DFIA Scheme interpretation permits popcorn maize imports against maize starch powder exports absent any express variety restriction.

Under the DFIA Scheme and SION Entry E75, duty-free import of maize against export of maize starch powder was not restricted by any express requirement as to variety, quality, characteristic, or specific mention in shipping documents. The scheme was read as a whole, and maize was treated as a specific cereal class rather than a generic term for paragraph 4.12(i); no actual user condition was implied for the relevant input. Because the DFIA scheme is post-export and transferable, additional restrictions could not be imported by implication, and popcorn variety maize was held capable of being used for the export product, entitling the importer to the authorisation.

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Issues: Whether under DFIA Scheme and SION Entry E75 the importer was entitled to import popcorn variety of maize against export of maize starch powder, and whether the scheme imported an actual user condition or a requirement to mention the specific variety of maize in the shipping documents.

Analysis: The policy and the relevant SION entry permitted duty-free import of maize against export of maize starch powder without stipulating any restriction as to variety, quality or characteristic of maize. The Court read the scheme as a whole and held that maize is a specific class of cereal and not a generic term for the purpose of paragraph 4.12(i). Since the entry did not prescribe an actual user condition for the relevant input, and the DFIA scheme is post-export and transferable, no additional restriction could be introduced by implication. The imported popcorn maize was capable of being used for the export product, and the absence of any express policy prohibition could not defeat entitlement under the notified norm.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to import popcorn variety of maize under DFIA Scheme vide SION Entry E75, and the challenge to withholding of the authorisation succeeded to that extent.

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