Chemical fertiliser classification turns on distinct commercial identity; manure mixture was not a second sale of the original goods.

A manure mixture made from one or more chemical fertilisers listed in item 21 was treated as a chemical fertiliser within that entry because the expression was construed broadly and the words "that is to say" were not limiting. A mixture that acquires different chemical properties and is marketed as a distinct commercial product loses identity with its component fertilisers, so the second sale exemption does not apply unless the goods remain the same at both stages. Whether the process amounted to manufacture was immaterial to classification. The mixture was therefore not a second sale of the original fertilisers, and the Tribunal's contrary view was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether a manure mixture composed of one or more chemical fertilisers mentioned in item 21 of the First Schedule is itself a chemical fertiliser falling within that entry and liable to tax as a first sale, or whether its sale can be treated as a second sale of the underlying fertilisers and therefore exempt.

Analysis: Item 21 uses the expression "chemical fertilisers" in wide terms, and the words "that is to say" were held not to be words of limitation. A mixture prepared from articles falling within sub-items (1) to (15) does not retain the same commercial identity as the individual components if it acquires different chemical properties and is dealt with in commerce as a distinct product. The principle that a second sale exemption requires identity of goods at the earlier and later stages was applied, and the mixture was treated as a different commodity from its components. The fact that the process may or may not amount to manufacture was considered immaterial to the classification issue.

Conclusion: The manure mixture is a chemical fertiliser within item 21 and cannot be treated as a second sale of the same goods; the finding of the Tribunal was not sustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a mixture of goods covered by a taxing entry acquires a distinct commercial identity and different properties, its sale is not a second sale of the original goods merely because its components were taxed earlier.

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