A recent Federal Court case held that wheels for a wheelie bin
should not be classified as part of a vehicle. The layman will say
that this was stating the obvious, a wheelie bin is clearly not a
vehicle. Customs brokers will see this as another case in a long
line of odd classification arguments. In recent years we have seen
Customs try to argue that wontons are pasta and that ceiling fans
should be classified as lights. Many of these cases seem to have
little relevance beyond the goods the subject of the decision.
However, the wheelie bin case has valuable lessons for all involved
in classifying goods.
The case
The original decision by Customs
The case concerned the classified of plastic wheels (fitted with
a tyre) for plastic wheelie bins. The importer was advocating for
classification under heading 8716.90.00 which applies to parts for
"other vehicles". The classification was important as a
concession would apply only if the goods were classified to
