Betel nut preparations treated as supari fall under Chapter 21 despite added ingredients and flavouring.

Betel nut preparations mixed with ingredients such as food starch, spices, mulethi and flavours were held classifiable under Chapter 21 as supari. Chapter 21 Supplementary Note No. 2 covers any preparation containing betel nuts, excluding only lime, katha and tobacco, and does not require the product to lose its identity as supari or undergo a complete change in character. The earlier excise ruling was found unhelpful because the later amendment expressly treats mixing ingredients like cardamom, copra, menthol, spices or sweetening agents with betel nut as manufacture.

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Issues: Whether the imported betel nut products, after processing and addition of ingredients such as food starch, spices, mulethi and flavours, are classifiable under Chapter 21 under tariff item 21069030 as betel nut product as supari, or under Chapter 8.

Analysis: Chapter 21 Supplementary Note No. 2 treats betel nut products known as supari as any preparation containing betel nuts, subject only to the exclusion of lime, katha and tobacco. The four products described in the application were processed preparations of betel nut and, in the case of two products, also contained food starch, while the others underwent further processing and flavouring. The positive language of the note did not require the goods to lose their identity as supari or undergo a complete basic change in character. The reliance on the earlier excise decision was held to be unhelpful because the later amendment specifically provided that adding or mixing ingredients such as cardamom, copra, menthol, spices or sweetening agents to betel nut in any form would amount to manufacture.

Conclusion: The products are classifiable under Chapter 21 and not under Chapter 8.

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