Customs Tariff Chapter 26: Ores, slag and ash

Finin2min Summary — in 2 Minutes

Chapter 26 covers ores, slag and ash. It is a legal classification chapter of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, not a stand-alone rate card. The primary controversy for this chapter is usually ore/concentrate versus refined metal or chemically defined compound; metal-bearing slag/ash versus waste/scrap.

A defensible classification starts with the goods in the condition imported, their technical/commercial identity and the applicable Section and Chapter Notes. Under the Supreme Court's 2026 Welkin Foods decision, the heading terms and Notes under GRI 1 come first; later GRIs are sequential tie-breakers rather than a licence to select the most convenient rate or end-use description.

Heading architecture of Chapter 26

The table below gives the chapter-level route. Final classification must descend to the live Indian 8-digit tariff item, including any split/merge introduced by Finance Act 2026 and subsequently synchronised into DGFT's ITC(HS) import-policy schedule.

The heading map runs from Iron ores/concentrates through Slag, dross, metal-bearing residues and ash. It is deliberately paired with legal boundary analysis: a chapter heading should never be selected only because an invoice description appears to match a few words.

Legal boundaries and exclusions

• Classify the material in its condition as imported; downstream industrial use does not override the tariff text unless the heading expressly refers to use.
• Degree of processing is a primary boundary: raw mineral/fuel products can move to chemical or manufactured chapters after refining, chemical conversion or fabrication.
• Technical test reports, assay/composition and physical state should be available before the bill of entry is filed.
• Waste/residue classification requires a separate environmental and import-policy check; tariff classification does not legalise prohibited hazardous waste.
• Effective duty, exemption, tariff value and import policy are separate from the four-digit chapter selection.

Chapter-specific focus: ore/concentrate versus refined metal or chemically defined compound; metal-bearing slag/ash versus waste/scrap. For every live import, document the strongest competing chapter or heading and identify the exact Note, product fact or GRI step that eliminates it. That short contemporaneous classification memo is materially stronger evidence than a later statement that the code reflected past practice.

How to classify goods in this chapter

1. Freeze the facts before the rate. Collect technical/mineral identity, assay or composition, physical state and degree of processing, test report/specification, origin/source. Add chapter-specific laboratory, composition, species, process or manufacturing records where relevant.
2. Apply Section and Chapter Notes. Notes can exclude a product even when a heading title appears commercially attractive.
3. Use GRI 1 first. Match objective goods to heading terms and Notes. Do not jump to GRI 3 merely because two commercial descriptions appear possible.
4. Use GRI 2 only when its legal trigger exists. Incomplete/unfinished goods and mixtures/combinations require careful application rather than automatic essential-character treatment.
5. Move through GRI 3 and 4 only if the earlier rules genuinely fail to resolve competing headings.
6. Apply GRI 5 to cases/containers and GRI 6 at subheading level. Compare subheadings only at the same level.
7. Lock the material date. Confirm whether a Finance Act split/rate change had commenced on the bill-of-entry date.
8. Only then compute duty. Apply BCD, SWS where applicable, import IGST/cess, trade-remedy duty, exemption and preferential-origin benefit to the selected CTI.

2025–26 statutory and tariff update

Finance Act 2026 creates a new split in heading 2615: 2615 10 10 for hafnium and 2615 10 90 for other zirconium ores/concentrates, both shown at Free standard rate from 1 May 2026. DGFT Notification 24/2026-27 later synced the ITC(HS) import-policy schedule.

The Finance Act 2026 Fourth and Fifth Schedules are especially important in this group of chapters because they change both code architecture and statutory rates. A split creates a new legal declaration choice; tariffisation moves an applied rate into the First Schedule even where the commercial rate appears unchanged. These two events should not be confused.

DGFT Notification 24/2026-27 dated 22 July 2026 subsequently amended ITC(HS) 2022 Schedule I to synchronise inserted, deleted, split and merged import codes with Finance Act 2026. For affected goods, the customs CTI and import-policy code therefore need to be checked together rather than by copying a pre-July master.

