Tariff classification of metal remnants turns on dimensional requirements; absent proof of strip specifications, they are treated as scrap.

Metal remnants from the manufacture of containers were not shown to meet the dimensional requirements for classification as strips or flat rolled products under Heading 7211, because the record lacked reliable evidence of thickness and the required thickness-width relationship. They were therefore treated as scrap and waste under Heading 72.04, especially as sale to scrap dealers was undisputed. The exemption under Notification No. 171/88 was not available in view of the recorded concession on duty liability. The classification dispute was resolved in favour of scrap treatment, and the duty position was to be worked out according to the undertaking recorded.

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Issues: Whether the metal remnants arising from manufacture of metal containers were classifiable as scrap and waste under Heading 72.04 or as strips/flat rolled products under Heading 7211, and whether the assessee was entitled to the exemption under Notification No. 171/88.

Analysis: The remnants did not satisfy the dimensional requirements necessary to be treated as strips under the tariff. The material on record showed only the maximum possible width, but there was no reliable evidence regarding thickness or the requisite relationship between thickness and width. The objection based on the absence of supporting material for strip classification was left unanswered. The classification proposed in the notice also differed from the classification ultimately confirmed, and a different classification could not be sustained on that basis. In any event, there was no satisfactory basis to hold that the goods were anything other than scrap, especially when their sale to scrap dealers was not denied. The exemption under Notification No. 171/88 was not available in view of the concession recorded regarding duty liability.

Conclusion: The remnants were held to be scrap and not strips, and the appeal succeeded to that extent, with the duty position left to be discharged in accordance with the undertaking recorded.

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