Tariff classification of respirator cartridge assembly favoured the specific heading, making customs exemption denial unsustainable.

Respirator Cartridge Assembly was treated as classifiable under Heading 90.17/18 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 rather than Heading 84.18(2), on the same reasoning applied in an earlier Tribunal decision on the identical product. The item was regarded as falling within the specific claimed heading and not as an air filter, so denial of exemption under Notification No. 208/81-Cus. was unsustainable. The assessee was therefore entitled to the claimed tariff treatment.

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Issues: Whether the imported Respirator Cartridge Assembly was classifiable under Heading 90.17/18 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or under Heading 84.18(2) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, and whether it was entitled to exemption under Notification No. 208/81-Cus.

Analysis: The item had already been considered in an earlier Tribunal decision dealing with the same product. That decision held that the Respirator Cartridge Assembly was correctly classifiable under Heading 90.17/18 and not under Heading 84.18(2). The same reasoning was followed here, and the item was treated as falling within the specific heading claimed by the importer rather than as an air filter. Consequent denial of exemption under Notification No. 208/81-Cus. was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The imported item was classifiable under Heading 90.17/18 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and not under Heading 84.18(2), and the assessee was entitled to the claimed treatment. The appeal succeeded.

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