TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1988 (6) TMI 201
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....he ACCE, had observed that the product of the appellant is mixed upto.1 to 2 per cent and is a component of compound live stock feed although she accepted the contention of the appellant that their product could be fed directly to the animals. Exemption under Notification No.55/75-CE, as amended,/is available to 'animal feed including compound live stock feed' (Sl. No.9 of the Schedule to the said Notification). From the reasoning given by the ACCE, it is not established that the product of the appellant falls outside the scope of the said serial number. I also find that the appellant have contended that the mixture of their product is not 1 to 2 per cent but in the ratio of 1:2 parts, that is, it consitutes one-third of the mixture." Para-7 : "Having regard to all the facts and circumstances of the case, accept the appeal on merits and set aside the impugned order." The Collector of Central Excise, (c)tiandigarh has filed the appeal against the above indings. of Collector (Appeals) on the following grounds :- 'The product namely Or-Calcium Phosphate manufactured by the appellant is mainly used in the manufacture of animat'feed and poultry feed. This is one of thecomponents of ....
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....tter of Superintendent dated 30.6.1980 under which they were informed thaMhe assessments done earlier should be treated as finalised. The relevant portion of this letter is reproduced below for proper appreciation of. the facts :- "Please refer to RT-12 Return from Feb'78 to July'79 of above unit. The assessment for Di-Calcium Phosphate animal feed grade made provisionally, may please be treated as finalised, as the decision from the higher authorities has been received that Di-Calcium Phosphate of animal feed grade would fall under Tl-68 and gets exemption under Notification No. 55/75-CE as amended from time to time." "There is no change in the assessment figure." 4. Regarding the availability of the exemption in the above letter, it was pointed out to him that while in the first para, the Supdt. informed-them that the goods were exempt, the last sentence showed that there was no change in the assessment. He while conceding that there was apparent contradiction pleaded that the fact remains that they had been informed that the benefit of Notification No.55/75-CE was available in respect of Di-Calcium Phosphate of animal feed grade manufactured by them. He pleaded having informe....
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.... has observed as under:- "The foregoing discussion would show that on a true and correct interpretation of the words "cattle-feed' and "poultry-feed", those terms must include not onty that food which is supplied to domestic animals or birds as an essential ration for the maintenance of life but als,o that feed which is supplied over and above the maintenance requirements for growth or fattening and for production purposes, such as for reproduction, for, production of milk, eggs, meat, wool or feathers and, in the case of animals, also for efficient output of work. In modern times, "cattle-feed" and "poultry-feed" include a large variety of concentrates, in addition to roughages, that have a high value because they are rich in easily digested nutrients and feed supplement. Amongst the feeds which are considered essential for the proper nutrition of animals and birds, which are to be kept in a state of efficient production, are included vitamins and, more particularly, vitamins A & D, which have been found to have a profound effect upon live-stock farming by increasing the efficiency of animal production and: preventing serious nutritional disease. Vjtamin-A, whi'ch is required for....
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....tal feedwas very small and therefore, this could not be considered as animal feed. He pleaded that just because of small or micro quantities of the materials added, these would not get disqualified for being considered as animal feed. In this context, he referred to the judgment of the Tribunal in the case of Radhika Vitamin v. C.C.E. Meerut (1985 21 ELT 920) where the question for consideration was whether zinc sulphate used in micro quantities could be considered as a fertilizer. He pleaded that the Tribunal in that case held that agriculture grade zinc sulphate which was used in small quantities for the soil qualified as a fertilizer. His plea is that it is not the quantum which determines whether the goods are to be considered as a feed or not but the nature of its use in the animal feed which should be the determining factor. He also pleaded as to what should be considered as feed or fodder was examined by the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana in the case of oilcake and they have in the case of M/s. The Punjab Copra Crushing Oil Mills v. The State of Punjab & Others (1971 RLR 490) heldas under :- "The second point argued by the Ld. Counsel for the Petitioner is that the ....
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....s amendment. He pleaded that this amendment to the notification to cover animal feed supplements could be taken only as clarificatory in nature. He pleaded that notwithstanding the fact that Di-Calcium Phosphate was added in small quantity in the total feed of the animal, this by itself was also animal feed. His plea is that animal feed comprises of a number of items and each constitute should be considered as animal feed. He pleaded the Encyclopedia as also Macropadia - Farming and Agricultural Technology showed that additives like chemicals and phosphates were animal feed. 8. In this connection, he also drew our attention to Macropaedia - farming and Agricultural Technology and Britannica Encylbpedia under which the scope of the term animal feed has been covered. He drew our attention to the heading Basic types of feeds as given in the Macropaedia. The relevant portion of the same is reproduced below for convenience of reference - "Animal feeds are classified as follows :- (1) Concentrates high in energy value, including (a) ceral gains and their by products (barely corn maize) eats, rye, wheat (b) high protein oil meals or cakes (soyabean, cotton,seed, peanut (groundnut) (c) ....
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....animal feed and poultry feed based on the technical literature placed before them, including the meaning given in the dictionary held that the additives like vitamins are animal feed. 11. We observe that di-calcium phosphate is also to meet the mineral needs of the animals and it has been conceded by the Department that it isa supplement which is required to be added to the feed. The only objection of the Revenue is that being a supplement, it could not be considered asanimal feed itself. As observed above, the Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat has gone into the issue as to whether additives and supplements like vitamin blends could be considered as animal feed and haye held, as seen from the extracts of the judgments reproduced in the earlier paragraphs, that these are in the nature of animal feed. No contrary judgment of any other High Court has been brought to our notice by the learned Departmental Representative for the Department. The learned Departmental Representative placed a lot of stress on the point that animal feed supplements were added as an item in the exemption notification later and this showed that the earlier entry^vhich covered only animal feeds was not intended to....