AIFMP efforts pay off with grant of SSI exemption on branded packing goods

Readers of PrintWeek India will recall that a delegation from All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP), led by Vinod Jain  had met finance ministry officials on March 22 to discuss SSI denial (refer 23 April 2010 issue, pg 3).

"Since December 2009, some printers from the suburbs of Mumbai were served notices from excise department asking for data about paper tags, paper, paper board labels. The logic of the department was that the notification 47/2008 and 24/2009 did not mention paper or paper board labels," said Uday Dhote of Mumbai Mudrak Sangh (MMS).

Hence, under the request of MMS, AIFMP wrote to the excise department saying that paper and paperboard labels need to be covered.

"Moreover, we wrote to them that the notification categorically excludes the specified goods falling under heading 4821, from the mischief of the brand name / trade name restriction. It is relevant to note that "paper tags" fall under the subheading 4821.10"

But the department was not convinced and the printers were slapped with demand notice. The AIFMP took up the matter and submitted a memorandum to V Sridhar, chairman of CBEC and other concerned officials.

A delegation of AIFMP along with MMS team members, met officials of the finance ministry in March.
This is when Dutt Mazumdar, member of CBEC and Vivek Johri, joint secretary of TRU agreed to consider notifying additional exclusions from the mischief of the trade and brand name restriction, with the condition that AIFMP submits details of the other items of ‘specified goods', which are not already excluded.

The details were then compiled and submitted to the concerned authorities.

"Now they have generalised and covered everything under packing materials or in the nature of packing materials in the new notification 24/2010. It should do good for the industry, provided the excise officials do not make any other interpretations," concluded Dhote