Page 163 - ELT_1st August 2020_Vol 373_Part 3

2020 ] G.G. HERBALS PVT. LTD. v. UNION OF INDIA 345

16. By virtue of Section 160 of the Customs Act, 1962, the Sea Customs
Act, 1878 has been repealed; however, Section 19 thereof, reads as under :
“19. Power to prohibit or restrict importation or exportation of goods.-
The Central Government may from time to time, by notification in the Offi-
cial Gazette, prohibit or restrict the bringing or taking by sea or by land
goods of any specified description into or out of India across any customs
frontier as defined by the Central Government.”
17. Vide Notification dated 27-12-2017 issued in exercise of powers con-
ferred by Section 3 of the DI&P Act, the Central Government has made the Plant
Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) (Tenth Amendment) Order, 2017.
The part of the order which is relevant for the present purpose is extracted here-
under :-
“2. In Chapter I of Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Or-
der, 2003, under the existing entries relating to clause 2 under the heading
‘Definitions’ after serial number ‘xxxiv’ the following entries shall be insert-
ed, namely :-
(xxxv) Animal Feed — Kibbled-crushed seeds/pellets/dried cake
form thereby denatured and free from weed seeds, bacterial and
fungal pathogens.”
“5. Amendment of Schedule-VII — In Schedule VII to the Plant Quaran-
tine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003 :
Against the existing serial numbers 19 and the entries relating
thereto, respectively, the following entries shall be replaced
namely :-
“19. Animal Feed — Kibbled-crushed seeds/pellets/dried
cake form thereby denatured and free from weed seeds, bac-
terial and fungal pathogens.” ”
18. The Plant Quarantine Order has been made in exercise of powers
under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the DI&P Act. Sub-clause (vii) of clause (2) of
the Plant Quarantine Order defines “grain” to mean seeds intended for pro-
cessing or consumption and not for sowing or propagation. Sub-clause (xvii) de-
fines “pest” to mean any species, strain or biotype of plant, animal or pathogenic
agent injurious to plants and plant products. Sub-clause (xviii) defines “pest risk
analysis” to mean the process of evaluating biological or other scientific and eco-
nomic evidence to determine whether a pest should be regulated and strength of
any phytosanitary measures to be taken against it. Sub-clause (xxviii) defines
“seeds” to mean seeds intended for sowing or propagating and not for consump-
tion or processing. Sub-clause (xxxv) defines “animal feed” as kibbled-crushed
seeds/pellet/dried cake form thereby denatured and free from weed seeds, bac-
terial and fungal pathogens. Sub-clause (xxxvii) defines “processed items” to
mean processed to the point where the commodity does not remain capable of
being infested with quarantine pests, viz. cooking (boiling, heating, microwav-
ing), fermentation, malting, multi-method processing (combination of heat, high
pressure, etc.), pasteurization, preservation in liquid, pureeing, sterilization, sug-
ar infusing and tenderizing.
19. Schedule-V of the Plant Quarantine Order provides for the list of
plants and plant materials, the import of which is restricted and permissible only
by the authorised institutions with additional declarations and special condi-
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