Bees wax processing and manufacture: purification steps alone do not create a new commercially distinct excisable product.

Processing bees wax by melting, water-washing, re-melting, acid washing, slabbing and repacking was treated as purification and presentation in a more marketable form, not as manufacture. The goods retained their essential character as bees wax, and no new commercially distinct commodity emerged. Mere inclusion of the product in a tariff heading was insufficient to create manufacture liability absent a specific section note, chapter note or tariff deeming provision. On that basis, excise duty, interest and penalty confirmed on the processed bees wax were stated to be unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the processes of melting, water-washing, re-melting, acid washing, slabbing and repacking of bees wax brought into existence a new and distinct commodity amounting to manufacture, so as to sustain confirmation of duty, interest and penalty.

Analysis: The processes applied to the raw bees wax were directed to purification, cleaning and presentation in a more marketable form. The character and use of the goods did not undergo a significant change, and the product continued to remain bees wax. Mere mention of the item in the tariff, or the existence of a tariff heading for the product, was held insufficient to treat the process as manufacture unless the statute or tariff entry specifically stated that the process amounted to manufacture. No relevant section note, chapter note or tariff provision was shown to deem such processing as manufacture. The reasoning applied the settled test that a new and different commercially distinct commodity must emerge before excise liability can arise.

Conclusion: The processing of bees wax did not amount to manufacture and the duty, interest and penalty confirmed in relation to bees wax were not sustainable.

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