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HQ 951939


January 26, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 951939 MBR

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9006.59.40

Mr. Patrick C. Reed
Freeman, Wasserman & Schneider
90 John Street
New York, New York 10038

RE: Reconsideration of HQ 950411; General Electric Medical Systems Multiformat Camera; Fixed Focus Camera

Dear Mr. Reed:

This is in reply to your letters of May 22, 1992, and September 22, 1992, requesting reconsideration of HQ 950411, dated March 2, 1992, regarding the classification of the General Electric Medical Systems Multiformat Camera, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

In HQ 950411, dated March 2, 1992, Customs held that the "Multiformat Camera" was properly classifiable under the provision for other "fixed focus" cameras.

The Multiformat Camera is an auto-loading cassetteless device which consists of an internal video receiver (i.e., a monitor or CRT), and a means to transfer a video image onto standard rapid processing transluminated x-ray film. Its sole purpose is to produce a hard copy of the x-ray radiograph. However, only a trained maintenance technician on an inspection visit or special call can change the focus of the Multiformat Camera. The focus is not changed or even changeable for every picture.

ISSUE:

What is the classification of the General Electric Medical Systems Multiformat Camera, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUS govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule. GRI 1 states, in pertinent part:

...classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...

In HQ 950411, dated March 2, 1992, Customs held that the "Multiformat Camera" was properly classifiable under subheading 9006.59.40, HTSUS, which provides for: "[p]hotographic (other than cinematographic) cameras: [o]ther: [o]ther: [f]ixed focus." HQ 950411 contained an extensive and in-depth legal analysis and set forth, in great detail, Customs position regarding the G.E. Multiformat Camera. We find nothing in your submission that merits a change in our position.

You now argue that this provision encompasses only "box-type" "Brownie" cameras. We disagree. We see nothing in the legislative history to imply that the provision was intended to be limited in such a manner, nor does the tariff language limit the scope of the provision to such an exceedingly narrow extent. Even if the Multiformat Camera was not in use at the time that this tariff provision was drafted, "[i]t must also be remembered that the tariff statutes were enacted 'not only for the present but also for the future, thereby embracing articles produced by technologies which may not have been employed or known to commerce at the time of the enactment * * *.'" NEC America, Inc. v. United States, 8 CIT 184, 186 (1984), citing Corporacion Sublistatica, S.A. v. United States, 1 CIT 120, 126, 511 F.Supp. 805, 809 (1981); See also Davis Turner & Co. v. United States, 45 CCPA 39, 41, C.A.D. 669 (1957).

Furthermore, you insist that because a trained technician inspects the focus every three months the Multiformat Camera is not a "fixed focus" camera. We disagree. Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, (1988), defines "Fixed," as used in the present context as "1 a) to make firm, stable, or secure b) to fasten or attach firmly." The courts have stated that "[t]he meaning of a tariff term 'is presumed to be the same as its common or dictionary meaning in the absence of evidence to the contrary.'" NEC America, Inc. v. United States, 8 CIT 186 (quoting Bentkamp v. United States, 40 CCPA 70, 78). We find that the focus of the Multiformat Camera is firm, stable, and secure, and is rarely, if ever, adjusted.

HOLDING:

The General Electric Medical Systems Multiformat Camera is classifiable under subheading 9006.59.40, HTSUS, which provides
for: "[p]hotographic (other than cinematographic) cameras: [o]ther: [o]ther: [f]ixed focus." HQ 950411, dated March 2, 1992, is hereby affirmed.

Sincerely,


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