Duty, exemption, origin and trade-remedy layer

After the 8-digit CTI is fixed, calculate the import incidence in a separate layer. Verify the standard BCD in the First Schedule, the current general/specific exemption notification, Social Welfare Surcharge treatment, import IGST/cess, tariff value where prescribed, and any anti-dumping/countervailing/safeguard measure.

A preferential FTA rate is not a classification concession. The product still needs the correct CTI and the origin claim must independently satisfy the applicable Rules of Origin and CAROTAR evidence. Likewise, an exemption notification should never be used backwards to choose a tariff heading merely because one heading offers relief.

Import-policy and allied-law controls

For Chapter 26, the compliance file should separately test the following:

• DGFT ITC(HS) import policy
• environmental/hazardous-material rules
• BIS/QCO where notified
• sector-specific mining/petroleum/energy controls

Correct tariff classification does not itself establish importability. A restricted/prohibited product, a product needing licence/NOC, a QCO-controlled item or a hazardous/wildlife-regulated good can remain non-clearable despite a technically correct tariff code.

Case law and classification doctrine

Material-date rule: do not lift a ratio from an old judgment without comparing the heading text, Section/Chapter Notes and national tariff splits considered by the court. A later HS amendment can preserve the general classification principle but change the answer for the current product.

Worked example

A zirconium concentrate containing material described by the supplier as hafnium-bearing should not continue under the old undivided 2615 10 00. Verify assay/mineralogy and use the post-1 May 2026 2615 10 10/90 split; then separately test radiation and mineral-policy controls.

For Finin2min-quality working papers, record: product facts; competing headings; decisive Note/GRI; chosen 8-digit CTI; Finance Act effective-date check; exemption/preference tested; DGFT policy status; allied licences/NOCs; and the primary-source links relied upon.

Evidence and compliance checklist

• Commercial invoice, packing list and purchase order with a technically precise description.
• Manufacturer specification/process sheet and evidence of technical/mineral identity, assay or composition, physical state and degree of processing, test report/specification, origin/source.
• Certificate of analysis, lab test, species certificate, construction drawing or other objective test evidence where relevant.
• Current Section/Chapter/Supplementary Notes and the precise 8-digit tariff item as in force on the material date.
• Finance Act amendment/change note where the CTI or rate was split, inserted, omitted or tariffised.
• Operative exemption/concessional notification and evidence for every substantive condition.
• FTA certificate/origin documents and CAROTAR records where a preferential rate is claimed.
• DGFT policy extract, licence/NOC and QCO/sanitary/phytosanitary/drug/wildlife/environmental evidence where applicable.
• A short signed internal classification note explaining the rejected competing heading.

Common mistakes

• Using the overseas supplier's HS code as if it were automatically the Indian 8-digit CTI.
• Choosing the heading by end use even though the tariff entry does not refer to use/adaptation.
• Searching exemptions or lower rates before fixing the legal classification.
• Continuing a pre-2026 CTI after Finance Act/DGFT split or deletion.
• Treating a portal result, earlier bill of entry or broker precedent as primary legal authority.
• Ignoring the imported condition, composition, manufacturing stage or objective technical test.
• Applying an old judgment after the relevant Chapter Note or heading text has changed.

Finin2min Q&A

Does this chapter page provide the final customs duty?

No. It provides the legal classification route. Final incidence depends on the live 8-digit item, First Schedule rate, exemption, SWS, IGST/cess, trade remedies and preference/origin.

Can past imports determine the classification?

No. They can be evidence of practice, but each declaration must remain legally correct for its own material date and product facts. There is no estoppel against applying the correct tariff law.

When should technical testing be obtained?

Before filing whenever composition, purity, species, manufacturing stage, construction or another measurable property controls the heading. Post-clearance testing is often weaker because the imported sample and contemporaneous evidence may no longer be available.

When is an advance ruling worth considering?

For repeated or high-value imports with stable product specifications where a genuine classification uncertainty remains after the Notes and GRI analysis, a Customs advance ruling can be considered. The factual description must be complete and consistent with the product actually imported.