Tag: #CESTATMumbai

Aadrikaa Legal Services (ALS)- Law I Litigation I Arbitration

Date: 17.09.2026

CESTAT Mumbai: Vitamin and Enzyme Premixes for Animal Feed Classifiable Under CTH 2309

The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Mumbai has ruled in favour of DSM Nutritional Products India Pvt. Ltd. in a long-running customs classification dispute, holding that imported vitamin premixes and enzyme preparations meant for use in animal feeding are classifiable under Customs Tariff Heading (CTH) 2309, and not under CTH 2936 or CTH 3507 as contended by Customs.

A Division Bench comprising S.K. Mohanty, Member (Judicial), and M.M. Parthiban, Member (Technical) set aside the May 8, 2024 order of the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals), JNCH, Nhava Sheva, and allowed Customs Appeal Nos. 87088 to 87126 of 2024 with consequential relief. The final order was pronounced on September 11, 2026.

The ruling is significant for the tariff classification of feed-grade vitamin and enzyme premixes, particularly where such products contain active ingredients along with carriers, fillers, stabilisers, anti-caking agents and other substances specifically designed for animal-feed applications.

DSM Imported Vitamin and Enzyme Premixes for Animal Feeding

• DSM Nutritional Products India imported preparations containing vitamins and enzymes from its related overseas supplier, DSM Nutrients Asia Pacific Private Limited, Singapore.
• The imports included a range of Rovimix vitamin premixes and Ronozyme enzyme preparations, which were intended for use in preparation of animal feed.
• DSM classified these products under CTH 2309, covering preparations of a kind used in animal feeding.
• Because the overseas supplier was a related party, the assessments had remained provisional since October 2010. The Special Valuation Branch subsequently concluded in 2016 that the relationship had not influenced the declared import price.

Customs Sought Classification Under Chapters 29 and 35

• The dispute arose after the Central Intelligence Unit and Special Investigation & Intelligence Branch examined the classification adopted by DSM.
• Customs took the position that the vitamin and vitamin premixes should be classified under CTH 2936, while enzyme preparations should fall under CTH 3507, instead of Heading 2309.
• Consequently, provisional assessments covering imports from October 2010 to December 2020 remained pending.
• DSM repeatedly sought finalisation of the assessments and refund of pre-deposits/Extra Duty Deposits. When the matter remained unresolved, it approached the Bombay High Court in Writ Petition No. 3323 of 2021. The High Court directed Customs to finalise the provisional assessments.

Customs Finalised Assessments Against DSM

• The Assistant Commissioner of Customs eventually passed an Order-in-Original dated September 22, 2023 rejecting DSM’s classification under CTH 2309.
• The authority classified the vitamin products under CTH 2936 and enzyme products under CTH 3507, finalised the assessments under Section 18(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, demanded differential customs duty with interest and ordered appropriation against deposits already made by DSM.
• Interestingly, the Tribunal recorded that the exact amount of duty demanded, confirmed or appropriated was not mentioned in the operative portion of the original order.
• The Commissioner (Appeals) subsequently upheld the classification adopted by the original authority and dismissed DSM’s appeals, leading to the proceedings before CESTAT.

DSM: Products Are Exclusively Intended for Animal Feed

• DSM argued that the disputed vitamin and enzyme premixes were exclusively intended for animal feeding and were not used for human consumption.
• The preparations contained vitamins or enzymes as active ingredients together with carriers, fillers, anti-caking agents, stabilisers and other additives selected keeping their animal-feed end use in view.
• DSM further used these imported premixes to manufacture composite premixes containing vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other ingredients, which were also intended exclusively for animal feeding.
• DSM therefore relied heavily on the Larger Bench decision in Tetragon Chemie (P) Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise, Bangalore, 2001 (138) E.L.T. 414 (Tri.-LB), which had held that premixes of the relevant nature used in animal feeding fall under the animal-feed heading. That ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court when the Revenue’s appeal was dismissed.

Earlier Venkateshwara B.V. Bio Corp Ruling Became Crucial

• A particularly important aspect of DSM’s case was the Tribunal’s earlier ruling in Venkateshwara B.V. Bio Corp Private Limited v. Commissioner of Customs (NS-I), (2025) 26 Centax 283 (Tri.-Bom.).
• DSM argued that the classification dispute in Venkateshwara was virtually identical, arose from the same investigation and even involved the same overseas supplier, DSM Nutritional Products Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Singapore.
• In that case, CESTAT had classified the imported products under CTI 2309 9090. Customs challenged that ruling before the Supreme Court, but its appeal was dismissed on February 7, 2025.
• The Supreme Court order reproduced on page 10 of the CESTAT judgment records that it found no good ground to interfere with the Tribunal’s decision, particularly in light of Circular No. 188/22/96-CX dated March 26, 1996, and dismissed the Revenue’s appeal.

