Exemption for moulds used in plastic footwear manufacture upheld where contract and tariff classification supported the import purpose.

Moulds imported for manufacture of EVA rubber footwear were treated as eligible for exemption under Notification No. 314/85-Cus. because the contract and tariff classification showed they were imported for making artificial plastic articles. The supplier's invoice description as moulds for EVA and rubber did not displace the contractual purpose, and the view that EVA was outside the scope of plastic material was not supported by the chapter notes. The department's reliance on Chapter 40 Note 4 and an industrial licence amendment failed, as the latter was a new ground and related to a later period.

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Issues: Whether moulds imported as "moulds for EVA and rubber" were eligible for exemption under Notification No. 314/85-Cus. dated 11-10-1985 as moulds imported for manufacture of artificial plastic articles.

Analysis: The exemption notification applied to moulds and dies falling within Chapter 84 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 when imported for the manufacture of artificial plastic articles. The description in the supplier's invoice referred to moulds for EVA and rubber, but the contract on record described them as moulds for plastic footwear (EVA rubber). The view that EVA was not a plastic material was not supported by the chapter notes, and Note 4 to Chapter 40 did not assist the department's stand. The tariff description of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers under Sub-heading 3901.30 of Heading 39.01 also supported the appellant's case. The reference to the industrial licence was a new ground and in any event related to a later amendment, not the relevant contract period.

Conclusion: The moulds were shown by reasonable evidence to have been imported for manufacture of plastic footwear, and the exemption was available to the appellants.

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