Tariff classification of white cement turns on product specifications, not colour or end-use, under an inclusive entry.

White cement was treated as classifiable under Tariff Item 23(1) as ordinary Portland cement because the tariff entry was inclusive and the imported goods satisfied the relevant chemical and physical specifications. Classification depended on the statutory description and governing specifications of the commodity, not on colour alone or on the different end-use of white cement. The residuary entry was therefore not applicable, and the construction of the tariff entry was broad enough to cover a product answering to the specifications of ordinary Portland cement.

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Issues: Whether white cement, though not grey in colour, was classifiable under Tariff Item 23(1) as ordinary Portland cement on the basis that it conformed to the relevant specifications.

Analysis: Tariff Item 23(1) was an inclusive entry covering grey Portland cement, including ordinary Portland cement, and other named varieties of cement. The imported goods were shown by chemical and physical test reports to satisfy the specifications of ordinary Portland cement, and the different end-use of white cement did not control the classification where the tariff entry was framed by reference to the commodity description and not colour alone. The inclusive wording of the entry permitted a construction broad enough to take in a variety answering to the specifications of ordinary Portland cement.

Conclusion: White cement was rightly classifiable under Tariff Item 23(1) as ordinary Portland cement, and the contrary classification under the residuary entry was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and the impugned classification order was set aside, with consequential relief to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a tariff entry is inclusive and a product satisfies the governing specifications of the described commodity, classification turns on the statutory description and specifications, not on colour or end-use alone.

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