Concessional duty for blank CD-R media denied where exemption was confined to recorded CD-ROMs under the notification.

CD-R blank (recordable) media assessed as unrecorded media under Customs Tariff Act sub-heading 8523.90 was not entitled to concessional duty under Serial No. 174 of Notification No. 11/97-Cus. The exemption entry covered Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), which was treated as recorded media, and was construed as confined to recorded media alone. Subsequent recording of the imported blank media did not expand the scope of the notification. The concessional duty benefit was therefore unavailable to the imported goods.

---

---

Issues: Whether CD-R Blank (Recordable) imported goods were eligible for concessional duty under Serial No. 174 of Notification No. 11/97-Cus. dated 1-3-97.

Analysis: The goods were assessed under Customs Tariff Act sub-heading 8523.90 as unrecorded media. Serial No. 174 of the notification covered Compact Disc - Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), which was treated as recorded media. The notification entry was held to be clear and confined to recorded media, and the subsequent recording of the imported blank media did not bring the goods within the scope of the exemption.

Conclusion: The benefit of concessional duty was not available to the imported goods, and the appeal of the Revenue succeeded.

---