Component parts exemption for refrigeration equipment denied where imported items were only replacement spares for installed compressors.

Imported spare parts for already installed refrigeration compressors were not treated as "component parts" under the exemption notification because the notification covered parts imported for use in assembly or manufacture of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, not replacement spares for installed plant. On those facts, the Tribunal distinguished initial assembly components from post-installation spares and held that the goods fell outside the concessional duty entry, so the exemption claim failed.

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Issues: Whether imported spare parts for already installed refrigeration compressors were eligible for concessional duty as "component parts" under Notification No. 23/77-Cus. dated 8-2-1977.

Analysis: The notification granted exemption to component parts imported for use in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. The goods in question were admittedly spares for compressors already installed in the plant and were not parts imported for assembly or manufacture of the equipment. On the facts, spare parts already meant for replacement use could not be equated with component parts contemplated by the notification. The Tribunal followed its earlier view that parts imported for initial assembly are components, whereas extra items imported after installation are spares.

Conclusion: The imported goods were not covered by the expression "component parts" and the claim for concessional duty failed.

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