TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (12) TMI 1075
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....mended. 2. Submission by the Applicant: 2.1 The applicant submitted that it is a firm in the name and style of M/S. Shahnaz Commodities International Private Limited bearing IE Code ABFCS0068P. They intends to import "Roasted Areca Nuts (Whole) And Roasted Areca Nuts Cut" from Burma, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Singapore. As per the present scheme of Classification of commodities under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 reproduced below, Fruits, Nuts and other edible parts of plants are classified under the Chapter Heading 2008, while roasted nuts are particularly and specifically classified under the Tariff Item 20081991: (3) in Chapter 20,- (i) after Sub-heading Notes, the following Supplementary Note shall be inserted, namely: 'Supplementary Note: 1. For the purposes of tariff items 2008 19 21 to 2008 19 29, the term "makhana" means the seed of plant Euryale ferox Salisb. and also commonly known as gorgon nut or fox nut. ; (ii) in heading 2008, for tariff items 2008 19 20 to 2008 19 90 and the entries relating thereto, the following shall be substituted, namely :- "--- Makhana : 2008 19 2....
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....ble under the 'HS Code 20081920'. Further, in terms of Rule 1 of "The General Rules for The Interpretation of Import Tariff" reproduced below, classification of the item shall be determined according to the terms of the heading and any relative section or chapter notes: 1. The titles of Sections, Chapters and sub-chapters are provided for ease of reference only; for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative Section or Chapter Notes and, provided such headings or Notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions: 3.2 The applicant submitted that therefore, both by the statutory provisions of the Act as well as Rules for classification, the item proposed to be imported, namely, 'roasted areca nut' are appropriately classifiable under the HS Code 20081920 only. 3.3 The Applicant submitted that as per the HSN Explanatory Notes to the Chapter Heading 2008 given below, 'Dry Roasted Areca (or Betel) Nuts' are specifically covered under the Chapter Heading 2008: "This heading covers fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants, whether whole, in pieces or cru....
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....ruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons Notes. 1 .- This Chapter does not cover inedible nuts or fruits. 2 .- Chilled fruits and nuts are to be classified in the same headings as the corresponding fresh fruits and nuts. 3 .- Dried fruit or dried nuts of this Chapter may be partially rehydrated, or treated for the following purposes: (a) For additional preservation or stabilisation (for example, by moderate heat treatment, sulphuring, the addition of sorbic acid or potassium sorbet), (b) To improve or maintain their appearance (for example, by the addition of vegetable oil or small quantities of glucose syrup), Provided that they retain the character of dried fruit or dried nuts. 3.6 The applicant submitted that from the above, it is clear that the nuts classifiable under this Chapter should be treated only for the purpose of additional preservation or stabilisation or to improve or maintain their appearance. In effect, any treatment that is aimed at other than or beyond preservation/stabilisation or improve/maintain appearance automatically makes the product ineligible for classification under the Chapter 08 it....
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....ble under the Chapter 20. In both the cases, the Department vehemently argued in favor of classifying the 'roasted nuts' under Chapter 20 and the same was upheld. Hence, the settled position of law is that nuts falling under Chapter 08 would be classified under Chapter 20, if the same is subjected to the process of roasting. 3.9 The applicant further submitted that the Hon'ble High Court of Madras in its order in the case of Commissioner Of Customs, Chennai-II Versus Shahnaz Commodities International Pvt. Ltd reported in 2023 (386) E.L.T 214(Mad) held the classification of 'roasted betelnut' to be classifiable under the HS Code 20081920 as per the then scheme of classification under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The said order of the Hon'ble High Court has been accepted by the government and thus attained finality. The applicant submitted that despite this settled position of law regarding classification of roasted betelnut under the Chapter Heading 2008, they have filed this application due to the change in the Tariff Item pertaining to "other roasted nuts and seeds' as the same is now brought under the new entry, 2008 1991 as per the Finance Bill, 2....
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....oducts having moisture content below 10% shall be regarded as 'roasted' provided that the moisture limit complies with the moisture content given in the Advance Ruling Application. Accordingly, the Applicant gave an undertaking to bring the roasted betelnuts below 7%. 4. Port of Import and reply from Jurisdictional Commissionerate 4.1 The applicant in their CAAR-1 indicated that they intend to import the subject goods i.e. Roasted betelnut / areca nut at the jurisdiction of office of the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai-II (Import), Customs House, 60, Rajaji Salai, Chennai- 600001 and at the jurisdiction of office of the Commissioner of Customs, Custom House, New Harbour Estate, Tuticorin-628004. In terms of Provisions of the Section 28-I(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 read with the Sub-regulation No. (7) of the Regulation No. 8 of the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings Regulations, 2021, the application was forwarded to the office of the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai-II (Import), Customs House, 60, Rajaji Salai, Chennai- 600001 and to the office of the Commissioner of Customs, Custom House, New Harbour Estate, Tuticorin-628004 on 12.06.2025 as indicated by the app....
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....ed 23.04.2024((2025) 27 CENTAX 2 (Mad.){23.04.2024}). Additionally, The Third Schedule of the Finance Act, 2025, CTH 20081920 to 20081990 were substituted with entries from CTH 20081921 to 20081999. As seen from the above, there has been no change in the grounds of the case or merits on which the decision was made originally. 5. Records of Personal Hearing A personal hearing was held on 12.08.2025 at 03:00 PM wherein Shri E. Ramesh, Advocate appeared on behalf of the applicant for the Personal Hearing in Online mode and reiterated the contentions filed with the application. He submitted that the Roasted Betel Nut / Areca Nut, processed through the described (given in the application) process would be classified under CTI 20081991 or any other CTI, and that the benefit of the exemption under Sr. No. 172 of Notification No. 46/2011 dated 01.06.2011 (as amended) would be applicable or otherwise. Nobody appeared for hearing from the department's side. 6. Discussions and Findings: 6.1 I have considered all the materials placed before me in respect of the classification of subject goods. I have gone through the submissions made by the applicant during the personal h....
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.... any Court. In the instant case, there is no doubt that the question of classification of Roasted Areca Nut has already been decided by the Hon'ble High Court of Madras, in applicant's own case. 6.6 The applicant has contended that due to the recent amendments in the Tariff Schedule vide Finance Bill, 2025, the facts have changed constituting a new legal framework and thereby, they filed this application as it has become different from the question already decided by the Hon'ble High Court of Madras in the matter referred above. 6.7 Therefore, I find it prudent to examine whether the changes in the Tariff vide Finance Bill, 2025 have changed any legal framework which would affect the classification of Roasted Areca Nut. It is important to note that the classification of any product is determined by applying the General Rules for the Interpretation (GRI) of the Tariff Schedule to the terms of the Headings, Sub-headings, and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. It is important to note that there has been no change in the Section Notes or Chapter Notes. A comparative analysis of the amended tariff schedule vis-à-vis the old tariff schedule will give a clear ....
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....oms Duty) under Notification No. 46/2011-Cus dated 01.06.2011 is contingent upon the importer proving to the satisfaction of the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, that the goods in respect of which the benefit of this exemption is claimed are of the origin of the countries as mentioned in Appendix I or Appendix II of the said Notification, in accordance with provisions of the Customs Tariff Determination of Origin of Goods under the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Governments of Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Republic of India Rules, 2009, published in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 189/2009-Custous (N.T.) dated the 31st December 2009 and in terms of the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020. 6.11 If the goods under consideration i.e. Roasted Areca Nuts imported by the applicant satisfies the criteria laid down in the Notification No. 46/2011-Cus dated 01.06.2011 for the origin of goods in accordance with provisions of the Customs Tariff Determination of Origin of....