Exact tariff threshold for distillation at a specified temperature must be proved before reclassifying imported goods.

Imported goods classified as condensate could not be reclassified as light oil because the department failed to discharge the burden of proving the tariff condition for heading 27101190. The governing note required 90% or more distillation at 210 C, and the word "at" was treated as exact rather than approximate. Later re-testing showing 208 C, together with an Intertek reference to 216 C, did not establish compliance with the specified threshold, and the original clearance based on contemporaneous test material remained undisturbed. The reclassification, demand, and penalties therefore could not be sustained, with consequential relief following.

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Issues: Whether the department discharged the burden of reclassifying the imported goods from "condensate" under heading 27101990 to "light oil" under heading 27101190 on the basis of the sampling and test reports.

Analysis: The imported goods had been cleared by the customs authorities on the basis of the contemporaneous test material and the certificates then available. The later departmental case rested on re-testing and clarification that showed distillation at 208 C and relied upon an Intertek report indicating 216 C. The governing tariff note required 90% or more distillation at 210 C, and the expression "at" was treated as exact, not approximate. Since neither the 208 C result nor the 216 C result established 90% distillation at 210 C, the department failed to rebut the original assessment. The record also supported the view that the later investigation did not displace the earlier clearance decision.

Conclusion: The reclassification as light oil was not sustained and the original classification as condensate was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The appeals succeeded, the impugned demand and penalties could not survive, and consequential relief followed.

Ratio Decidendi: When a tariff entry requires a specified threshold to be met "at" a particular temperature, the department must prove exact compliance with that condition before disturbing an assessment already completed on the basis of available test material.

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