Classification of imported naphthalene turned on chemical identity, leading to Chapter 29 treatment despite impurities.

Imported naphthalene remained a separate chemically defined organic compound despite impurities, so it fell within Chapter 29 and not Chapter 27 of the Customs Tariff. The decisive factor was its chemical identity as naphthalene, not commercial purity or a fixed melting-point threshold, and the record showed high-purity naphthalene rather than crude material. In the absence of an Indian Tariff note fixing classification by crystallisation point, the headings and notes had to be applied as written. The contrary classification orders were set aside in favour of the importers.

---

---

Issues: Whether the imported naphthalene, having a melting point of 79.6 b0C and containing impurities, was classifiable under Chapter 27 of the Customs Tariff, 1975 or under Chapter 29 as a separate chemically defined organic compound.

Analysis: Chapter 27 excludes separate chemically defined organic compounds, while Chapter 29 covers such compounds whether or not they contain impurities. The decisive question was not whether the goods were commercially pure or whether they reached a fixed melting-point threshold, but whether the product retained the identity of naphthalene as a chemically defined organic compound. The material showed that the goods were naphthalene of high purity, not crude naphthalene, and any impurities were not shown to be deliberately added or of a kind that altered the substance into something other than naphthalene. The absence of a specific Indian Tariff note fixing naphthalene at a crystallisation point of 79.4 b0C or more meant that classification had to follow the tariff headings and notes as they stood.

Conclusion: The naphthalene was classifiable under Chapter 29 and not under Chapter 27. The contrary orders were set aside in favour of the importers.

---