Drawback classification for woven polyethylene bags denied because textile-character goods cannot be treated as plastic articles.

Exported bags made of woven polyethylene strip yarn fabric were not eligible to be treated as articles of LDPE or HDPE for drawback purposes, because the governing drawback entries applied only to articles made of plastic material. The bags were characterised as woven fabric goods with textile character, so they could not be brought within the plastic-material chapter merely because polyethylene yarn was used in manufacture. The analysis also treated the relevant material as the woven polyethylene fabric actually used to make the bags, not plastic granules. In the absence of a specific drawback entry for such fabric-made bags at the relevant time, the claim could not be shifted to the plastic entries.

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Issues: Whether exported bags made of woven polyethylene strip yarn fabric could be treated as articles of LDPE/HDPE for drawback under sub-serial Nos. 1905 and 1906, and whether drawback could be claimed under the applicable drawback rules on the basis of the material from which the bags were made.

Analysis: The governing drawback entries were held to apply only to articles made of plastic material. The bags were found to be made of woven fabric, and the classification guidance relied on showed that goods of textile character fall outside the plastic-material chapter. On that basis, the bags could not be treated as articles of LDPE or HDPE merely because polyethylene yarn or fabric was used in their manufacture. The reasoning further proceeded on the basis that the relevant material was the immediately preceding raw material from which the bags were actually made, namely the woven polyethylene fabric, and not plastic granules. Since no specific drawback entry existed for such fabric-made bags at the relevant time, the applicants could not shift the claim to the plastic entries or rely on the drawback rules in the manner sought.

Conclusion: The goods were not eligible to be treated as articles of LDPE or HDPE for drawback purposes, and the claim was correctly rejected.

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