Classification of used vegetable oil turned on whether the goods remained edible oil under Chapter 15

Imported used vegetable oil or fried oil found unfit for human consumption was held not classifiable under Chapter 15 of the Customs Tariff Act. The classification principle applied was that Chapter 15 covers animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes only where the goods answer to edible oil characteristics. Chemical examination described the goods as an oily liquid other than acid oil, and the food laboratory found them to be mixtures of vegetable oils unfit for human consumption. On that factual basis, the goods could not be treated as edible oil, so classification under Chapter 15 was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the imported goods, being used vegetable oil / fried oil found unfit for human consumption, were classifiable under Chapter 15 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or under the heading claimed by the appellant.

Analysis: The goods were examined by the chemical examiner as oily liquid other than acid oil, with free fatty acid content ranging from 4% to 11%, and were also referred to the food testing laboratory, which found them to be mixtures of vegetable oils and unfit for human consumption. The governing principle applied was that Chapter 15 covers animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes, and classification under that chapter requires the presence of edible oil. Since both examination reports showed that the goods were not edible oil and were not fit for human consumption, they could not be brought within Chapter 15.

Conclusion: The classification under Chapter 15 was unsustainable, and the appellants succeeded.

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