Wooden panels with GRP skin classified as veneered panels under Heading 44.08, not as other articles of wood.

Wood partitions, panels and doors with GRP skin made by laminating wood battens with veneer sheets and glass cloth with resin were treated as veneered panels and similar laminated wood under Heading 44.08. The manufacturing process showed that the goods were covered with veneer and further laminated with fibre glass cloth, bringing them within the tariff description of veneered panels. HSN explanatory notes relevant to the competing entry also supported this view, and the alternative claim that the goods were merely other articles of wood under Heading 44.10 was not accepted. The classification adopted was Heading 44.08 of the Central Excise Tariff.

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Issues: Whether wood partitions, panels and doors with GRP skin manufactured by laminating wood battens with veneer sheets and glass cloth with resin were classifiable under Heading 44.08 as veneered panels and similar laminated wood, or under Heading 44.10 as other articles of wood.

Analysis: Heading 44.08 covers plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood. The goods were admittedly made by covering wooden partitions and panels with veneer and then further laminating them with fibre glass cloth. In the light of the manufacturing process, the goods answered the description of veneered panels. The HSN explanatory notes to Heading 44.12, corresponding to Heading 44.10, also supported the view that veneered panels fixed on a base sheet under pressure fall within the relevant tariff entry. The appellant's contention that the goods were merely articles of wood not elsewhere specified was therefore not accepted.

Conclusion: The goods were correctly classifiable under Heading 44.08 of the Central Excise Tariff and not under Heading 44.10; the appeal failed.

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