Excursion boat classification turns on actual tourism use, not private pleasure labels, and falls under CTH 8901.
Imported used motor boats described as excursion boats were treated as cruise or excursion vessels under CTH 8901 because their actual use was tourism and commercial excursion, not private sport or pleasure. The Merchant Shipping concept of a pleasure vessel was considered inapplicable on the facts, since that category contemplates private use by an individual, body corporate, or club. The boats could not be reclassified as yachts under CTH 8903 merely because of registration or foreign-origin treatment. The classification turned on the principal function of the vessels, which was transport of persons for tourism purposes.
Issues: Whether the imported used motor boats, described as excursion boats, were correctly classifiable under CTH 8901 or under CTH 8903 as yachts/pleasure vessels.
Analysis: The boats were imported for tourism and excursion purposes, with provisional registration by the Port Department and certification by the Tourism Department for use in tourism development. The definition of pleasure vessel under the Merchant Shipping framework contemplates private use by an individual, body corporate, or club for sport or pleasure, which did not fit the actual use of the boats. The tariff heading for CTH 8901 specifically covers cruise ships, excursion boats and similar vessels principally designed for transport of persons, while CTH 8903 covers yachts and other vessels for pleasure or sports. On the facts, the boats answered the description of excursion boats and could not be treated as yachts merely because of the department's stand on registration or foreign-origin classification.
Conclusion: The classification under CTH 8903 was unsustainable and the boats were held classifiable under CTH 8901.
Final Conclusion: The demand founded on the higher classification failed, and the appeal was allowed with consequential relief.
Ratio Decidendi: A vessel used for tourism and commercial excursion purposes, and not for private sport or pleasure use, is classifiable according to its principal transport function and cannot be reclassified as a yacht or pleasure vessel on an arbitrary basis.
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