TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (11) TMI 109
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....efore, unless a mention is particularly made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the CGST Act, 2017 would also mean reference to the corresponding similar provisions in the APGST Act, 2017. 3. It is observed that the question raised by the applicant fall within the ambit of Section 97 of the GST ACT. The applicant has paid Rs. 5,000/- under SGST (CPIN No.25073700052020 dated 15-07-2025), and another Rs. 5,000/- under CGST (CPIN No. 25073700052020 dated 15-07-2025) towards the fee for Advance Ruling. The Applicant has declared that the question raised in the application have neither been decided by nor are pending before any authority under any provisions of the GST Act 4. Brief Facts of the case: 1. M/s Sandhya Aqua Exports Private Limited, is engaged in the business of processing and exporting of shrimp. The applicant procures raw shrimp locally from farmers and processes it at the factory. Shrimp processing includes washing, de-veining, peeling, de-heading, tail removal, sorting, grading, and freezing. However, further processing can be done independently based on the customer's requirements to produce the desired results. 2. Processed frozen shrimp are pack....
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....ch the advance ruling sought by the applicant. 6. Statement of relevant facts having a bearing on the question(s) raised. i) It submits that the clarification, released by the Ministry of Finance regarding the GST levy on pre-packaged and labelled goods vide press release dated 18th July 2022 as follows, a) If such specified commodities are supplied in a package that does not require declaration(s)/compliance(s) under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (1 of 2010), and the rules made thereunder, the same would not be treated as pre-packaged and labelled for the purposes of GST levy. b) In the context of food items (such as pulses, cereals like rice, wheat, flour, etc.), the supply of specified prepackaged food articles would fall within the purview of the definition of 'pre-packaged commodity' under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, and the rules made thereunder if such pre-packaged and labelled packages contained a quantity up to 25 kilograms [or 25 litres] in terms of rule 3(a) of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, subject to other exclusions provided in the Act and the Rules made thereunder. ii) Further we wishes to rely on the following decis....
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....ever nature, whether sealed or not, so that the product contained therein has a pre-determined quantity. v) The Applicant submits, that the legal metrology act will apply to the commodities packed in India, where the ultimate consumer details are not available at the time of sale a) M/s Sprint Exports Pvt Ltd (AAR Andhra Pradesh)-(AAR No.15/AP/GST/2024 Dated: 04.02.2025) b) M/s Devi Fisheries Ltd (AAR Andhra Pradesh)-(AAR No. 17/AP/GST/2024 Dated: 28.05.2025) c) M/s Kalyan Aqua & Marines Exports India Private Limited (AAR Andhra Pradesh)-(AAR No.02/AP/GST/2025 Dated: 02.06.2025) In the above cases it was held that GST would be leviable on the export of pre-packaged and labelled rice up to 25 kg to foreign buyers. As per the above legal provisions and various Advance Ruling decisions, the applicant's understanding is as below, a) GST would be applicable on specified goods (namely Shrimps) where the pre-packaged commodity is supplied in packages containing a quantity of less than or equal to 25 kgs b) Pre-packaged and labeled commodities processed exclusively for export have not been excluded from the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and ru....
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....ct, 2017, envisages that "Subject to the provisions of sub-Section (2), there shall be levied a tax called the integrated goods and services tax on all inter-State supplies of goods or services or both, except on the supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption, on the value determined under section 15 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act and at such rates, not exceeding forty per cent., as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council and collected in such manner as may be prescribed and shall be paid by the taxable person." Accordingly, it may be noted that all exports are to be deemed as inter-state supplies', and as per Section 16 of the IGST Act, 2017, export of goods or services or both are to be treated as Zero Rated Supplies'. It may be noted here that the exporter has the option either to export under Bond/Letter of Undertaking without payment of tax and claim refund of unutilised input tax credit or pay IGST at the time of export and claim refund of the same, as the case may be. 9.4 The point for determination here is as to whether the export of specified pre-packaged and labelled frozen Shrimp meant for export would fall ....
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.... for retail sale, irrespective of the fact whether the outer packaging is printed or not. Under these circumstances, the inner packaging which ranges from 250 grams to 2.5 kilograms becomes liable to GST, as the same fall within the ambit of 'pre-packaged and labelled' category which is mandated to bear the declarations. 9.6 The above fact regarding the levy of GST as "pre-packaged and labelled" gets validated through the FAQs dated 18.07.2022 issued by the CBIC which has a persuasive value while interpreting the legal provisions. Under the said "FAQs on GST applicability on 'pre-packaged and labelled' goods", the relevant clarification under Sl.No.4, goes as below:- S.No Question Clarification 4 Whether GST would apply to a package that contains multiple retail packages. For example, a package containing 10 retail packs of flour of 10 Kg each? Yes, if several packages intended for retail sale to ultimate consumer, say 10 packages of 10 Kg each, are sold in a larger pack, then GST would apply to such supply. Such package may be sold by a manufacturer through distributor. These individual packs of 10 Kg each are meant for eventual sale to retail consumer. Howeve....