AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE RULINGS

              (CENTRAL EXCISE, CUSTOMS & SERVICE TAX), NEW DELHI

PRESENT

Hon'ble Mr.Justice Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri (Chairman)

      Mr.Somnath Pal (Member)

     Dr.B.A.Agrawal (Member)

Thursday, the twenty fourth November Two Thousand Five

Ruling No. AAR/28(Cus)/2005

In

 Application No.AAR/44(Cus)/42/2005

R U L I N G

(Hon'ble Mr. Justice Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri)

In this application under section 28H of the Customs Act, 1962 (for short "the Act"), M/s. Alcatel India Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcatel, France, proposes to import into India the latest technology equipment of Optical Networking/GSM equipment etc.  To ascertain its customs duty liability in regard to the hardware and optical fibre cables for submarine telecommunications systems, it seeks advance ruling of the Authority on the following question:

"Whether Alcatel Submarine Line Terminating Equipment  Models prior to 1620/1626 proposed to be imported into India, is classifiable under Heading No. 8517 5099 of the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975."   

The Alcatel ASN Submarine Line Terminating Equipment (SLTE) (referred to in this ruling as "the goods") is designed for telecommunications systems utilizing submerged equipment which manages the integrity, quality, receipt and transmission of telecommunication aggregate data between the submerged equipment and the land based telecommunication system.   Modular construction is employed so that an installation provided with less than the maximum number of channels can be upgraded later by adding more channels with minimum disturbance to those already in service.  They combine a multiplexer and a de-multiplexer. It is submitted that in accordance with Rule 1 of the General Rules for the Interpretation of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act 1975 (for short "the Rules") the said goods are classifiable under Tariff heading 8517; in accordance with Rule 6, these goods will fall under sub-heading 8517 50 and that the appropriate tariff heading is 8517 50 99.  It is added that the U.K., the USA and Australia have classified the said goods under tariff heading 8517 50. 

2. In his comments the designated Commissioner of Customs states as follows:

"Comments: On the basis of description of goods given in annexure II and General characteristics given in Technical documents, it appears that the party's contention that in accordance with Rule 1 of the general Rule of interpretation, these goods are classified under tariff heading 8517 electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy, including line telephone sets with cordless handsets and telecommunication apparatus for carrier - current line system or for digital line system; videophones: is correct. 

Conclusion: In view of above, proposed classification of item under tariff heading 8517 5099 may be accepted."

3. It is evident that the proposed classification by the applicant is accepted by the Commissioner of Customs.  

4. Tariff heading 8517, the relevant sub-heading and the tariff items read as follows:

TARIFF HEADING 8517

Heading 8517 deals with electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy including line telephone sets with cordless hands-sets and telecommunication apparatus for carrier-current line systems or for digital line systems.

SUB-HEADING AND TARIFF ITEMS

 On a combined reading of Rules 1 and 6 of the Rules and the terms of the heading, sub-heading and tariff items, having regard to the description of the goods, mentioned above, we rule that Alcatel Submarine Line Terminating Equipment  (Models prior to 1620/1626) is classifiable under tariff item 8517 50 99.

                                     Pronounced in the open Court on this 24^th day of November, 2005.

                            Sd/-                                              Sd/-                                             Sd/-

                              (Somnath Pal)                 (Justice S.S.M.Quadri)                        (B.A.Agrawal)

                         Member                                    Chairman                                   Member