Unreliable customs laboratory testing cannot justify reclassification where the designated lab lacked facilities to test the product.

Where a Customs laboratory lacks the facilities to test calcite powder, its chemical test report cannot be treated as a reliable basis for reclassifying imported goods. The Tribunal followed its earlier decisions and, applying Board circulars on forwarding samples to outside laboratories, treated those circulars as binding on departmental officers. As the relevant revenue laboratories lacked the necessary testing capability during the material period, the reclassification based only on that defective testing was held unsustainable, and the importer's original classification was accepted.

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Issues: Whether the chemical test report obtained from a Customs laboratory lacking the facilities to test calcite powder could be relied upon to reclassify the imported goods, and whether the classification adopted by the importer was liable to be rejected.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the evidentiary value of the laboratory report in the light of the Board circulars dealing with forwarding of samples to outside laboratories. The record showed that, for the relevant period, the concerned revenue laboratories did not have the necessary facilities to test the product in question. The Tribunal followed its earlier decisions on identical facts and held that, where the designated laboratory lacked testing capability, the resulting report could not be treated as a reliable basis for classification. The Board circulars were treated as binding on departmental officers, and the contrary classification based only on such defective testing was found unsustainable.

Conclusion: The chemical test report was not reliable for classification purposes, and the reclassification made by the Revenue was not upheld. The issue is decided in favour of the assessee.

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