed.

Ratio Decidendi: In tariff classification disputes, an earlier final decision on the same product will prevail unless later material clearly displaces it, and classification must be determined on the evidence establishing the correct heading and the manner in which the product is understood in trade.

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