Principal Commissioner of Customs Vs QIAGEN India Private Limited (CESTAT Delhi)
The Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) disposed of 11 departmental appeals challenging a common Order-in-Appeal dated 08.05.2025 relating to Bills of Entry filed between September 2023 and July 2024 for the import of QFT Tubes by the respondent importer.
Material Facts
The importer initially classified the imported QFT Tubes under Customs Tariff Heading (CTH) 3002 9020 and claimed the concessional 5% Basic Customs Duty (BCD) under Serial No. 166(A) of Notification No. 50/2017-Custom dated 30.06.2017. Customs authorities reclassified the goods under CTH 3822 1990 as other diagnostic reagents, imposed 10% BCD and withheld clearance. After paying the differential duty and obtaining clearance, the importer accepted classification under CTH 3822 1990 but claimed that the goods remained eligible for the concessional rate as components of ELISA kits. The Commissioner (Appeals) accepted this claim and extended the exemption. The Department challenged that order before CESTAT.
Department’s Submissions
The Department contended that Notification No. 50/2017 grants exemption only to ELISA kits and not to their individual components. It argued that QFT Tubes and ELISA kits were imported separately under different Bills of Entry and that functional interdependence could not justify extending the exemption. It also relied on judicial decisions requiring strict interpretation of exemption notifications and submitted that end use cannot determine classification where the statutory entry does not so provide.
