Bulk purchase treatment of essential oil import removed licence requirement and defeated confiscation and penalty.

Import of 5 kg packing of natural essential oil used for large-scale manufacture of perfumery goods was treated as a bulk purchase in the commercial sense, even though "bulk" was not defined in the Import Trade Control policy. A definition from another tariff context could not be mechanically applied. Because the importer was an actual user, the licence requirement did not apply. On that basis, confiscation and penalty under customs law had no surviving foundation, and the Revenue's challenge was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the import of 5 kg. packing of natural essential oil was a bulk purchase so as to be exempt from the licence requirement and whether confiscation and penalty under the Customs law were sustainable.

Analysis: The imported essential oil was used in the manufacture of perfumery goods and was purchased for large-scale production. The term "bulk" was not defined in the Import Trade Control policy, and the definition used for lubricant oil in another tariff context could not be mechanically applied. In the commercial sense, expensive perfumery oils are sold in small retail quantities, and a purchase of 5 kg. valued at a substantial amount, capable of yielding production of about 30 tonnes of talcum powder, was properly treated as a bulk purchase. As the importer was an actual user, no licence was required. The basis for confiscation and penalty therefore did not survive.

Conclusion: The import was rightly treated as a bulk purchase, the licence requirement did not apply, and the Revenue appeal was liable to be rejected.

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