The Hindu Business Line : What is `toilet of human body'?

RECENTLY, the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR), New Delhi, had to elaborately study the phrase `toilet of human body' to decide an excise application filed by Technical Concepts International Ltd. The company, registered in the UK, wanted to set up a joint venture in India to manufacture and market `room deodorisers' and `room fresheners,' using `components and formulation' supplied by TC.

The key question before the AAR was of classification. TC said that the products would come under the tariff heading 3307, which reads, "pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, depilatories and other perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, not elsewhere specified or included, prepared room deodorisers, whether or not perfumed or having disinfectant properties," as you can check on www.cbec.gov.in.

Excise Department pointed out that the TC's `tinned odoriferous substances' contained ethyl alcohol; and that note 1(d) in Chapter 33 excluded from the Chapter "perfumery, cosmetics and toilet preparations containing alcohol or opium, Indian hemp or other narcotics." Such products came under the purview of the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act, 1955, or the MTP Act, and were liable to State Excise Duty, said the Department.

TC argued that note 4 in the same Chapter explained that `perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations' in heading 3307 applied to: "scented sachets; odoriferous preparations which operate by burning; perfumed papers and papers impregnated or coated with cosmetics; contact lens or artificial eye solution; wadding, felt and non-wovens, impregnated, coated or covered with perfume or cosmetics; animal toilet preparations."

AAR observed that `perfumery' and `cosmetics,' which are not defined in the MTP Act, are to be understood in their ordinary meaning. "They are articles meant for beautification or enjoyment of human beings," said the Authority, as one reads from the text available in Excise Law Times, Vol 189 Part 1. `Toilet preparation,' however, has a definition in Section 2(k).

It goes thus: "Any preparation which is intended for use in the toilet of the human body or in perfuming apparel of any description, or any substance intended to cleanse, improve or alter the complexion, skin, hair or teeth, and includes deodorants and perfumes."

The word `toilet' was looked up in Webster's Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, Concise Oxford Dictionary, and S.B. Sarkar's Words and Phrases of Excise and Customs. "It is worth noting that the definition (in Section 2(k)) uses the expression `toilet of human body' and not `toilet for human beings'," said the AAR. "In its primary meaning, the word `toilet' is commonly understood to indicate a bowl used for urinating or defecating, a lavatory or a bath room; its secondary meaning `the act or process of dressing oneself' is not so common," AAR added.

However, there was guidance from Justice G.P. Singh's `classic treatise on interpretation' that `the less common meaning of a word should not be confounded with its loose meaning.' AAR reasoned that though on the first blush the expression `toilet of human body' seems baffling, yet on a keen reading, the import of the expression is unfolded to mean "any preparation which is intended for use in cleaning, dressing or hair dressing and preparing a human being".

Thus, the expressions `perfumery, cosmetic and toilet preparations' in the MTP Act are confined to preparations that are used in relation to human body, said the AAR. Which was not the case with TC's products; they had no such nexus with the human body, and so are not excluded by the note 1(d) in Chapter 33, the AAR pointed out.

"If a product does not fall within the meaning of perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations as defined in the MTP Act, it is immaterial for the purpose of Chapter 33 whether it does or does not contain alcohol, opium etc," reads the ruling. Accordingly, the AAR said that TC's products are classifiable under 3307, though they contain alcohol.

A spirited tussle over the toilet concept.

ExParte@TheHindu.co.in

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