Mere roughening of aluminium sheets is not manufacture when no new commercial product emerges; exemption claim fails.

Mere roughening of aluminium sheets on one side did not amount to manufacture because the process left the sheets' essential character intact and did not produce a new and distinct commercial article. The roughened sheets remained only an intermediate product, requiring further sensitising, coating, exposure and development before becoming lithographic plates. Trade and technical evidence showed that roughened sheets and lithographic plates were commercially and functionally distinct, so the product was neither a lithographic plate at clearance nor a covered aluminium shapes-and-sections product under the notification. The exemption claim therefore failed, applying the settled test that processing amounts to manufacture only when it creates a commercially new product with a different name, character or use.

---

---

Issues: Whether roughening aluminium sheets on one side amounts to manufacture and whether the product could claim exemption as aluminium shapes and sections.

Analysis: The process left the aluminium sheets with their essential character intact and did not bring into existence a new and distinct article. The roughened sheets were only an intermediate product requiring further sensitising, coating, exposure and development before they could be used as lithographic plates. The evidence from the chemical report, expert opinions and trade enquiries showed that roughened aluminium sheets and lithographic plates were commercially and functionally distinct. As the product was neither a lithographic plate at the stage of clearance nor a shapes and sections product within the notification, the exemption claim failed. Applying the settled test under section 2(f), mere processing which does not result in a commercially new product does not amount to manufacture.

Conclusion: Roughening of aluminium sheets on one side did not amount to manufacture, and the exemption was not available.

Ratio Decidendi: A process amounts to manufacture only when it results in a new and distinct commercial product with a different name, character or use; mere mechanical roughening that leaves the original goods substantially unchanged is not manufacture.

---