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
Applicant |
M/s
Alcatel India Ltd.
Plot
No. 25, Sector 18
Gurgaon-122015
Haryana,
India |
Commissioner
designated |
Commissioner
of Customs,
Air
Cargo Complex
New
Custom House
New
Delhi-110037 |
Present : for the applicant |
None |
for
the Commissioner
designated |
Shri
A.K. Roy, Joint CDR
CESTAT,
New Delhi |
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
Tariff
Item
|
Description
of goods
|
8517
|
Electrical
apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy, including line telephone
sets with cordless hand-sets and telecommunication apparatus for
carrier-current line systems or for digital line systems; video-phones
|
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
Tariff Item |
Description of goods
|
Unit |
Rate of duty
|
|
Standard |
Preferential Areas |
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
(4) |
(5) |
8517
50
|
Other apparatus, for carrier-current line systems or for
digital line systems:
|
|
|
|
8517
50 10
|
PLCC
equipment
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 20
|
Voice
frequency telegraphy
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 30
|
Modems
(modulators-demodulators)
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 40
|
High
bit rate digital subscriber line system (HDSL)
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 50
|
Digital
loop carrier system (DLC)
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 60
|
Synchronous
digital hierarchy system (SDH)
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 70
|
Multiplexer,
statistical multiplexer
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
|
Other:
|
|
|
|
8517
50 91
|
ISDN
terminals
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 92
|
ISDN
terminal adapters
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 93
|
Routers
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 94
|
X25
pads
|
u
|
Free
|
-
|
8517
50 99
|
Other
|
|
|
|
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 24th day of November, 2005.
Sd/-
Sd/-
Sd/-
(Somnath
Pal) (Justice S.S.M.Quadri)
(B.A.Agrawal)
Member
Chairman
Member
|