Rubber sheets fitted for machine use fall outside Heading 4008 and are classifiable as other vulcanised rubber articles.

Rubber blankets or sheets fitted with metal strips at the edges were treated as further worked articles, not as simple plates, sheets or strips of regular geometric shape under Heading 4008 of Chapter 40. Note 9 to Chapter 40 limits Heading 4008 to goods not otherwise cut to shape or further worked, and the end fittings showed preparation to a specific machine specification for printing use. Because the goods had ceased to answer the description of ordinary sheets and were made for a particular purpose, they fell outside Heading 4008 and were classifiable under Heading 4016 as other articles of vulcanised rubber.

---

---

Issues: Whether rubber blankets/sheets fitted with metal strips at the edges were classifiable as plates, sheets or strips under Heading 4008 of Chapter 40, or as other articles of vulcanised rubber under Heading 4016.

Analysis: Note 9 to Chapter 40 limits Heading 4008 to plates, sheets and strips that are of regular geometric shape and are not otherwise cut to shape or further worked. The goods were imported as rubber blankets and spare parts for printing machines, and the fitting of metal strips at the ends showed that they were prepared to a particular specification for machine use. Such end fittings were not treated as a mere surface feature, but as a process that rendered the goods further worked and converted them into articles for a specific purpose. The argument that they remained merely rectangular sheets was rejected because the goods had ceased to answer the description of simple sheets covered by Heading 4008.

Conclusion: The goods were correctly classifiable under Heading 4016 and not under Heading 4008.

Ratio Decidendi: Where rubber sheets are cut to specification and fitted with end attachments for a specific machine use, they are treated as further worked articles and fall outside the scope of Heading 4008 under Note 9 to Chapter 40.

---