Core Issue Before CESTAT: CTH 2309 vs 2936/3507

• The Tribunal framed the principal issue as whether the imported vitamin premixes and enzyme preparations for feed/animal grade were classifiable under CTI 2309 9020 as claimed by DSM, or whether vitamins should be classified under CTH 2936 and enzymes under CTH 3507 as determined by Customs.
• Customs had reasoned that vitamins and enzymes had specific tariff headings and that a specific classification should prevail over what it regarded as the more general or residual animal-feed heading.
• The Commissioner (Appeals) had relied substantially upon Rule 3(a) of the General Rules for Interpretation and the ingredients of the imported products in concluding that vitamins belonged under 2936 and enzyme preparations under 3507.

CESTAT Finds Customs Order Legally Deficient

• The Tribunal was not persuaded by that approach.
• It observed that neither the Commissioner (Appeals) nor the original authority had undertaken a sufficiently detailed examination of the scope of the competing tariff headings and the relevant HSN Explanatory Notes.
• According to CESTAT, a comprehensive classification exercise under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 required proper examination of the competing entries rather than merely proceeding on the premise that Chapters 29 and 35 contained more specific descriptions.
• The Tribunal therefore found, even at the preliminary level of its analysis, that the impugned appellate order was not sustainable.

Larger Bench in Tetragon Chemie Supports Heading 2309

• CESTAT then relied on the Larger Bench ruling in Tetragon Chemie.
• That decision had considered the specific question whether preparations used in animal feeding consisting of one or more vitamins mixed with diluents should be classified under the vitamin heading or under the animal-feed heading.
• The Larger Bench concluded that premixes containing mineral substances, vitamins or provitamins, trace elements, appetisers, soya flour or meal, yeast and similar ingredients were covered by Heading 23.09 of the HSN, corresponding to the relevant animal-feed heading in the Central Excise Tariff.
• The Larger Bench ultimately answered the classification issue in favour of the assessees.
• CESTAT noted that this decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2001 (132) E.L.T. 525 (S.C.).

Indian Trading Bureau Decision Also Favoured Animal-Feed Classification

• The Mumbai Bench further referred to Indian Trading Bureau Private Limited v. Commissioner of Customs (Port), Kolkata, 2024 (2) TMI 1030 – CESTAT Kolkata.
• In that case, vitamins and enzymes used as animal-feed additives were classified under CTH 2309 rather than the competing tariff heading asserted by Revenue.
• The decision emphasised the product literature showing that the goods were part of animal feed and were not fit for human consumption.
• The Revenue’s appeal against that decision was also dismissed by the Supreme Court.

CESTAT: DSM’s Case Identical to Venkateshwara Classification Dispute

• The Tribunal found the classification dispute in DSM’s appeals to be identical to the issue already considered in Venkateshwara B.V. Bio Corp.
• It noted that the overseas supplier in the present case was also one of the suppliers involved in that earlier dispute.
• The Venkateshwara decision had examined the Customs Tariff Act, General Rules for Interpretation, competing tariff headings 2309 and 2936, HSN Explanatory Notes and CBEC Circular No. 188/2/96-CX dated March 26, 1996.
• That decision had concluded that the disputed goods were classifiable under CTH 2309 and not CTH 2936, and the Supreme Court subsequently declined to interfere with the Tribunal’s decision.

Vitamin and Enzyme Feed Preparations Classifiable Under CTH 2309

• On the basis of these authorities and its own analysis, the Mumbai Bench concluded that DSM’s imported goods were properly classifiable under CTH 2309 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
• The Tribunal expressly held that the May 8, 2024 appellate order sustaining classification under CTH 2936 and CTH 3507 did not withstand legal scrutiny and was legally unsustainable.
• This finding resolved the substantive classification dispute in DSM’s favour.

DSM Nutritional Products Wins 39 Customs Appeals

• CESTAT accordingly set aside the impugned Order-in-Appeal and allowed DSM Nutritional Products India’s appeals, together with consequential relief, if any, in accordance with law.
• The ruling therefore represents a substantive victory for DSM on tariff classification: its animal-feed vitamin and enzyme preparations were held classifiable under Heading 2309, rather than being split between the vitamin and enzyme headings in Chapters 29 and 35.

Key Legal Takeaway

The decision reinforces an important classification principle for feed-grade preparations: the presence of vitamins or enzymes as active ingredients does not, by itself, necessarily require classification of the finished preparation under the standalone vitamin or enzyme headings.

The nature of the preparation, its composition, HSN guidance, relevant tariff notes, established judicial precedent and its exclusive design and use in animal feeding must all be considered.

The ruling is particularly important because CESTAT found the dispute materially covered by previous decisions—including Tetragon Chemie and Venkateshwara B.V. Bio Corp—whose outcomes had survived Revenue challenges before the Supreme Court.

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Source: CESTAT Mumbai

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Ravi Shekhar Jha – Advocate, Bar Council of Delhi