Import policy for spares: generic appendix entry did not make replacement rollers licensable for an eligible Actual User.

Steel rollers imported to replace existing rollers in chipboard machinery were treated as spares, not components, under the Import Policy for 1984-85. Because the policy permitted an eligible Actual User to import a spare that did not appear individually in the relevant appendices, a generic appendix entry did not make the goods restricted or licensable. The policy provisions governing restrictions and licences therefore did not apply, and the rollers were importable under OGL. On that basis, confiscation and redemption fine could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether steel rollers imported as replacement parts for machinery used in chipboard manufacture were importable as spares by an eligible Actual User under the Import Policy for 1984-85, and whether their appearance in a generic entry in Appendix 3 Part A made them restricted and licensable.

Analysis: The policy drew a distinction between spares and components. The goods were imported to replace rollers already installed in the appellant's plant, so they were treated as spares and not as components for manufacture of machinery. Para 241(5) permitted import of an item as a spare where it did not appear individually, that is, in its own name, in the appendices. Entry 446 of Appendix 3 Part A was only a generic description and did not specifically identify feeding rollers used in chipboard manufacture. On that basis, the goods were held not to appear individually in the relevant appendices. The restrictions in Para 242(f) and the licensing requirement suggested under the policy did not apply where the policy itself allowed the import as spares by an Actual User. The goods were therefore governed by Para 51(1) and could be imported under OGL.

Conclusion: The import was permissible as spares by an eligible Actual User and did not require an import licence.

Final Conclusion: The confiscation and redemption fine could not be sustained because the imported rollers fell within the policy permission for spare parts import by the Actual User.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a policy specifically permits import of a spare that does not appear individually in the relevant appendices, a generic entry does not make the spare licensable if the import is by an eligible Actual User.

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