Mere repacking is not manufacture where the tariff lacks a deeming provision; excise demand on the repacker fails.

Mere repacking of liquid detergent from bulk containers into smaller containers did not amount to manufacture or an incidental and ancillary process deemed as manufacture, because the tariff contained no express deeming provision for the relevant chapter. The goods had already been manufactured by another entity, and the duty, if any, could not be fastened again on the repacker merely because of repacking. Any question of packing cost in assessable value would arise, if at all, against the original manufacturer, not the appellants. The demand was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether repacking a liquid detergent from bulk containers into small containers amounted to manufacture or an incidental and ancillary process attracting central excise duty and related consequences.

Analysis: The material and packing material were not shown to belong to the appellants, and the goods were already manufactured in bulk by another manufacturer. The reasoning that repacking into smaller containers constituted manufacture was rejected because the tariff itself treats certain processes as manufacture only when a specific chapter note so provides. The cited chapter notes for other tariff chapters showed that, where the legislature intended to deem a process as manufacture, it did so expressly. No corresponding deeming provision was shown for the relevant chapter covering the goods. The duty, if any, on the manufactured goods could not be fastened again on the appellants merely because they repacked the goods. Any issue relating to packing cost in assessable value would arise, if at all, against the manufacturer and not against the appellants.

Conclusion: Repacking in the facts of the case did not amount to manufacture or an incidental and ancillary process, and the demand against the appellants was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A process amounts to manufacture, or an incidental and ancillary process deemed as manufacture, only when the tariff or statute expressly so provides; absent such deeming provision, mere repacking of already manufactured goods does not create a fresh excisable liability on the repacker.

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