Declared import description and EOU exemption prevail where no composition supports misdeclaration of permissible raw material.

Where import documents, invoice, bill of entry and export certificate consistently described the goods as Vietnam Robusta Coffee, misdeclaration could not be inferred merely because examination showed coffee husk or bits, since no import condition fixed the permissible composition of the consignment. The goods were treated as eligible raw material for an export oriented unit under Notification No. 52/2003-Cus, and customs verification was confined to conformity with the declared import documents and approvals. On that basis, confiscation was unsustainable and the applicable concessional import exemption remained available, leading to release of the goods with the benefit of the notification.

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Issues: Whether the imported consignment was liable to be treated as mis-declared goods and confiscated, and whether the appellant, being an export oriented unit, was entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 52/2003-Cus dated 31.03.2003 for import of the goods as raw material.

Analysis: The import documents, invoice, bill of entry and export certificate all described the goods as Vietnam Robusta Coffee, and the permission sought was for bulk import of that commodity under the concessional import scheme for export oriented units. The absence of any condition specifying the percentage of beans, husk or skins meant that mere presence of coffee husk or bits could not, by itself, support an allegation of misdeclaration. The goods were also capable of being imported as raw material under the exemption notification applicable to EOUs, and the customs authority was concerned primarily with verifying conformity with the import documents and approvals, not with denying the exemption on the basis of the composition of the consignment alone.

Conclusion: The finding of misdeclaration and confiscation was unsustainable, and the appellant was entitled to the benefit of the exemption notification.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and release of the goods was directed with the benefit of the applicable concessional import notification.

Ratio Decidendi: Where import documents consistently describe the goods and no condition restricts their constituent composition, a customs authority cannot deny exemption or infer misdeclaration merely because examination reveals the goods to be a permissible variant of the declared raw material for an export oriented unit.

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