Tariff classification by essential character places Hypalon-40 under synthetic rubber rather than synthetic resin.

Classification of Hypalon-40 under the Customs Tariff Act depended on its chemical character and tariff affinity. Customs laboratory testing treated it as a saturated synthetic organic polymer and did not conclusively establish it as synthetic rubber or synthetic resin, while IIT material showed that it could be vulcanised with sulphur, converted into an elastic non-thermoplastic substance, and exhibited properties closely matching synthetic rubber. Because direct testing did not settle the exact heading, the rule of classification by resemblance was applied. On that basis, Hypalon-40 was found more akin to synthetic rubber than synthetic resin and was classified under Item No. 40.01/04, not Chapter 39.

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Issues: Whether Hypalon-40 imported for use in electric cables was classifiable as synthetic rubber under Chapter 40 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or as synthetic resin under Chapter 39.

Analysis: The classification dispute turned on the chemical character of the imported goods. The Customs laboratory report treated Hypalon-40 as a saturated synthetic organic polymer and proceeded on the footing that it did not satisfy the definition of synthetic rubber in Note 4 to Chapter 40, but the report did not specifically establish that the goods answered the description of synthetic resin under Chapter 39. The report from the Indian Institute of Technology showed that Hypalon-40 could be vulcanised by sulphur, could be transformed into an elastic and non-thermoplastic substance, and exhibited properties closely corresponding to the qualities stated for synthetic rubber. Where the exact classification was not conclusively established by direct testing, the tariff interpretation rule requiring goods to be classified under the heading to which they are most akin was applied. On that basis, the product was found to be more akin to synthetic rubber than synthetic resin.

Conclusion: Hypalon-40 was held to be classifiable as synthetic rubber under Item No. 40.01/04 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, and not as synthetic resin under Chapter 39.

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