Unit container test for restaurant-served food failed, so the preparations were not dutiable under tariff heading 1601.10.

Preparations of meat served in restaurant packaging such as butter paper, paperboard, trays, pouches, cones or similar boxes were not treated as being put up in unit containers for tariff heading 1601.10. A unit container must hold a predetermined quantity, while these serving materials were used only for immediate consumption in the restaurant and functioned as service ware rather than retail or wholesale packing. The mode of serving food in the restaurant could not by itself determine excisability. On that basis, the goods did not satisfy the tariff description requiring unit containers and brand name treatment, and central excise duty was not attracted under heading 1601.10.

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Issues: Whether edible preparations served in restaurant packaging such as butter paper, paperboard, trays, pouches, paperboard cones or similar boxes were "put up in unit containers" so as to fall under tariff heading 1601.10 and attract central excise duty.

Analysis: The relevant tariff scheme treats preparations of meat under Chapter 16 as dutiable under heading 1601.10 only when they are put up in unit containers and bear a brand name. A unit container is one designed to hold a predetermined quantity. The serving materials used in the restaurant were meant for immediate consumption in the premises and functioned as service ware, not as retail or wholesale containers holding a predetermined quantity. The mode of serving food in a restaurant cannot by itself determine excisability. The reasoning adopted below ignored the distinction between restaurant service and packing of goods for clearance, and the earlier Tribunal decisions relied upon by the appellant supported the view that such containers do not satisfy the tariff description of unit containers.

Conclusion: The goods were not put up in unit containers for the purpose of heading 1601.10 and were not liable to central excise duty on that basis.

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