Composite paper-plastic classification turns on dominant material and recognisable article test; Chapter 48 applied here.

A laminated composite of kraft paper and polyethylene fabric was treated as a paper-plastic composite rather than an article of plastics. Heading 3926 applied only to recognizable plastic articles, which this product was not; classification instead depended on the relative predominance and thickness of the paper and plastic layers under the Harmonized System Explanatory Notes and Note 1(f) to Chapter 48. The product description as paper covered with plastics fit Chapter 48, so classification under Heading 3926 was unsustainable and the Chapter 48 claim was accepted.

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Issues: Whether a laminated composite product of kraft paper and polyethylene fabric was classifiable under Heading 3926 as an article of plastics, or under Chapter 48 as paper and paper board coated, impregnated or covered with plastics.

Analysis: The product was a composite of paper and plastic materials, and could not be treated as an article of plastics merely because plastic formed part of the laminate. Heading 3926 applied only to recognizable articles, which this product was not. The classification of such composite sheets depended on the relative thickness of paper and plastics, as reflected in the Harmonized System Explanatory Notes and Note 1(f) to Chapter 48. The Board's Circular No. 6/89 also supported the same approach, and the product description as paper covered with a layer of plastics fitted Chapter 48.

Conclusion: The goods were correctly classifiable under Chapter 48, and the departmental classification under Heading 3926 was unsustainable. The appeal succeeded and the assessee's classification claim was accepted.

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