Tariff classification of ready-to-drink badam milk favours the more specific Chapter 22 beverage entry over Chapter 04 flavoured milk

For central excise tariff purposes, Badam Milk Drink - Ready to Drink was treated as classifiable under Chapter 22 as beverages containing milk rather than under Chapter 04 as flavoured milk. The classification turned on the post-2005 eight-digit tariff structure, where the specific beverage entry for milk-containing products remained available while the earlier flavoured milk entry in Chapter 04 was no longer in the same form. Rule 3(a) of the General Rules for Interpretation required preference for the more specific entry, and the product's flavouring ingredients and UHT processing did not displace that classification. The Board's clarification in Notification No. 17/2008-CE (NT) supported the Chapter 22 treatment.

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Issues: Whether "Badam Milk Drink - Ready to Drink" is classifiable under Chapter 04 as flavoured milk or under Chapter 22 as beverages containing milk for the purposes of central excise tariff classification.

Analysis: The product was examined in the context of the post-2005 eight-digit tariff structure, under which a specific entry existed for beverages containing milk, while the earlier flavoured milk entry under Chapter 04 was no longer available in the same form. The product contained flavouring ingredients such as badam, cardamom, saffron and maltodextrin, and had undergone homogenization, pasteurization and UHT treatment to increase shelf life. In the tariff framework, Rule 3(a) of the General Rules for the Interpretation of Central Excise Tariff required preference to the more specific entry. The Board's clarification in Notification No. 17/2008-CE (NT) also supported classification of flavoured milk of animal origin under the beverage heading.

Conclusion: The product was held classifiable under Chapter 22 as beverages containing milk, not under Chapter 04 as flavoured milk, and the assessee's challenge to the classification failed.

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