Tariff classification of aluminium strips follows substance and trade parlance over an unadopted ISI definition.

Bare aluminium strips made as an intermediate product for insulated conductors were held classifiable under Tariff Item 27(b) because the tariff entry for aluminium strips was unqualified and the goods were, in substance, strips. The assessee's own description of the product in the classification list supported that view, and trade parlance prevailed over an unadopted ISI definition where no ambiguity in the tariff entry was shown. Earlier judicial and tribunal reasoning on insulated aluminium strips was applied equally to bare strips at the intermediate stage. The assessee failed to establish any more specific tariff entry or market material requiring a different classification.

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Issues: Whether bare aluminium strips manufactured as an intermediate product for making insulated conductors were classifiable under Tariff Item 27(b) of the Central Excise Tariff.

Analysis: The product was admittedly made from electrical-grade aluminium wire rods and was described by the assessee itself as aluminium bare strips in the classification list. The contention that the goods were conductors and not strips was rejected because the tariff entry used the term strip without qualification, and there was no demonstrated ambiguity warranting reliance on ISI specifications. The earlier Bombay High Court decision and the Tribunal's earlier view had already held that insulated aluminium strips were assessable under Tariff Item 27(b), and the same reasoning applied to bare strips at the intermediate stage. The assessee also failed to show that the goods were covered by any other specific tariff entry or that market evidence supported a different classification.

Conclusion: The goods were correctly classifiable under Tariff Item 27(b) of the Central Excise Tariff, and the assessee's challenge to classification failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the tariff entry for aluminium strips is unqualified and the product is in substance a strip, trade parlance and the assessee's own description prevail over an unadopted ISI definition, absent any demonstrated ambiguity in the tariff entry.

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