Pre-packaged and labelled seafood exports remain within GST rate notifications when no export exemption is provided.

Processed and frozen shrimps supplied in individually packed printed pouches or boxes qualify as pre-packaged and labelled goods when the inner packs contain a predetermined quantity and bear declarations required under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009. The GST rate notification applies to such goods under the relevant tariff heading, and the fact that the supplies are exported does not exclude them from the notification where no export exemption is provided. On the stated facts, the inner packs themselves satisfied the statutory characteristics of pre-packaged and labelled commodities, so GST was attracted at 5%.

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Issues: Whether the export of processed and frozen shrimps packed in individual laminated and printed pouches or boxes containing design, label, and other particulars attracts GST at 5% as pre-packaged and labelled goods.

Analysis: The relevant GST notifications make goods of the specified tariff headings taxable when they are pre-packaged and labelled, and the expression is linked to the definition of pre-packaged commodity under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009. The determining features are a pre-determined quantity and a package or label required to bear declarations under the legal metrology law. On the facts, the inner packs were individually packed in printed pouches or boxes in quantities ranging from 340 grams to 5 kilograms and were then placed in master cartons. The inner packs themselves satisfied the characteristics of pre-packaged and labelled commodities. The fact that the goods were exported did not remove them from the scope of the notification, because the notifications did not carve out an exemption for export supplies.

Conclusion: The export of the processed and frozen shrimps in the described packaging is taxable at 5% and does attract GST.

Ratio Decidendi: Where specified goods are supplied in individually pre-packed and labelled units that satisfy the Legal Metrology definition, GST applies under the relevant rate notification irrespective of whether the supply is for domestic sale or export, unless the notification itself provides an exemption.

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