Actual user condition for imported cutters upheld where evidence showed use beyond gear manufacture.

Imported gear shape cutters and hob cutters were treated as permissible under the actual user condition because the licence covered Appendix 3 items and the evidence showed use in making dies and fixtures for wire netting, industrial filters, sieves and perforated sheets. The importer relied on an independent engineer's certificate and supporting material, and no contrary expert evidence or rebuttal was produced. The technical description of gear cutting and hob cutting was accepted as not confined to gear manufacture alone, but as extending to work requiring tooth-like projections or evenly spaced forms. On that basis, the import was covered by the licence and confiscation could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether the imported gear shape cutters and hob cutters were permissible goods for import under the actual user condition and whether confiscation could be sustained.

Analysis: The import licence covered Appendix 3 items subject to actual user condition, and the controversy turned on whether the cutters were confined to gear manufacturers or could also be used in the wire netting industry. The importer produced an independent engineer's certificate and supporting material showing that the items were used for making dies and fixtures for manufacture of wire netting, industrial filters, sieves and perforated sheets. That evidence was not met by any contrary expert opinion or rebuttal material. The reasoning also accepted that the technical description of gear cutting and hob cutting was not limited to gear manufacture alone, but extended to operations on workpieces requiring tooth-like projections or evenly spaced forms.

Conclusion: The import was held to be covered by the licence and the confiscation order could not be sustained. The appeal was allowed with consequential relief.

Final Conclusion: The importer succeeded in establishing permissible end-use of the goods, and the adverse customs order was set aside.

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