Packing material classification favours CET 3923.90 where air bubble sheets are used for packaging.

Air bubble sheets used as packing material were classified under CET sub-heading 3923.90 because the product answered the tariff description for packing material, and an earlier Tribunal ruling on the same classification issue squarely applied. The classification under CET sub-heading 3920.38, which covered plastic laminated films, was therefore not sustainable. Applying the governing precedent to the same factual use of the product, the assessee's classification under the packing material heading was accepted.

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Issues: Classification of air bubble sheets manufactured and used as packing material, and whether they fell under CET sub-heading 3923.90 or CET sub-heading 3920.38.

Analysis: The product was treated as packing material. The decision followed an earlier Tribunal ruling on the same classification question, and that ruling had already held that such packing material fell under CET sub-heading 3923.90. Applying that ratio to the present facts, the challenged classification under CET sub-heading 3920.38 could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The product was held classifiable under CET sub-heading 3923.90, and the assessee succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a manufactured product is used as packing material, its classification must follow the applicable tariff heading for packing material rather than a heading describing plastic laminated films, if the governing precedent squarely applies.

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