Non-sterile sutures classifiable as textile yarn articles under tariff heading 5608.00 despite hospital use.

Non-sterile sutures made of nylon, silk, mono filament yarn or polyester were held classifiable under sub-heading 5608.00 because Note 2 to Chapter 30 restricts Heading 30.05 to sterile suture catgut and similar sterile suture material. As the goods were textile yarn articles, they had to be classified by their constituent material, and their hospital or pharmaceutical use did not remove them from tariff coverage. The result was that the sutures remained within the excise tariff under sub-heading 5608.00, and the challenge to duty liability failed.

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Issues: Whether non-sterile sutures made of nylon, silk, mono filament yarn or polyester were classifiable under sub-heading 5608.00 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 and liable to duty, or whether they fell outside Chapter 30 and were not excisable.

Analysis: Note 2 to Chapter 30 confines Heading 30.05 to sterile suture catgut and similar sterile suture material, so non-sterile sutures are excluded from that Chapter. Since the sutures were made of textile yarn, they had to be classified according to their constituent material. Articles of yarn not elsewhere specified or included fall under sub-heading 5608.00, and the fact that the sutures were used in hospitals for pharmaceutical purposes did not take them out of tariff coverage.

Conclusion: The non-sterile sutures were correctly classifiable under sub-heading 5608.00 and were not the tariff; the challenge to duty liability failed.

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