Animal feed exemption under central excise was denied for mineral supplements treated as additives, not complete feed.

Mineral mixtures and feed supplements for cattle and poultry were held not to be "animal feed including compounded live-stock feed" under Notification No. 55/75-C.E. because the exemption was confined to complete or substantially complete feed, not to single nutrients, additives, or supplements mixed with ordinary feed. Technical standards, certificates, and a sales-tax ruling did not alter that interpretation, and the products therefore remained outside the exemption from duty under Item 68.

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Issues: Whether mineral mixtures or feed supplements marketed for cattle and poultry are "animal feed including compounded live-stock feed" within Notification No. 55/75-C.E., so as to qualify for exemption from duty under Item 68.

Analysis: The products were found to be only mineral additives or supplements intended to be mixed with ordinary feed. The exemption entry was understood to cover animal feed as a complete or substantially complete feed, and not any single nutrient, additive, or supplement by itself. Although the supplements were useful components of a balanced diet and could form part of animal nutrition, they did not themselves constitute animal feed in the ordinary and intended sense of the notification. Technical standards, certificates, and the Gujarat sales-tax decision were considered insufficient to alter that conclusion, especially since the sales-tax ruling was held inapplicable to the central excise entry.

Conclusion: The mineral feed supplements were not eligible for exemption under Notification No. 55/75-C.E. and the refusal of exemption was upheld.

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