Accessory classification for cardiac stents allowed notification benefit where stents formed part of the catheter-based angioplasty procedure.

Imported cardiac stents used during angioplasty were treated as accessories of cardiac catheters because they operated in conjunction with the catheter, were deployed after vessel dilation, and formed part of the same therapeutic procedure. On that basis, the notification benefit for accessories under Notification No. 17/2001-Cus. was available to the importers. The analysis treated the stent and catheter as complementary components of an integrated treatment process, and relied on the view that an essential treatment component can qualify as an accessory for notification purposes.

---

---

Issues: Whether imported cardiac stents were accessories of cardiac catheters so as to qualify for the benefit of Notification No. 17/2001-Cus. dated 01-03-2001.

Analysis: The stents were used in conjunction with cardiac catheters during angioplasty, were mounted and deployed after dilation of the vessel, and were necessary to complete the treatment. The evidence showed that the stent and catheter together formed part of the same therapeutic procedure, and the Tribunal had earlier accepted a similar claim in respect of an essential treatment component as an accessory for the purposes of the notification.

Conclusion: The stents were correctly treated as accessories of cardiac catheters and the benefit of the notification was available to the importers.

---