AUTHORITY
FOR ADVANCE RULINGS
(CENTRAL EXCISE, CUSTOMS &
SERVICE TAX)
NEW DELHI
PRESENT
Justice Syed Mohammed
Quadri
(Chairman) |
Mr. Somnath Pal
(Member) |
Dr. B.A.Agrawal
(Member |
Thursday, the twenty
fourth November Two
Thousand Five
Ruling Nos. AAR/26(Cus)/2005
In
Application No.AAR/44(Cus)/40/2005
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 the Alcatel Light Manager-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 1626 Light manager (for
short the "goods") is a hybrid of optical, electronic and mechanical system that
forms part of a telecommunication system for use in transmission of aggregate
data. The goods are telecommunications equipment, which offer a transmission
system providing very high bandwidth capacity through Dense Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (DWDM) technology. The system can provide up to 96x10 Gbit/s
operating channels with a 0 to 100% add/drop capability in the OADM's (Optical
Add/Drop Multiplexers), which enable selective access to the needed channels and
non-regenerative pass-through for the others. The goods include: (a) the Mux/Demux
architecture; (b) the 10 Gbit/s transponders and concentrators; (c) the booster
and the pre-amplifier and manage the integrity, quality, receipt and
transmission of telecommunication aggregate data within the telecommunication
system and are capable of providing transmission in a terrestrial environment
across all the distances classes. 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. and Australia have classified the 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,
specified above, we rule that Alcatel Light Manager-1626 is classifiable
under tariff item 8517 50 99.
Pronounced
in the open Court on this 24th day of November, 2005.
Sd/-
(Somnath Pal)
Member |
Sd/-
(Justice S.S.M.Quadri)
Chairman |
Sd/-
(B.A.Agrawal)
Member |
|