Avanti Feeds Ltd. Vs Commissioner of Customs (CESTAT Chennai)
Summary: The CESTAT Chennai disposed of two appeals concerning imported Shrimp Feed Manufacturing Machinery by Avanti Feeds Ltd. under the Project Import Regulations for establishing a shrimp feed manufacturing unit at Bandapuram Village, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh. The first appeal concerned classification of the imported machinery and consequential levy of additional duty of customs (CVD), while the second concerned rejection of an appeal as time barred.
For Appeal No. C/42047/2016, the appellant had imported IDAH Brand Shrimp Feed Production Machinery from Taiwan under Bills of Entry dated 19.02.2016 and 02.03.2016. The appellant claimed classification under CTH 8436 10 00, covering “Machinery for preparing animal feeding stuffs”, whereas the Department classified the machinery under CTH 8438 80 90 and levied consequential CVD.
The appellant submitted that the machinery was specifically designed for shrimp feed, that shrimp feed was animal feed, and that Heading 8436 was the specific entry. The appellant also contended that Heading 8438 was residual and that HSN Explanatory Notes could not override the statutory tariff. Reliance was placed on several Supreme Court and Tribunal decisions concerning tariff classification, HSN Explanatory Notes, common parlance, functional utility and specific versus general entries.
