In re Patel Stores (CAAR Mumbai)
Summary: M/s. Patel Stores, a proprietorship concern engaged in trading, filed an application before the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings, Mumbai under Section 28H(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, seeking classification of Oven Roasted Areca Nuts, Oven Roasted Pistachios, Oven Roasted Almond Nuts and Oven Roasted Cashew Nuts proposed to be imported through Nhava Sheva. The applicant also sought eligibility for the benefit of Sl. No. 172 of Notification No. 46/2011-Cus. dated 01.06.2011.
The applicant proposed classification of the roasted areca nuts, pistachios and almonds under CTH 2008 19 91, “Other roasted nuts and seeds”, and roasted cashew nuts under CTH 2008 19 10. The application explained that the earlier tariff entry CTH 2008 19 20, covering “Other roasted nuts and seeds”, had been substituted by the Finance Act, 2025, with CTH 2008 19 91. The applicant contended that the substantive description remained unchanged and that the substituted tariff item continued to fall within the scope of Sl. No. 172 of Notification No. 46/2011-Cus.
For roasted areca nuts, the applicant relied upon the HSN Explanatory Notes to Heading 2008, which expressly refer to almonds, ground-nuts, areca or betel nuts and other nuts which are dry-roasted, oil-roasted or fat-roasted. The applicant also distinguished roasting from the processes contemplated by Chapter 8 and contended that roasted areca nuts were appropriately classifiable under Chapter 20. Reliance was placed upon earlier CAAR rulings and the judgment of the Madras High Court in Commissioner of Customs Vs Shahnaz Commodities International P. Ltd., where roasted areca/betel nuts had been held classifiable under CTH 2008 19 20.
