Decorative footwear embellishments qualify for customs concession where glass chatons are used only as adornments.

Glass chatons used on footwear as purely decorative adornments were held to fall within the expression "other embellishments for footwear" in Notification No. 29/79-Cus., because the notification covered items used in the leather industry for embellishment and not only functional fittings. The record also showed samples of footwear with chatons fixed as embellishment, so the claim could not be rejected for want of evidence of use. On that basis, the goods were treated as eligible for concessional assessment.

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Issues: Whether glass chatons imported for use on footwear were covered by the expression "buckles and other embellishments for footwear" in Notification No. 29/79-Cus. dated 10-2-1979 and were therefore entitled to concessional assessment.

Analysis: The notification granted exemption from part of the customs duty and additional duty to specified goods used in the leather industry, including "buckles and other embellishments for footwear". The imported glass chatons were found to be used on footwear only as decorative pieces and not for any functional requirement. The material on record also showed that samples of footwear with chatons fixed as embellishment had been produced, so the claim could not be rejected on the footing that no such use was shown.

Conclusion: The glass chatons were embellishments for footwear within the notification and the appellants were entitled to concessional assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: Goods used on footwear purely as decorative adornments, and not for any functional purpose, fall within a notification covering "other embellishments for footwear".

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