Import duty exemption for Burma teak depended on proof of actual Burmese origin and import, not mere certificate-based description.

Import duty exemption under Notification No. 280/76-Cus. was available only where the goods were in fact the produce or manufacture of Burma and were imported as such, with the Assistant Collector satisfied on that basis. Burma teak purchased through Singapore did not qualify merely because it was said to have originated from Burma, and certificates could not override the actual import source. The notification was read in its customs context as a limited concession tied to the origin and identity of the goods, so the claimed exemption depended on proof that the goods met the notification conditions in substance, not merely by description.

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Issues: Whether Burma Teak imported from Singapore was entitled to exemption from import duty under Notification No. 280/76-Cus. dated 2-8-1976, as amended, when the notification granted benefit only to goods which were the produce or manufacture of Burma and were accepted as such by the Assistant Collector of Customs.

Analysis: The notification was construed as granting exemption only to Burma Teak that was in fact produced or manufactured in Burma and imported as such, not to teak purchased from another country merely because it originated from Burma. The certificates produced by the importer did not alter the fact that the goods were imported from Singapore, and the exemption depended upon satisfaction of the Assistant Collector that the goods met the notification conditions. The Court also read the notification in the context of customs exemption and the trade understanding underlying such concessions.

Conclusion: The importer was not entitled to the exemption, as the goods were not shown to have been imported from Burma; the petition failed and was dismissed.

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