TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (7) TMI 1065
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....cant is the correct CTH) as well as under CTH 9612 (which has been adopted purely for expedient reasons in order to avoid delay in clearance). Applicant states and submits that there has been no authoritative determination on classification of the said product by the proper officer of Customs in the applicant's own case at any time in the past. The present advance ruling application CAAR-1 is filed to get an authoritative ruling on the issue of classification and taxability of the product in question which can be used in future imports and has sought an advance ruling on following issues:- 1. Whether "Thermal Printer Ribbons" (TPR) proposed to be imported by the Applicant is classifiable under Tariff Item 8443 99 59 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975? 2. If the answer to the above question is in the negative, then what would be the correct classification of "Thermal Printer Ribbons" under First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975? 3. What would be the rate of duty applicable on the import of "Thermal Printer Ribbons"? Applicant in their application has submitted as follows: 1.2 HID's direct-to-card (DTC) printer ribbo....
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.... machinery used for printing by means of plates, cylinders and other printing components of heading 8442; Other printers, copying machines, and facsimile machines, whether or not combined; parts and accessories thereof'. 2.2 In the case of Honeywell Automation India Ltd. vs. CC, ACC, Mumbai 2018 (359) E.L.T. 402 (Tri. -Mumbai), it has held that Thermal Printer is a printing device capable of being connected to an Automatic Data Processing Machine or a network to print output and thus would be covered under CTI I 8443 32 90. 2.3 TPR is part of the Thermal printer since it is integral to the functioning of the Thermal Printer and without TPR the thermal printers cannot function. It has been held that Part is one without which the particular machinery was not operational or could not suitably discharge the function for which it had been designed. Reliance is placed on Sandvik Asia Ltd. vs. Collector of Central Excise, Pune 1997 (93) ELT 475 (Tribunal), CCE, Delhi vs. Insulation Electrical (P) Ltd. 2008 (224) ELT 512 (SC) and Electrosteel Castings Ltd. vs. CCE 1989 (43) ELT 305 (Tribunal). 2.4 Since TPR is a part and accessory to Thermal Transfer Printers i.e. DTC and HDP ....
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.... (d) perforated cards for Jacquard or similar machines (for example, Chapter 39 or 48 or Section XV); ' (e) transmission or conveyor belts or belting of textile material (heading 5910) or other articles of textile material for technical uses (heading 5911); (f) precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) of headings 7102 to 7104, or articles wholly of such stones of heading 7116 except unmounted worked sapphires and diamonds for styli (heading 8522); (g) parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39); (h) drill pipe (heading 7304); (ij) endless belts of metal wire or strip (Section XV); (k) articles of Chapter 82 or 83; (l) articles of Section XVII; (m) articles of Chapter 90; (n) clocks, watches or other articles of Chapter 91; (o) interchangeable tools of heading 8207 or brushes of a kind used as parts of machines (heading 9603); similar interchangeable tools arc to be classified according to the constituent material of their working part (for example, in Chapter 40, 42, 43, 45 or....
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....g 8443 15 00 -- Letterpress printing machinery, other than reel fed, excluding flexographic printing 8443 16 00 -- flexographic printing machinery 8443 17 00 -- Gravure printing machinery 8443 19 -- Other: 8443 19 10 --- Flat bed printing presses 8443 19 20 --- Platen printing presses 8443 19 30 --- Proof presses --- Machinery for printing repetitive word or design or colour- 8443 19 41 ---- On cotton textile 8443 19 49 ---- Other 8443 19 90 --- Other - Other printers, copying machines and facsimile machines, whether or not combined : 8443 31 00 -- Machines which perform two or more of the functions of printing, copying or facsimile transmission, capable of connecting to an automatic data processing machine or to a network 8443 32 -- Other, capable of connecting to an automatic data processing machine or to a network 8443 32 10 --- Line printer 8443 32 20 --- Dot matrix printer 8443 32 30 --- Letter quality daisy wheel printer 8443 32 40 --- Laser jet printer 8443 32 50 --- Inkjet printer 8443 32 ....
