Classification of articles of paper and printing industry

Circular No. 1052/01/2017-CX 
F. No. 116/29/2015-CX.3

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Excise and Customs 
New Delhi, dated the 23rd February, 2017 

To 
The Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Central Excise (All), The Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All), The Director General, DGCEI, Webmaster. 

Sub: Classification of articles of paper and printing industry- regarding 

Madam/ Sir, 

Representations have been received from trade associations that consequent upon insertion of Chapter note 14 (w.e.f 28.05.2012) to the Chapter 48 of Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 disputes have cropped up in respect of classification of railway/bus/other tickets/passes, railway ticket rolls and bus ticket rolls, mark sheets/certificates, OMR Sheets/ Answer Books with OMR, Answer booklets, inland letter cards, passbooks, applications forms, paper outer strip seal, Railway receipt (RR) and practical notebook. Also, reports received from field formations suggest that there is divergent practice of assessment of these goods. It is therefore, proposed to clarify the classification of these goods to ensure uniformity in practice of assessment across the country. 

2. In this connection, statutory provisions are as under: 

a) As per Rule 3 (c) of General Rules for the interpretation of the Schedule, "when goods cannot be classified by reference to (a) or (b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration".

b) As per Rule 4 of General Rules for interpretation of the Schedule, "goods which cannot be classified in accordance with the above rules shall be classified under the heading appropriate to the goods to which they are most akin"

c) As per Chapter note 10 of Chapter 48, heading 4820 does not cover loose sheets or cards, cut to size, whether or not printed, embossed or perforated.

d) As per Chapter note 12 of chapter 48, except for the goods of heading 4814 or 4821, paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding and articles thereof, printed with motifs, characters or pictorial representations, which are not merely incidental to the primary use of goods, fall in Chapter 49. 

Please refer to the attached file for details