Customs exemption for moulds upheld where integrated injection moulding produced plastic soles as part of footwear manufacture.

Moulds imported for use in an integrated injection moulding process were treated as eligible for exemption under Notification No. 314/85-Customs where they were used to manufacture plastic soles as an essential component of footwear. The exemption condition required import for the manufacture of artificial plastic articles, and the described process showed that plastic material was injected to form the sole and then fused with the upper in the same operation. The benefit could not be denied merely because the final product was a shoe rather than a wholly plastic article. On those facts, the notification condition was satisfied and exemption was available.

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Issues: Whether moulds imported for use in an integrated injection moulding process for producing shoe soles and completing shoes were eligible for exemption under Notification No. 314/85-Customs as moulds imported for the manufacture of artificial plastic articles.

Analysis: The imported goods consisted of shoe lasts, sole plates and rings and were designed for use in an injection moulding machine. The process described showed that plastic material was injected to form the sole and that a further injection process fused the sole with the upper in the same integrated operation. The condition in the notification required the moulds to be imported for the manufacture of artificial plastic articles. On the facts, the moulds were not being used merely for an ordinary shoe-manufacturing process but for producing plastic soles as an essential component through a plastic injection process. The exemption could not be denied merely because the final product was a shoe which was not wholly plastic.

Conclusion: The moulds satisfied the condition of the notification and the exemption was available; the denial of benefit was not sustainable.

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