AMSAFE SERVICES INDIA PVT. LTD. Vs. THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) M /s AmSafe Services India Pvt. Ltd., the Applicant, is a subsidiary company of AmSafe Bridport Limited, UK. The Applicant proposes to import and supply parts of aircraft and ground handling equipment to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a Public Sector Undertaking in India. The Applicant intends to import the goods and supply to HAL after clearance from the Bangalore Customs. Alternatively, the Applicant would import and stock the goods in the private bonded warehouse approved by Customs under Section 58 of the Customs Act, 1962 and supply goods to HAL on the basis of specific purchase orders. The supplies to HAL from the Customs Port or from the private bonded warehouse shall be made against a custom duty exemption certificate (CDEC) provided to the Applicant by HAL.

(2.) THE Applicant has claimed that the goods proposed to be imported by it for supplies to HAL are classifiable under Heading 8803 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (CTA, 1975) as parts of aircraft even though based on the individual description of the goods, these may independently be otherwise classifiable under different Headings of the said First Schedule. The Applicant has also claimed that it is eligible for the exemption from basic Customs Duty and additional Customs Duty on such imported parts in terms of the entry at Serial No. 10 of Notification No. 39/96 -Cus dated 23rd July, 1996 on the basis of Customs Duty Exemption Certificate (CDEC) made available to it by HAL. The manner of certification and authority by whom the certificate will be signed have been described in the application.

(3.) ON the first issue the Applicant has stated that various kinds of aircrafts (non powered aircrafts, helicopters, aero planes etc.) are classified under Heading 8801 and 8802 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act. Heading 8803 of the First Schedule covers "Parts of goods of Heading 8801 or 8802". According to the Applicant, therefore, since the goods imported by the Applicant will be used as parts of aircrafts, the same would be eligible for classification under a more specific description as parts of aircrafts under Heading 8803 of the First Schedule. The Applicant has relied upon Rule 3 of the General Rules for the Interpretation of the Import Tariff in support of its contention. The Applicant has also cited the ruling given by this Authority on the application made by M/s One Stop Airlines, 2009 (236) ELT 379 (AAR) wherein, it was observed that "Nuts, bolts, rivets, screws, washers, couplings etc, used in the process of servicing/repairing an aircraft's engine can be treated as parts of aircraft provided they are specially meant for use therein". The Applicant has also referred to a decision of the Customs, Excise & Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT) in the case of Indian Airlines v. Collector of Customs : 1993 (64) ELT 473 (Tribunal) : 1989 (23) ECR 544 (Tri. -Delhi), wherein, cabin chairs manufactured by the Boeing company or their vendors as per prescribed standards were classified as aircraft parts.