Design for electronic industry determines customs exemption for coil winding machinery; semi-automatic general-purpose equipment does not qualify.

An imported coil winding machine did not qualify for exemption under Notification No. 118/80-Cus. because the importer failed to show that it was designed for use in the electronic industry. Although described as an automatic precision machine, the catalogue did not support that claim, and the evidence showed only a semi-automatic wire-feeding function rather than full automation. The importer also failed to establish that the coils produced were exclusively for electronic industry use by their rating, size, or functional characteristics, or that the machine had any special feature making it particularly suitable for that industry. The exemption claim therefore failed, and the assessment was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the imported coil winding machine was entitled to exemption under Notification No. 118/80-Cus. as a machine designed for use in the electronic industry.

Analysis: The claim to exemption depended on showing that the machine was designed for use in the electronic industry. The machine was described as an automatic precision coil winding machine, but the catalogue did not support that description. The appellants could show only that the wire feeding function was automatic and that other functions were not automatic, making the machine merely semi-automatic. They also failed to establish that the coils produced were exclusively for the electronic industry by reason of their rating, size, or functional characteristics, or that any feature of the machine made it specially useful for that industry.

Conclusion: The machine was not proved to be designed for use in the electronic industry and was not eligible for exemption under Notification No. 118/80-Cus.

Final Conclusion: The exemption claim failed and the assessment made by the lower authorities was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: To claim exemption under a notification limited to machinery designed for use in the electronic industry, the importer must establish from the machine's design and function that it is specially suited to that industry; a merely semi-automatic general-purpose machine does not qualify.

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