Blended yarn classification turns on non-cellulosic fibre content and unequal fibre weights under the excise tariff.

Blended yarn containing 48% acrylic fibre and 52% viscose fibre was classifiable as cellulosic spun yarn containing man-made fibres of non-cellulosic origin under Item No. 18III(ii), because acrylic is a non-cellulosic man-made fibre. Explanation III to Item No. 18 applied only where two or more specified fibres were equal in weight, which was not the case here. The classification under Item No. 18III(i) therefore failed, and the tariff entry for yarn containing non-cellulosic origin fibres governed the product.

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Issues: Whether blended yarn composed of 48% acrylic fibres and 52% viscose fibres was classifiable under Item No. 18III(i) or Item No. 18III(ii) of the erstwhile Central Excise Tariff.

Analysis: Item No. 18III covered cellulosic spun yarn, and it was divided into two categories: yarn not containing any man-made fibres of non-cellulosic origin, and yarn containing man-made fibres of non-cellulosic origin. Acrylic fibre is a man-made fibre of non-cellulosic origin. Since the yarn in question contained 48% acrylic fibre, it fell within the category of yarn containing man-made fibres of non-cellulosic origin. Explanation III to Item No. 18 applied only where two or more specified fibres in the yarn were equal in weight, which was not the position here because acrylic and viscose fibres were not equal in weight.

Conclusion: The yarn was correctly classifiable under Item No. 18III(ii) and not under Item No. 18III(i); the challenge to the classification failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where blended yarn contains a man-made fibre of non-cellulosic origin and the fibres are not equal in weight, it falls within the tariff entry for yarn containing non-cellulosic origin fibres, and a balancing explanation applicable only to equal-weight fibres cannot be invoked.

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