Case nº Ruling No. AAR/02(Cus)/2006 in Application No. AAR/44/22(Cus)/2005 of Authority for Advance Rulings, January 15, 2006 (case Alcatel India Ltd. Vs Commissioner of Customs)
| Judge | For Appellant: Charles A. Barber, Director (Customs and Supply Chain) and Steve Gaikwad, Client Partner and For Respondents: A.K. Roy, Joint CDR |
| President | Syed Shah Mohammad Quadri, J. (Chairman), Somnath Pal and B.A. Agrawal, Members |
| Resolution Date | January 15, 2006 |
Judgment:
(Central Excise, Customs And Service Tax)
Somnath Pal, Member
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The applicant in this application has posed the following question seeking an advance ruling thereon:
Whether Optically Post Amplifier unit (unrepeatered) proposed to be imported into India, is classifiable under Heading No. 8517 50 99 of the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
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As per the description of the goods in question given in the Annexure-II to the application, the Alcatel Optical Post-Amplifier (OPA28C) can be installed in the Alcatel URW subrack telecommunication equipment when there is a requirement for high power amplification of the transmitted WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) communication signal before it is launched into the submarine telecommunication cable. The OPA28C can deliver up to +28dBm aggregate power into the submarine line. It is a hybrid of optical, electronic and mechanical systems that forms part of a submarine telecommunication system for use in transmission of aggregate data. The WDM telecommunication signal from the terminal is amplified in the Alcatel OPA28C by an Erbium-doped Fibre Amplifier (EDFA), which uses a pump laser to give an aggregate output power to line of up to +28dBm. Though the function of the product is to amplify the signal it is still however part of the submerged telecommunication system as it is basically boosting the signal to ensure there is no distortion or impurities in the signal. In the Customs Technical Document relating to this product it has been further explained that the OPA28C is of an Alcatel generic design and includes features that allow the configuration of this equipment to suit a given system. All transmission connections are made by removable SC/APC type connectors, except the fibre to the sea cable. This is spliced directly to the submarine line to ensure satisfactory transmission of the high power signal. It has been further submitted that this equipment functions as a dedicated unit for the transmission of aggregate data. During the hearing before us the Ld. Representatives of the applicant, while reiterating the above technical information, drew our attention to the block diagram of this equipment as given in the Customs Technical Document to show that this equipment houses many other components besides the EDFA, like detector, input monitor, output monitor and shutdown logic. It was contended by them that the equipment in question is not covered by tariff heading...
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