Medicaments classification for vitamin-based formulations turns on therapeutic use, prescribed dosing, and drug licensing, not ingredient labels.

A calcium carbonate and vitamin D3 formulation administered in measured doses and licensed as a drug was treated as a medicament under Chapter 30 rather than as a vitamin under Heading 2936. The classification turned on its therapeutic and prophylactic character: it was not a mere dietary supplement, but was supported by literature showing use in improving calcium absorption and in treating calcium and vitamin D deficiency in children, including rickets. Products containing vitamins or nutritional ingredients may still qualify as medicaments where they are prescribed in doses and used for therapeutic purposes. The Tribunal therefore held the product correctly classifiable as a medicament in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the product, a calcium carbonate and vitamin D3 formulation administered in measured doses and licensed as a drug, was classifiable as a medicament under Chapter 30 or as a vitamin under Heading 2936.

Analysis: The formulation was not merely a dietary supplement. It was licensed as a drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, prescribed in measured doses, and supported by literature showing therapeutic value in improving calcium absorption and treating calcium and vitamin D deficiency in children, including rickets. The Tribunal also relied on the principle that products administered in prescribed doses and having therapeutic or prophylactic use may be treated as medicaments even where they contain vitamins or nutritional ingredients.

Conclusion: The product was correctly classifiable as a medicament under Chapter 30 and not as a vitamin under Heading 2936, and the finding went in favour of the assessee.

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