CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION OF BLADDER MOULD FOR RUBBER TYRE
Goods are tire mold
and is the one imparting the final shape to the tire. This is being used in the
tire curing press. Mold parts are fixed in the press in the relative positions
along with bladder assembly. Press is closed after placing the green tire, in
its location. Once the press is fully closed, high pressure steam is given
inside the bladder assembly. This steam pressure, compresses the green tire
against the surface of the mold. Once curing cycle is completed, press opens
and facilitates tire to come out.
Whole process is achieved by the compressive force exerted
by steam and thus process is termed as compression molding. Hence, mold is
categorized as compression mold.
Before proceedings for classification of compression mold under import tariff , it would be relevant to refer to the relevant law for classification of goods under
“THE GENERAL
RULES FOR THE INTERPRETATION (GIR) OF IMPORT TARIFF”, and
,”CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS
(Chapter 4 , Customs Manual 2012).”
I. THE
GENERAL RULES FOR THE
INTERPRETATION OF IMPORT TARIFF-
“ Classification of
goods in this Schedule shall be governed by the following principles:
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:…………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. For legal purposes,
the classification of goods in the sub-headings of a heading shall be determined
according to the terms of those
sub headings and any related sub headings
Notes and, mutatis mutandis, to
the above rules, on the understanding
that only sub headings
at the same level are
comparable. For the purposes of this rule the relative
Section and Chapter Notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.”
Classification of
Goods ( Chapter 4 of Customs Manual
2012)
Relevant portion
of this Chapter is reproduced for easy reference is as:
“2. Methodology of classification:
2.1 In the Tariff Schedule, commodities/products are
arranged in a fixed pattern with the duty rates specified against each of them.
The pattern of arrangement of goods in the Tariff is in increasing degree of
manufacture of commodities/products in the sequence of natural products, raw
materials; semi-finished goods and fully finished goods / article/ machinery, etc.
The Indian Customs Tariff has 21 Sections and 98 Chapters. A Section is a group
consisting of a number of Chapters which codify a particular class of goods.
The Section notes explain the scope of chapters / headings,
etc. The Chapters consist of chapter notes, brief description of commodities
arranged at four digit, six digit and eight digit levels. Every four-digit code
is called a ‘heading’ and every six digit code is called a ‘subheading’ and
8-digit code is called a ‘Tariff Item’.
2.2 The Harmonized System (HS) provides commodity/product
codes and description up to 4-digit (Heading) and 6-digit (Sub-heading) levels
only and member countries of WCO are allowed to extend the codes up to any
level subject to the condition that nothing changes at the 4-digit or 6-digit
levels. India has developed 8-digit level classification to indicate specific
statistical codes for indigenous products and also to monitor the trade
volumes…………
2.5 The process of arriving at a particular
heading/subheading code, either at four digit, six digit or eight digit level
for a commodity in the Tariff Schedule is called ‘classification’.
The titles of Sections, Chapters and Sub-chapters are
provided for ease of reference only. For legal purposes the texts of the
Section Notes, Chapter Notes, Subheading Notes, Supplementary Notes, Headings,
Subheadings, and the General Rules for Interpretation of Import Tariff (GIR)
should be relied upon to determine the classification of an item.
2.6 The GIR is a set of 6 rules for classification of goods
in the Tariff Schedule. These rules have to be applied sequentially. Rule 1
gives precedence to the Section notes/Chapter notes while classifying a
product. Rule 2(a) applies to goods imported in incomplete / finished condition
and assembled / unassembled condition. Rule 2(b) is applicable to ‘mixtures’
and ‘composite goods’. Goods which cannot be classified by application of Rule
2(b), will be classified by application of Rule 3 i.e. by application of ‘most
specific description’ as per Rule 3 (a) or by ascertaining the ‘essential
character’ of the article as per Rule 3 (b) or by taking into consideration the
heading that occurs last in the numerical order as per Rule 3 (c). Rule 4
states that goods which cannot be classified by application of the preceding
rules may be classified under the heading appropriate to the goods to which
they are most akin. Rule 5 applies to packing materials / articles in which the
goods are carried. Rule 6 is applied to arrive at the appropriate subheading
within a heading and for that purpose the provisions of Rules 1 to 5 apply
mutatis mutandis on the understanding that subheadings at the same level are
comparable.
For the purpose of Rule 6 the relative Section and Chapter
Notes also apply unless the context otherwise requires.”
II.THE GENERAL EXPLANATORY NOTES TO IMPORT TARIFF
1. Where in column (2) of this Schedule, the
description of an article or group of articles under a
heading is preceded by “-”, the said article
or group of articles shall be taken to be a sub-classification of the article
or group of articles covered by the said
heading. Where, however, the description of an article
or group of articles is preceded by “- -”, the said article or group
of articles shall be taken to be a sub-classification of the
immediately preceding description of the article or group of articles which has “-”. where the
description of an article or group of articles is proceded by "---"
or "----", the said article or group of articles shall be taken to be
a sub classification of the immediately preceding description of the article or
group of articles which has "-" or "--".
2. The
abbreviation “%” in any column
of this Schedule
in relation to the rate of duty indicates that duty on the goods to which
the entry relates shall be
charged on the basis of the value
of the goods as defined in section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the duty being equal
to such percentage of the value as is indicated in that column.
