Coffee sifter used only for sizing granules was not treated as a production machine, defeating the exemption claim.

A powder sifter used only to size coffee granules was held not to be a machine used for production of a commodity under CTH 84.79. The sifting operation was treated as only one stage in the overall manufacture or marketing process and, by itself, did not amount to production. On that basis, a machine performing only an ancillary step in manufacture was outside the scope of the claimed exemption under Notification No. 59/87 dated 1-3-1987, and the exemption claim failed.

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Issues: Whether a powder sifter used only for sizing coffee granules was a machine used for production of a commodity so as to qualify for assessment under CTH 84.79 and the benefit of Notification No. 59/87 dated 1-3-1987.

Analysis: The machine merely sifted coffee granules according to size. Such sifting was at most one step connected with the overall production process, but it did not itself result in the production of a commodity. A process that only assists in marketing or forms one of the stages in manufacture does not by itself amount to production. Following the earlier view that machines performing only one of several manufacturing processes do not produce a commodity, the claimed exemption was not available.

Conclusion: The sifter was not a machine used for production of a commodity, and the claim to the exemption failed.

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