The Appellate Tribunal upheld the decision taken by The WB AAR that Exemption Notification is not applicable to the Appellant’s service of loading, unloading, etc’ after the cargo of yellow peas imported from Foreign Markets the port of entry.
The Appellant provided loading and unloading services to imported raw whole yellow peas and there is no dispute that raw whole yellow peas are agricultural produce covered under serial no. 45 of the Rate Notification and are exempted goods. However, this particular consignment of raw whole yellow peas was harvested in a foreign land and the concerned primary market or the farmers’ market is located in that foreign land.
The Appellate Tribunal comprising of A.P.S Suri and Devi Prasad Karanam has rendered judgement on an appeal made by M/s T.P. Roy Chowdhury & Company Pvt’ Ltd.
The Appellate Tribunal observed that from a combined reading of entry number 54 of the Exemption Notification and definition 2(d) of the Exemption Notification that all services and processes are excluded beyond the primary market.
Elaboration of sec 2(d)”agricultural produce” means airy produce out of cultivation of plants and rearing of all life forms of animals, except the rearing of horses. For food, fibre, fuel, raw material or other similar products, on which either no further processing is done or such processing is done as is usually done by a cultivator or producer which does not alter its essential characteristics but makes it marketable for the primary market”
The term primary market in common parlance refers to farmers market like “mandi” “arhat” being a place where the farmers directly sell their product to the buyers like wholesalers, millers, food processing units. etc. The spirit of the legislature was intended to boost the agricultural sector of the home country and not that of a foreign land.
While dismissing the appeal the Appellate Tribunal observes that the primary market in the instant case being, located in foreign shores does not conform to the definition as stated above., Further there is no evidence that the crams have not undergone any type, of treatment before leaving the foreign country from where they have been imported into India and finds no infirmity.
