EPCG licence endorsement for agro-product supported customs exemption from countervailing duty under Notification No. 29/97.

Customs Notification No. 29/97 was applied to deny countervailing duty only if the EPCG licence did not cover agricultural products. Where the EPCG committee treated sorbitol as an agro-based product under the relevant industrial classification and the licence was amended by endorsement, that endorsement supported the view that the export obligation related to an agricultural product. On that basis, the exemption from countervailing duty was available, and the Revenue's challenge to the grant of exemption failed.

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Issues: Whether the benefit of exemption under Customs Notification No. 29/97 was available when the EPCG licence had been endorsed to treat Sorbitol as an agro-product.

Analysis: The export product was treated by the EPCG committee as an agro-based product on the basis of the relevant industrial classification, and the licence was amended by endorsement accordingly. Since the notification extended the benefit where the licence related to export obligations concerning agricultural products, the endorsement on the licence supported grant of the exemption from payment of countervailing duty.

Conclusion: The exemption was rightly extended and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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