Tariff classification follows prior approved treatment of identical goods where no contrary material supports a different entry.

Identical goods were treated as classifiable under Tariff Item No. 26A for the disputed period because a later trade notice and an earlier approved classification list supported that entry. The Department produced no material to justify a different classification for the period in question, and there was no basis to deny the same treatment where the same goods had already been reclassified under the tariff item. The assessee therefore succeeded on classification under Tariff Item No. 26A.

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Issues: Whether the goods in question were rightly classifiable under Tariff Item No. 26A for the relevant period and whether the earlier and later classification of the same goods under that tariff entry should govern the classification for the period in dispute.

Analysis: The goods were ultimately accepted as falling under Tariff Item No. 26A on the basis of a later trade notice and an approved classification list of an earlier date. No material was produced by the Department to justify a different treatment for the period in dispute, despite an being given to support the Tribunal's view. In these circumstances, there was no basis to refuse the same classification for the relevant period when identical goods had already been reclassified under the same tariff item on the strength of the trade notice.

Conclusion: The classification under Tariff Item No. 26A was held applicable to the period in dispute, and the assessee succeeded.

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