Tariff classification of roasted nuts: roasted cashew, almond and pista fall under heading 2008; roasted areca nuts remain under heading 0802.

Classification of roasted nuts turned on the tariff description, chapter notes and HSN Explanatory Notes. Roasted areca nuts were held to retain the character of goods under heading 0802 because the roasting process and moisture content did not remove them from the dried-nut category. Roasted cashew nuts, roasted almond nuts and roasted pista nuts were held classifiable under heading 2008, with the specific roasted-nut entry prevailing over a general classification and the residual heading covering other roasted nuts. Notification benefits were available for those goods only if the prescribed country-of-origin conditions were satisfied.

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Issues: (i) Whether roasted areca nuts were classifiable under heading 2008 or under heading 0802. (ii) Whether roasted cashew nuts, roasted almond nuts and roasted pista nuts were classifiable under heading 2008 and entitled to the claimed notification benefits.

Issue (i): Whether roasted areca nuts were classifiable under heading 2008 or under heading 0802.

Analysis: The classification turned on the nature of the roasting process, the scope of the relevant chapter notes, the HSN Explanatory Notes, and the factual moisture content asserted by the applicant. The ruling treated areca nuts with the claimed moisture content as retaining the character of nuts covered by heading 0802, and found that they did not answer the description of roasted areca nuts for classification under heading 2008. The claimed roasting process was held insufficient to take the goods out of heading 0802 on the facts presented.

Conclusion: The issue is decided against the assessee. Roasted areca nuts were not accepted as classifiable under heading 2008 and were held to fall under heading 0802.

Issue (ii): Whether roasted cashew nuts, roasted almond nuts and roasted pista nuts were classifiable under heading 2008 and entitled to the claimed notification benefits.

Analysis: The goods were found to undergo roasting distinct from mere drying, and the HSN Explanatory Notes specifically covered roasted nuts within heading 2008. The ruling applied the principle that a specific entry prevails over a general entry and held that roasted cashew nuts are specifically covered by the tariff, while roasted almonds and roasted pista nuts fall within the residual description of other roasted nuts and seeds. The claimed country-of-origin exemptions were held available only upon compliance with the respective origin conditions under the cited notifications and the rules governing origin.

Conclusion: The issue is decided in favour of the assessee. Roasted cashew nuts, roasted almond nuts and roasted pista nuts were held classifiable under heading 2008, with notification benefits available subject to fulfillment of the prescribed origin conditions.

Final Conclusion: The ruling grants classification relief for roasted cashew nuts, roasted almond nuts and roasted pista nuts, but rejects the claimed roasted areca nut classification and places those goods under heading 0802.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the tariff contains a specific entry supported by the HSN Explanatory Notes, that specific description governs classification; however, goods that retain the character of dried nuts on the facts proved do not shift into the roasted-nut heading merely because they have undergone heating or roasting.

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