3. In any entry, if no rate of duty is shown in column (5),
the rate shown under column (4) shall be applicable.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
In this Schedule,—
(1) (a) “heading”, in respect of goods, means a
description in list of tariff provisions accompanied by a four-digit number and
includes all sub-headings of tariff items the first
four-digits of which correspond to that number;
(b) “sub-heading”, in respect of goods, means a
description in the list of tariff
provisions accompanied by a six-digit number and includes
all tariff items the first six-digits
of which correspond to that number;
(c) “tariff item” means a description of goods in the
list of tariff provisions
accompanying eight-digit number and the rate of customs
duty;
(2) the list of tariff provisions is divided into
Sections, Chapters and Sub-Chapters;
(3) in column (3), the standard unit of quantity is
specified for each tariff item to facilitate
the collection, comparison and analysis of trade
statistics.
The relevant Section,
Chapter ,heading, sub-heading ,tariff items and HS explanatory notes for determining classification of compression mold for rubber tyre under
Custosm Tariff and which are as under :-
Note 2 to
Chapter 84 of Section VI
“2. Subject to the operation of Note 3 to Section XVI,
and subject to Note 9 to this Chapter,a machine or appliance which answers to a
description in one or more of the headings 8401 to
8424, or heading 8486 and at the same time to a
description in one or other of the headings 8425 to 8480 is to be classified under the appropriate
heading of the heading 8401 to 8424 or under the heading 8486, as the case may
be, and not under the headings 8425 to 8480.”
HSN
explanatory Notes has given following heading and sub-headings classification
of molds (as per page XVI-8480-1, HSN
,edition,2007,is reproduced below:
Mould is defined in HSN (at page
XVI-8480-1, HSN ,edition,2007) as under:-
HSN
Explanatory Notes to Group (G) of
heading 8480 as per page XVI-8480-1, HSN
,edition,2007 is reproduced below :
It is observed that ,“Bladder” mould for vulcanizing tyre,
uses compression force for the rubber to conform to the mold cavity. Hence,
Bladder moulds for rubber are compression type .
Entries at Chapter 84 of Customs Tariff (
2012-2013) with Basic Customs Duty(BCD):
Tariff Item
|
Description of goods
|
Unit
Rate of duty
_________________
Standard Preferential Area
|
||
(1)
|
(2)
|
(3)
|
(4)
|
(5)
|
8480 MOULDING BOXES FOR METAL
FOUNDRY;
MOULD BASES;
MOULDING
PATTERNS; MOULDS
FOR METAL (OTHER THAN
INGOT
MOULDS), METAL CARBIDES,
GLASS, MINERAL MATERIALS,
RUBBER
OR PLASTICS
- Moulds for rubber or plastics :
8480 71 00 -- Injection or compression types kg. 7.5% -
8480 79 00 -- Other
kg. 7.5% -
|
||||
Thus , it is seen
above , that the at tariff Heading 8480, `Moulds for rubber or plastics ` is
preceded by “ –“. And ‘Injection or compression types ` and ` Other’ are
preceded “- - “.Thus as per THE GENERAL EXPLANATORY NOTES TO IMPORT TARIFF, the
Moulds for rubber or plastics has two
sub-classes of ‘Injection or compression types ` and `
Other’. Under ‘Injection or compression types ` , and `other ` there is
only one tariff item 84807100 and
84807900 ,respectively. Hence, classification of mould for rubber is decided
based on molding process used,e.g.injection,compression ,or,other.
The goods are compression type mold and used for rubber tyre
making. Mold parts are fixed in the press in the relative positions along with
bladder assembly. Press is closed after
placing the green tire, in its location. Once the press is fully closed, high
pressure steam is given inside the bladder assembly. This steam pressure,
compresses the green tire against the surface of the mold. Once curing cycle is
completed, press opens and facilitates tire to come out.
The whole
process is achieved by the compressive force exerted by steam and thus process
is termed as compression molding. Hence, mold is categorized as compression
mold.
To build hollow parts of a tyre ,it is often necessary to
build an inflatable bladder which temporarily occupies the void within the
tyre. Thus, Bladder molding is a form of compression molding in that pressure
forces the rubber to conform to the mold cavity.
The goods are specifically covered sub-heading 848071 as “Bladder moulds” for vulcanizing tyres
as per HSN Explanatory Notes to Group (G)(1) of heading 8480 , page XVI-8480-1, HSN ,edition,2007 . Also,
it falls under single tariff entry 84807100 of sub-heading 848071.
Compression mold for rubber tyre is not
excluded from heading 8480 by virtue of Note 2 to Chapter 84 of Section VI and
also as per exclusion of heading
8480 given into HSN Explanatory Notes
Under
the authority of GIR 1, imported goods are provided for specific tariff
item 84807100. Therefore, on application
of General Rules for the Interpretation (GIR) of the First Schedule to Customs
Tariff, GIR-1 read with Note 2 to Chapter 84
, “mould for rubber ” falls under Chapter heading 8480 . Also, by
application of ‘most specific description’ ,compression mold for rubber tyre
,are falling under sub-heading 848071.Hence, as per GIR-6 read with HSN Explanatory Note to tariff heading 8480,
‘mould for rubber’ is classifiable under sub -heading 84807100.
