SC issues notice to Pfizer on customs dept's plea
The Supreme Court today sought a reply from Pfizer Ltd on a petition filed by the customs department alleging the firm must pay 18 per cent additional duty on a chemical product imported as a poultry feed.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today sought a reply from Pfizer Ltd on a petition filed by the customs department alleging the firm must pay 18 per cent additional duty on a chemical product imported as a poultry feed.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued notice to the pharma giant on the department's petition. Tax authorities claim that Pfizer must pay additional customs duty on Virginamycin as the product was a pure antibiotic rather than poultry feed as claimed by the company.
The department had issued show cause notice to Pfizer in May 1999 on the ground that it was importing virginiamycin by mislabelling it as poultry feed.
The company cleared three Bills of Entry in March 1997 and eleven such bills in the past by describing the goods as poultry feed and without any such marking on its packages, the department alleged. Testing revealed that the product was virginiamycin of 99.7 per cent purity, or in other words, a pure chemical and thus an antibiotic.
Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said virginiamycin was an antibiotic produced by fermentation of bacterial culture. "The fact that Virginiamycin was not absorbed into the gut/bloodstream does not mean it is not an antibiotic. It kills harmful bacteria and thereby increases the absorption of nutrients," he added.
Contradicting Pfizer's stand, the deparment said virginiamycin cannot be directly used as animal feed but can be used in concentrations of 5-20 parts per million.
Besides, Virginiamycin, even if used in animal feed, retained the characteristic of an antibiotic, it added.
The pharma company had stated that virginiamycin was not used for treating any disease and was only used as a growth promoter in poultry.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued notice to the pharma giant on the department's petition. Tax authorities claim that Pfizer must pay additional customs duty on Virginamycin as the product was a pure antibiotic rather than poultry feed as claimed by the company.
The department had issued show cause notice to Pfizer in May 1999 on the ground that it was importing virginiamycin by mislabelling it as poultry feed.
The company cleared three Bills of Entry in March 1997 and eleven such bills in the past by describing the goods as poultry feed and without any such marking on its packages, the department alleged. Testing revealed that the product was virginiamycin of 99.7 per cent purity, or in other words, a pure chemical and thus an antibiotic.
Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said virginiamycin was an antibiotic produced by fermentation of bacterial culture. "The fact that Virginiamycin was not absorbed into the gut/bloodstream does not mean it is not an antibiotic. It kills harmful bacteria and thereby increases the absorption of nutrients," he added.
Contradicting Pfizer's stand, the deparment said virginiamycin cannot be directly used as animal feed but can be used in concentrations of 5-20 parts per million.
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Besides, Virginiamycin, even if used in animal feed, retained the characteristic of an antibiotic, it added.
The pharma company had stated that virginiamycin was not used for treating any disease and was only used as a growth promoter in poultry.
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