ORDER
1. In these appeals we are concerned with classification of the following products :
(1) Sita Laminated Window (Non-decorative laminated window)
(2) Sita Frame (Particle Board)
(3) BM Sita Wood
2. The lower authorities have classified the aforesaid products as follows :
(1) Non-decorative laminated window under 4408.90
(2) Particle Board (Sita frame) under 4406.90.
(3) Sita Wood (BM) under 4406.90.
(4) Block board under 4408.90.
As against the above, Tariff sub-headings claimed by the appellants for the aforesaid products are as follows :
(1) Non-decorative laminated window (Sitalam) – 4410.90).
(2) Plain particle board (Sita Wood BM) – 4406.10.
(3) Plain particle board door frame (Sitaframe) – 4410.90.
(4) Block Board – 4410.90.
3. As regards the classification of block board, this is no longer res integra. It has been decided by the Apex Court in the case of C.C.E. Shillong v. Woodcraft Products Ltd. [1995 (77) E.L.T. 23] that block boards are classifiable under 44.08. Therefore, this classification, as made by the lower authorities, is upheld and the contention of the appellants is rejected.
4. Before we consider the rival contentions in respect of the other products, we extract below the Tariff Headings and sub-headings, as contended by both sides from the Tariff :
“4406 – Particle board and similar board of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not agglomerated with resins or other organic binding substance.
4408 – Plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood.
4410 – Articles of wood not elsewhere specified.
We also reproduce Chapter Note 5 of Chapter 44 of the Schedule to the CETA, 1985 :
” (Paragraph number as per certified copy)5. Heading No. 44.10 applies also to articles of particle board or similar board, fibreboard, laminated wood or densified wood. This heading, however, does not apply to tools in which the blade, working edge, working surface or other working part is formed by any of the materials specified in Note 1 to Chapter 82.”
5. The process of manufacture of Sitawood BM employed by the appellants is the same as in the case of other varieties of particle board, as alleged by the Assistant Commissioner, except that in the case of Sitawood BM a small quantity of wax used for agglomeration is also applied to the surface of the board. This variety of board, after particles of wood have been agglomerated with the help of resin and wax, is coated with the thin layer of the same wax. It has, therefore, been held by the lower authorities that Sitawood BM is nothing but a particle board inasmuch as the aforesaid process brings into existence a product having a distinctive character, name or use different from that of the particle board. It is for this reason that the authorities below have classified the product under Tariff sub-heading 4406.90 under the other categories of particle board or other similar board of wood whereas the appellants have contended that it is classifiable under Tariff Heading 4406.10 under the plain particle of Boards.
3.2 As against the aforesaid finding of the lower authorities the appellants have urged that this product has always been described and marketed as plain particle boards (BM) and is known in trade and commercial parlance as plain particle board. The process of coating (with wax) resorted to does not bring out any change or transformation in the particle board nor does it lead to any emergence of a new product.
4. We have carefully considered the pleas advanced from both sides in so far as the classification of Sitawood BM is concerned. Explanatory Notes to HSN under Heading 4410 (which corresponds to 4406 of CETA, 1985) described the process of manufacture of particle board as follows :
“Particle board is normally agglomerated by means of added organic binder, usually a thermosetting resin, which generally does not exceed 15% of the weight of the board. The chips, particles or other fragments constituting the particle boards of this heading are usually recognisable at the edges of the board with the naked eye. However, in some cases, microscopic examination may be required to distinguish the particles and fragments from the ligno cellulosic fibres characterising the fibre board of Heading 4411 (HSN).”
4.1. Explanatory Notes also describes the particle board as a :
“flat product manufactured in various lengths, widths and thickness by pressing or extrusion. It is usually made from wood chips or particles obtained by the mechanical reduction of roundwood or wood residues. It may also be produced from other ligneous materials such as fragments obtained from bagasse, bamboo, cereal straw or from flax or hemp hives.”
The Explanatory Notes further state that the particle boards of this Heading are usually sanded. Moreover, they may be :
“impregnated with one or more substances not essential for the agglomeration of their constituent materials but which confer on the board an additional property, e.g. impermeability to water, resistance to rot, insect attack, fire or the spread of flame, chemical agencies or electricity, greater density.”
