Tariff classification of gran bar oats turned on HSN Notes and product composition, not sweet biscuit treatment.

Gran bar oats were held not to be sweet biscuits because classification under Heading 1905 depends on the HSN Explanatory Notes and the product's composition and character. Sweet biscuits are fine bakers' wares based on flour, sugar or other sweetening matter and fat, whereas this commodity was made on a base of whole grain oats, with oats visibly present and described on the label. The record did not establish that it was made from oat flour or that it answered the description of fine bakers' ware. Reliance on the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 did not affect the tariff classification. The product was therefore classifiable under sub-heading 1905 90 90, and the proposed classification under 1905 31 00 was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the imported commodity described as gran bar oats was classifiable under sub-heading 1905 31 00 as sweet biscuits or under sub-heading 1905 90 90 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.

Analysis: The classification turned on the HSN Explanatory Notes to Heading 1905, under which sweet biscuits are fine bakers' wares having a base of flour, sugar or other sweetening matter and fat, with the stated ingredients constituting at least 50% of the product by weight. The commodity was found to be made on a base of whole grain oats, with oats visibly present in the samples and described in the label in that form. It was therefore not established to be made on a base of flour of oats or to answer the description of fine bakers' ware. The materials produced supported the view that biscuits are ordinarily manufactured using flour rather than whole grain cereals. The reliance on the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 did not assist the classification dispute.

Conclusion: The commodity was not sweet biscuits and was correctly classifiable under sub-heading 1905 90 90. The Revenue's proposed classification under sub-heading 1905 31 00 was rejected.

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