Classification of blended spun yarn turned on whether synthetic waste counts as fibre; Tribunal preferred Tariff Item 18-III(i).

Blended spun yarn made from synthetic waste of non-cellulosic origin and man-made cellulosic fibre was treated as classifiable under Tariff Item 18-III(i), not Tariff Item 18-III(ii), because synthetic waste is not itself fibre and therefore does not make the yarn one containing man-made fibres of non-cellulosic origin. The Tribunal followed earlier decisions holding that predominance of cellulosic fibre by weight was material, and it noted that the contrary later view was not accepted. The Revenue's challenge had already been rejected in a related matter by the Supreme Court, reinforcing the classification adopted for the product.

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Issues: Whether blended spun yarn manufactured from synthetic waste of non-cellulosic origin and man-made cellulosic fibre is classifiable under Tariff Item 18-III(i) or Tariff Item 18-III(ii) of the erstwhile Central Excise Tariff.

Analysis: An earlier line of Tribunal decisions had held that yarn spun from synthetic waste of non-cellulosic origin, where the cellulosic fibre content predominates by weight, does not answer the description of yarn containing man-made fibres of non-cellulosic origin, because synthetic waste is not fibre. That view had already been followed in another case, and the Revenue's challenge there had been dismissed by the Supreme Court. In the present matter, the same reasoning was applied and the contrary view in a later decision was not accepted.

Conclusion: The product was held classifiable under Tariff Item 18-III(i) and not under Tariff Item 18-III(ii), and the Revenue's appeals were rejected.

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