4.2. Lower authorities have treated the process of application of a small quantity of wax used for agglomeration of wood particles on the surface of the plain particle board as a process of manufacture bringing into existence a commodity different from the plain particle board and for this reason they have classified the product under Tariff sub-heading 4406.90. No evidence, however, is brought forth on record that it is known differently from plain particle board. We are of the view that the aforesaid process of application of wax on the plain particle board brought into existence earlier, does not bring a new commodity into existence having a distinctive character, name or use. It remains a particle board. In any case no evidence has been brought on record by the Revenue that a different product has come into existence taking it out from the category of particle board. As stated in the Explanatory Notes, set out as above, the particle boards in addition have impregnation with one or more substance which confer on the board an additional property i.e. waterproof etc. For this reason, we are of the view that the classification of sitawood BM would be more appropriate under 4406.10 as claimed by the appellants and not as “other boards” as classified by the Revenue.
4.3 Non-decorative laminated window known as Sitalam: The original authority describes the process of manufacture of this product as by lamination of commercial veneers cut in the form of completely finished windows and cleared as such. The lower appellate authority describes the process of manufacture of this product as follows:
“Several layers of veneers are laminated and bound together using phenol formaldehyde resin to form thin strip of wood which are cut to required sizes and joined at the edges to form a rectangular wooden frame.”
It is also stated in the impugned order that:
“the product can be used as a window or a ventilator and if a number of these frames are joined.”
It has thus been held by the lower appellate authority that the product has an essential character of a window or any other article. Since the product does not have the character of any fixed article, it has been treated as a commercial plywood because it has the essential character of commercial plywood according to the process of manufacture. Hence, it has been classified under Tariff Heading 4408.90.
4.4 As against the above reasoning the appellants have urged that the product is classifiable as an article of wood not elsewhere specified under Tariff sub-heading 4410.90. They state that the product has an essential character of a window or any one article of wood only and nothing else as per its construction. Attention has also been drawn to Note 5 of Chapter 44 which states, as already set out above, that Heading 44.10 applies also to articles of plyboard or similar board, fibre board, laminated board or densified wood. It is stated that this description under Heading 44.10 squarely applies to the product. Application of Rule 2(a) of the Interpretative Rules of Central Excise Tariff has no bearing on the subject.
5. We have carefully considered the pleas advanced from both sides. We observe that the lower authorities have clearly held that the product is cleared in the form of a rectangular wooden frame. It is, therefore, clearly an article of plywood which by definition consists of three or more sheets of wood glued and pressed one on the other and generally disposed so that grains of successive layers are at angle. Each plywood is usually formed of an odd number of plies, the middle ply being called the core (Reference Explanatory Notes to Heading 44.12 HSN corresponding to 4408, CETA). It is, therefore, obvious that it is an article of plywood or at best similar laminated wood. It is neither plywood itself nor similar laminated wood. It would, therefore, be. clearly classifiable under Tariff Heading 44.10 and sub-heading 4410.90 as ‘other’ articles of wood. Reasoning of the lower appellate authority that it does not have the essential character of any single article is not comprehensible. The, said authority has itself stated that the product is cleared in the form of a rectangular wooden frame i.e. as the frame of a window but the said authority goes on to consider it as a ventilator on the ground that if a number of these frames are joined they can be used as a ventilator. It is not the case of the Revenue that the product is cleared as a ventilator by joining a number of frames, as argued by the lower authority. We, therefore, held that the proper classification of the product would be under Tariff sub-heading 4410.90.
5.2 Plain Particle board frame (chaukhat) known as sitaframe – Lower appellate authority describes the process of manufacture of this product as follows :
“The product, particle board is constructed in lamination of plain particle board glued together and cut in proper sizes of door frame. Because of their voluminous size they are cleared as complete door frame set in disassembled condition.”
Lower appellate authority has classified the product under Tariff Heading 44.06 inasmuch as the said heading covers particle boards and board of wood or other ligneous materials. In the present case plain particle boards are laminated and glued together. Since it is not a plain particle board inasmuch as the product is laminated and treated with glue, it is classifiable under subheading 4406.90.
5.3 As against the above, the appellants’ learned Advocate submits that several boards are laminated and then cut to sizes and cleared as such in three pieces – two of length and one of width – in disassembled condition which can be assembled at the site of work as a door frame. A special attention has been drawn to Note 5 to Chapter 44 which as mentioned above, pertains to Heading 44.10 referring to “articles of wood not elsewhere specified.” It is submitted that the product as manufactured and as cleared is nothing but an article of wood and since it has not been specified elsewhere, it clearly falls under Tariff sub-heading 4410.90. We agree with the reasons advanced by the learned Advocate for the appellants. As mentioned above, Tariff sub-heading 4410.90 clearly covers it in view of Chapter Note 5 and this being neither a plain particle board nor a plywood nor a similar laminated wood. As the very name of the product implies, it is an article of wood.
6. Appeal disposed of in the above manner.