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....nked or otherwise, prepared for giving impressions will not fall for classification under Section XVI. The TPR shall accordingly fall under any one of the entries of sub-heading under three dash ("---") i.e. 'Parts and accessories of goods of subheadings 8443 31, 8443 32 2.5 As entry 84439910 to 84439940 relates to a copying machine, the product TPR does not fall under any of the said entry. 2.6 As explained in the facts in the Application, TPR consist of the following core components viz., supply and take-up spools, thermal transfer ink ribbon, geared and non-geared flanges, a RFID tag (communicates information to the printer) and a cleaning roller. The product does not consist of Ink cartridge and or Ink nozzle spray. It is the ink in the ribbon which melts from the heat in the print head and is transferred on the Card. Thus, in absence of Ink Cartridge or Ink nozzle spray, the product under no circumstance falls under entry 84439951 to 84439953 and accordingly shall fall under Entry 84439959 i.e. "Other". 2.7 To substantiate its contention, the Applicant places reliance on the Advance Ruling No. HQ H262583 dated 27.12.2016 issued by the US Customs and Border Protect....
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....has also been upheld in the US and Border Protection (CBP) Advance Ruling and the relevant portion of the said Advance Ruling is as under: "In QMS, Inc., v. United States, 19 C.I.T. 551; 17 Int'l Trade Rep. (BNA) 1510; 1995 Ct. Inti. Trade LEXIS 104; SLIP OP. 95-65 (Ct. Int'l Trade 1995), the court examined the classification of color ink sheet rolls ('ISRs), also known as thermal transfer ribbons in the trade. See QMS, Inc., v. United States, 19 C.I.T. 551, 552 ('QMS'). These ISRs were specially designed solely for use in color thermal transfer printers that were used to print graphics with automatic data processing equipment. The printers could not function as intended without color ISRs. Id. at 551. In their condition as imported, the ISRs consisted of a thin polymer (i.e., plastic) film to which paraffin wax pigments (or 'inks') in varying color configurations (i.e., yellow, magenta, cyan, and black) had been applied. Id. at 551. The ISRs varied in size, depending on the color thermal transfer printers for which they are specially designed. They were between 228 and 325 millimeters in width, between 105 and 291 meters in length, and....
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....rther submits that there has been no authoritative determination on classification of the said product by the proper officer of Customs in the applicant's own case at any time in the past. The present advance ruling application is filed to get an authoritative ruling on the issue of classification of the product in question which can be used in future imports. 3.1 It is submitted that the applicant HID India Pvt. Ltd.'s direct-to-card (DTC) printer ribbons are solely dedicated for use with HID's dye sublimation/thermal transfer DTC ID card printers. These printers are capable of being connected to an automatic data processing machine (ADP) of heading 8471. The printer is specially designed to print images and text directly on the surface of ID cards, such as employee badges, student identification cards, etc., using heat. HID's high-definition-printer (HDP) printer ribbons are solely dedicated for use with HID's dye sublimation/ thermal transfer HDP ID card printers (known in the industry as a retransfer printer). These printers are capable of being connected to an ADP of heading 8471. the HDP printer is specially designed to print images and text on ID cards....
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.... or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings 8517 and 8525 to 8528 are to be classified in heading 8517, and parts which are suitable for use solely or principally with the goods of heading 8524 are to be classified in heading 8529; (c) all other parts are to he classified in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate or, failing that, in heading 8485 or 8548." 3.4 In addition to the support from the section note, I find that, the applicant has relied upon judgment of the CESTAT, Mumbai in the case of Honeywell Automation India Ltd. vs. CC, ACC, Mumbai 2018 (359) E.L.T. 402 (Tri. - Mumbai) whereunder it was held that Thermal Printer is a printing device capable of being connected to an Automatic Data Processing Machine or a network to print output and thus would be covered under CTH 8443 32 90. Based on the establi....
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....9612.10 - Ribbons 9612.20 - Ink-pads This heading covers:- (1) Ribbons, whether or not on spools or in cartridges, for typewriters, calculating machines, or for any other machines incorporating a device for printing by means of such ribbons (automatic balances, tabulating machines, teleprinters, etc.). (2) The heading also includes inked, etc., ribbons, usually having metal fixing fittings, used in barographs, thermographs, etc., to print and record the movement of the recording machine needle. These ribbons are usually of woven textiles, but sometimes they are made of plastics or paper. To fall in the heading, they must have been inked or otherwise prepared to give impressions (e.g., impregnation of textile ribbons, or coating of plastics strip or paper with colouring matter, ink, etc.). The heading does not cover: (a) Rolls of carbon or other copying paper strip, not suitable for use as typewriter, etc., ribbons, but designed to produce duplicate copies in accounting machines, cash registers, etc. This strip, which is usually much wider than typewriter ribbons (generally more than 3 cm in width), falls in Chapter 48. (b) Ribbons not prepared by inkin....