Tariff classification of micronutrient mixtures depends on composition at supply, not later use; Heading 2833 upheld for GST.

Products classifiable as other fertilisers under Heading 3105 must, by Chapter Note 6 to Chapter 31 and the GST rate notification, contain as an essential constituent nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium at the time of supply. Mixtures made up of micronutrients such as zinc, iron, manganese, boron, magnesium and copper, without those fertilising elements, do not satisfy that tariff requirement. Reliance on the Fertiliser (Control) Order, 1985 cannot override the Customs Tariff classification criteria, and later use-based emergence of nitrogen is irrelevant. The goods were therefore treated as inorganic chemicals under Heading 2833 and the higher GST rate applied.

---

---

Issues: Whether the products manufactured by the appellant were classifiable under Heading 3105 as fertilisers or under Heading 2833 as inorganic chemicals, and the consequential rate of GST applicable to them.

Analysis: The applicable tariff entry for Heading 3105, read with Chapter Note 6 to Chapter 31 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the GST rate notification, requires that products classifiable as other fertilisers contain, as an essential constituent, at least one of the fertilising elements nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium. The products in question were found, on the material placed before the Authority, to be mixtures of micronutrients such as zinc, iron, manganese, boron, magnesium and copper, but not products containing nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium as essential constituents at the time of supply. The reliance placed on the Fertiliser (Control) Order, 1985 did not displace the tariff requirements for classification under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the GST notification. The contention that nitrogen emerged during use was rejected because classification depends on the composition of the goods as presented, not on their later use.

Conclusion: The products were not classifiable under Heading 3105 as fertilisers and the classification under Heading 2833 was upheld, with the corresponding higher GST rate.

Final Conclusion: The appellate authority affirmed the advance ruling and left undisturbed the determination that the goods are to be treated as micronutrient mixtures rather than fertilisers for GST classification purposes.

Ratio Decidendi: For classification under Heading 3105, the goods must contain an essential fertilising constituent of nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium at the time of supply, and subsequent use-based changes cannot control tariff classification.

---