S. Venkatesan, Sr. Vice-President

1. Messrs. Miles India Ltd., have filed four Revision Applications (hereinafter referred to as "appeals"), which under Section 131B of the Customs Act, 1962, are to be dealt with as if they were appeals before the Tribunal. These appeals involve a common issue and were listed together, It was then observed that some of the orders-in-appeal of the Appellate Collector covered more than one order-in original. The details are set out in Annexure to this Order. Accordingly, the appellants were advised to file supplementary appeals to the Tribunal. No such appeals have up to now been received in the Registry. This combined Order may therefore be taken as covering only four separate orders-in-appeal, arising out of four orders-in-original, whose particulars are given below :-

xxx xxx xxx

2. These appeals relate to the classification under the Customs Tariff Schedule of what the appellants have called "medical reagents". For the sake of clarity, and without pre-judging the issue, it may be mentioned that the imported goods were made of filter paper which had been impregnated with various chemicals. As imported, they were in the form of sheets. These sheets were cut by the appellants and attached to thin strips of plastic. The articles thus prepared were marketed under the names of "Diastix,", "Uristix", etc. It will be convenient to refer to these articles as "reagent strips". The method of using these reagent strips would be seen from the following extract of literature filed by the appellants relating to "Diastix" : "DIASTIX is a fast, convenient way of testing urine to determine the amount of glucose present. DIASTIX will react only with glucose, the sugar of "sugar diabetes". DIASTIX is a resilient plastic strip with a test area made of special chemicals on one end...

The Colour developed in the reagent area at 30 seconds after wetting is compared to the Colour Chart on the bottle label. The colour blocks on the Colour Chart indicate the amount of glucose present". The directions for the use of the strips are given as follows :-

1. Dip reagent end of strip in urine specimen for 1 to 2 seconds and remove.

2. Gently tap edge of strip against side of urine container or sink to remove excess urine.

3. Exactly 30 seconds after removing from urine, compare reagent side of strip to the closest matching colour block. (Disregard colour changes that occur after 30 seconds).

3. The goods were on importation classified by the Customs authorities under Heading 48.01/21, relating inter alia to "Impregnated paper or paper board". It is the claim of the appellants that the goods should have been assessed, under Heading 90.17/18 as medical appliances, against the description "medical, dental, surgical and veterinary instruments and appliances". Alternatively, they have claimed assessment under Heading No. 38.01/19, as "chemical products and preparations of the chemical or allied industries, not elsewhere specified or included".

4. On behalf of the appellants, Shri Ganesh argued that the imported material was the result of very advanced and sophisticated technology. Only two manufacturers in the world were making such material. According to him, these reagent strips perform the same functions as various medical appliances such as pH Meter, Colorimeter and Spectrophotometer. He also submitted that no substantial operation was performed on the imported material to make the reagent strips. It was merely pasted on a plastic backing and cut into strips, so that there was a small piece of the reagent material at the tip of the plastic strip, which could be dipped into the liquid to be tested. Shri Ganesh advanced the following further arguments :-

(1) The product at the time of importation is capable of performing the same function as the product which leaves the appellants' factory after being attached to a plastic sheet which is cut into strips;

(2) The imported goods are comparable to the medical appliances mentioned a