Chapter notes control tariff classification of metal foil backed with paper, excluding it from Chapter 48 and placing it under Chapter 76.

Printed aluminium foil backed with paper was held outside Chapter 48 because Chapter Note 1(I) expressly excludes metal foil backed with paper or paperboard from classification as paper goods. Classification had to be determined first under the heading terms and the relevant chapter notes, so Rule 3(b) essential character analysis could not override that exclusion. The fact that paper formed a substantial component did not justify placing the product under sub-heading 4823.90. The article therefore states that ice cream cone containers of this kind are classifiable under sub-heading 7616.90, not under Chapter 48.

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Issues: Whether ice cream containers for cones made from printed aluminium foil backed with paper were classifiable under sub-heading 7616.90 of Chapter 76 or under sub-heading 4823.90 of Chapter 48, and whether Chapter Note 1(I) to Chapter 48 excluded such goods from classification as paper products.

Analysis: The decisive factor was the specific Chapter Note excluding metal foil backed with paper or paperboard from Chapter 48. Rule 1 of the interpretative rules required classification to be determined according to the terms of the headings and the relevant section or chapter notes, and only where the notes did not otherwise require could the later interpretative rules be invoked. Since Chapter Note 1(I) expressly took metal foil backed with paper or paperboard out of Chapter 48, there was no scope to classify the product as paper goods by applying the essential character test under Rule 3(b). The product could not be brought within Chapter 48 merely because paper formed a substantial component.

Conclusion: The product was not classifiable under sub-heading 4823.90 of Chapter 48 and was correctly classifiable under sub-heading 7616.90.

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