In re HIC-ABF special foods (P) Ltd. (GST AAAR Kerala)
Ready-to-Eat Food Products Classified Under HSN 21069099 Because Final Product Nature Prevails Over Ingredients; Tuna Tomato Rice and Prawn-Based Products Held Classifiable Under HSN 21069099 Because They Are Prepared Food Items; Vegetable Curries Not Covered by Chapter 20 Because They Are Ready-to-Eat Food Preparations; Boiled Chinese Potato Reclassified Because Original HSN Code Did Not Exist; Kerala AAAR Upholds Residual Food Preparation Classification for 26 Food Products.
The Kerala Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR) considered an appeal filed by a food products manufacturer regarding the classification of 27 food items under the GST tariff. The appellant challenged the Advance Ruling Authority’s (AAR) decision that classified most of its products under HSN 21069099 as “food preparations not elsewhere specified or included.”
The appellant argued that various products such as vegetable curries, coconut-based preparations, meat and fish products, and other food items should be classified under more specific tariff headings in Chapters 16 and 20 rather than under the residual Heading 2106. It relied on principles of tariff interpretation that specific entries should prevail over general entries and that ambiguities should be resolved in favor of the assessee.
The AAAR examined the classification dispute item by item. It agreed that specific tariff descriptions generally prevail over residual entries but observed that such principles apply only when ambiguity remains after applying the Rules for Interpretation of the Tariff.
