Tariff classification depends on essential product attributes, not invoice labels or technical specifications, for armouring goods.

Tariff classification turns on the essential attributes of the tariff entry itself. Cable armouring flat wire or armouring strip was held not to be "strip" under Tariff Item 26AA(iii) because the goods were neither hot nor cold rolled products, nor rolled approximately in rectangular cross-section, nor supplied with trimmed or sheared edges, which are the defining attributes of strip. Invoice descriptions were too vague and inconsistent to control classification, and chemical examination or conformity with an IS specification did not establish the tariff meaning of strip. The goods were therefore correctly classified as wires under Tariff Item 26AA(ia), in favour of the assessee.

---

---

Issues: Whether the goods described as cable armouring flat wire or armouring strip were classifiable as wires under Tariff Item 26AA(ia) or as strips under Tariff Item 26AA(iii) of the Central Excise Tariff.

Analysis: The deciding test was the essential character of the goods under the tariff description. The material showed that the goods were neither hot nor cold rolled products, nor rolled approximately in rectangular cross-section, nor supplied with trimmed or sheared edges, which were the essential attributes of strip. The description in the invoices was not decisive because it was vague and inconsistent, and trade descriptions of similar goods were not uniform. The chemical examination report did not establish that the goods satisfied the tariff meaning of strip, and conformity to an IS specification did not by itself answer the tariff classification question.

Conclusion: The goods were not strips under Tariff Item 26AA(iii) and were correctly classifiable as wires under Tariff Item 26AA(ia), in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: For tariff classification, the goods must satisfy the essential attributes of the tariff entry itself, and neither invoice description nor conformity to a technical specification can displace the statutory description where those essential attributes are absent.

---