Duty-paid resin retains its identity on mere physical change; two-pack product assessed as paint, not separate resin.

A duty-paid resin solution was not a new excisable commodity merely because the resin had changed from solid form to a liquid catalyst solution. In the absence of any finding of chemical alteration or change in the resin's identity, no fresh duty could be levied on the solution as a separate resin. The two-pack system was cleared and used together for immediate mixed application as zinc rich epoxy primer, so the components were treated as one functional product. On that basis, the product was assessable together as paint, not separately as a new resin.

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Issues: Whether a catalyst solution containing duty-paid polyamide/amino resin dissolved in solvent constituted a new excisable resin under Item 15-A(1)(i) of the Central Excise Tariff, or whether the two-pack system had to be assessed together as paint under Item 14-I(5).

Analysis: The decisive consideration was that the resin component had already suffered duty and only its physical form had changed from solid to liquid solution. A mere change in form does not create a new dutiable resin where there is no finding of chemical alteration or change in character of the resin itself. The two constituents were cleared in separate packs for immediate mixed use as zinc rich epoxy primer, and were treated as one functional substance for application as paint. On that basis, the catalyst solution could not be subjected to fresh duty as a new resin.

Conclusion: The catalyst solution was not independently assessable as a new resin under Item 15-A(1)(i), and the two-pack product was assessable together as paint under Item 14-I(5), in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A duty-paid resin does not become a new excisable commodity merely because its physical form changes, unless there is a proven change in its chemical character or identity; a two-pack product intended for joint use may be assessed as a single composite product where its components are cleared and used together as one functional substance.

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