Optical fibre cable classification turns on individual sheathing, and a thin protective coating is not enough for Heading 85.44.

Classification of optical fibre cables depended on whether the fibres were individually sheathed. The manufacturing evidence showed only a thin UV-cured acrylate protective coating, colouring, loose tubes and stranding, which did not establish individual sheathing as required for Heading 85.44. Revenue produced no technical material to prove that the coating amounted to individual sheathing, while the technical opinion and certification relied on by the assessee supported classification outside Heading 85.44. End use was held irrelevant to tariff classification, and the cables were accepted under Heading 90.01.

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Issues: Whether optical fibre cables manufactured by the assessee were classifiable under Heading 85.44 as optical fibre cables made up of individually sheathed fibres, or under Heading 90.01 as optical fibre cables other than those of Heading 85.44.

Analysis: The decisive test was whether the fibres were individually sheathed. The manufacturing process showed drawing of fibre, application of a thin UV-cured acrylate coating, colouring for identification, placement of two fibres in loose tubes, and stranding of those tubes around a central member. The record did not show that each fibre was individually sheathed in the manner required for Heading 85.44. The coating described by the assessee corresponded to the thin protective coating contemplated in the explanatory notes for optical fibres, and the Revenue produced no technical material to establish that such coating amounted to individual sheathing. The evidence on record, including technical opinion and certification relied upon by the assessee, supported the view that the cables were not made up of individually sheathed fibres. The question of end use was held to be irrelevant to classification.

Conclusion: The impugned optical fibre cables were not proved to be made up of individually sheathed fibres and were therefore not classifiable under Heading 85.44; the assessee's classification under Heading 90.01 was accepted.

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