ORDER
K.S. Venkataramani, Member (T)
1. The appellant imported a consignment of rubber blankets for use in rotary textile printing machine and claimed clearance of the goods tinder the provision of Open General Licence (OGL). This has been denied in the order impugned in the appeal on the ground that the goods are nothing other than conveyor belts, which is specified in Entry 139 of Appendix 3A of the Policy 1988-91 and therefore require a specific licence. Hence this appeal.
2. The appellant had claimed before the Customs that the goods were specifically covered by the entry in the OGL Appendix 6, at list 8 Part I serial No. 518. This claim has not been accepted in the order impugned in the appeal on the ground that the rubber blankets were used for carrying fabrics, which were to be printed and that therefore they are conveyor belts. The Additional Collector also relied upon the decision of the term “rubber blankets” in the McGraw Hill Dictionary of Science and Technology as “rubber sheet used as a functional die in rubber forming” to say that the goods imported were not rubber blankets. These arguments were reiterated by the Departmental Representative, who also contended that the entry “rubber blankets” occuring in the OGL only covered rubber blankets other than endless blankets.
3. The Modern Textile Dictionary by G.E. Linton (1963), defines rubber blanket as “an endless four ply, heavy cotton blanket that is glued with rubber cement, which helps to carry textile goods in the printing machine and serves as under-support for the material.” The brochure by M/s. Rollin S.A., the manufacturer shows that the blanket has various special features, including its special construction, consisting of an outer layer of vulcanised synthetic rubber and inner casing made of several superimposed plies of rubberized material. The provision for special washing and cleaning etc. which indicate that it has properties which should not be found in a conveyor belt. A letter dated 23-10-1990 of the Bombay Textile Research Association also says that the rubber blanket is a specialised endless blanket made of special fabrics got with rubber used for textile printing. It is thus evident that the rubber blankets are understood in the trade and technically are for use in textile printing and the goods imported, being such rubber blankets, would be covered by this entry. The contention for the Departmental Representative that it is only those blankets which are not endless which would be covered by this entry is not supported by the wording of the entry. It is evident that the framers of the policy makers had recognised the difference between conveyor belts and rubber blankets, which have specialised use and limited application. The appellant was there-fore entitled to clear the goods under OGL.
Appeal allowed. Consequential relief to follow.