Glass tableware exemption upheld where incidental baking use did not remove goods from the notification.

Glass articles such as pizza plates, pie dishes and mixing bowls were treated as glass tableware under the relevant tariff classification and exemption notification. Technical literature and the ISI specification, as amended in July 1991, showed that tableware could include bowls, plates, casseroles and dishes, and that such articles might also be used for preparing food. That incidental suitability for baking did not, by itself, exclude the goods from exemption. The Department's challenge failed, and the exemption for the disputed articles was upheld.

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Issues: Whether glass articles such as pizza plates, pie dishes and mixing bowls were eligible for exemption as glass tableware under Notification No. 67/88 despite being capable of use for baking as well as serving.

Analysis: The products were classified under sub-heading 7015.00 as articles of glass of a kind used for table, kitchen and similar purposes. The appellate authority relied on technical literature and the ISI specification for glass tablewares, including the July 1991 amendment, which expanded the specification to cover bowls, jugs, plates, casseroles and dishes and stated that such articles could also be used for preparing food. That material supported the finding that the disputed goods were glass tableware and that dual use for baking did not take them outside the notification. No material in the appeal displaced that conclusion, and the prior unchallenged order on the same issue reinforced the position.

Conclusion: The goods were held to be eligible for exemption under Notification No. 67/88, and the Department's appeal was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The exemption available to glass tableware was upheld for the disputed articles, and the assessee's entitlement to relief was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where technical and standard-specification material shows that goods fall within glass tableware, their incidental suitability for baking or food preparation does not, by itself, disqualify them from exemption under the relevant notification.

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