Essential character test governs tariff classification of floor tiles; unsupported market description and advertisements cannot override it.

Floor tiles must be classified by the ingredient that gives them their essential character under Note 2(a) of the General Rules for Interpretation; predominance alone is not decisive. On the evidence, no technical material showed that plastic, rather than limestone, imparted the essential character, and the market-parlance claim was unsupported. Misleading advertisements could not control tariff classification. The tiles were therefore classifiable under Heading 6807.00 and not under Heading 3918.10, so the Department's appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether the floor tiles manufactured by the assessee were classifiable under Heading 6807.00 as articles of stone or similar material, or under Heading 3918.10 as floor coverings of plastics.

Analysis: The Department relied on the presence of polyvinyl chloride and on the alleged market description of the goods as plastic tiles. The Tribunal held that the earlier predominance-based approach was not decisive under the tariff in issue and that classification had to be determined by whether, applying Note 2(a) of the General Rules for the Interpretation of the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, plastic or limestone gave the goods their essential character. No technical evidence was produced to show that plastic, rather than limestone, imparted the essential character of the tiles. The Tribunal also rejected the market-parlance contention for want of evidence and noted that misleading descriptions in advertisements could not govern classification.

Conclusion: The tiles were held classifiable under Heading 6807.00 and not under Heading 3918.10, so the Department's appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: For tariff classification under the General Rules for Interpretation, the decisive test is the ingredient that gives the product its essential character, and unsupported market description or misleading claims cannot override that test.

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