2000 (9) TMI 351 - AT - Central Excise

Tribunal reclassifies item for small scale exemption under heading 8707

The Tribunal allowed the appeal, classifying the item under heading 8707 instead of 8704 as done by the Collector of Central Excise, Mumbai, granting the ... Classification of goods under Tariff Heading 87.07 vs 87.04 - Body-building on motor vehicle chassis as manufacture or job-work incidental to completion - Distinct tariff entry for a finished tank/body - Precedents treating tank bodies (mounted or unmounted) as classifiable under Heading 87.07 - Small scale exemption claimed under Notification No. 175/86Classification of goods under Tariff Heading 87.07 vs 87.04 - Body-building on motor vehicle chassis as manufacture or job-work incidental to completion - Distinct tariff entry for a finished tank/body - Precedents treating tank bodies (mounted or unmounted) as classifiable under Heading 87.07 - Small scale exemption claimed under Notification No. 175/86 - M.S. tank/bodies manufactured by the appellant are classifiable under Tariff Heading 87.07 and not under Heading 87.04. - HELD THAT: - The Tribunal considered the Revenue's contention that body-building on a motor vehicle chassis is incidental to manufacture of a motor vehicle and therefore falls under Heading 87.04, as recorded in the Collector's order. Having examined the facts and earlier authoritative decisions, the Tribunal accepted the appellant's contention that the item has a separate tariff entry and is properly classifiable under Heading 87.07. The Tribunal relied on existing precedents which treated tank bodies (including those mounted on duty-paid chassis) as falling within Heading 87.07, and noted that in the present case the tank/body was not even mounted on a chassis. On that basis the Tribunal disagreed with the departmental classification under 87.04 and held that the tanks/bodies are goods falling under Heading 87.07, thereby entitling the appellant to the claimed relief (including small scale exemption claimed under Notification No. 175/86). [Paras 4, 5]Appeal allowed; item held classifiable under Heading 87.07 with consequential relief.Final Conclusion: The Tribunal allowed the appeal, holding that the M.S. tanks/bodies are classifiable under Tariff Heading 87.07 (and not under 87.04), and granted consequential relief to the appellant. The appeal was against the order classifying M.S. Tank/bodies under 8704 by the Collector of Central Excise, Mumbai. The party claimed classification under 8707 for small scale exemption. The Tribunal accepted the party's contention and classified the item under heading 8707, allowing the appeal with consequential relief.