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HQ 952744


January 5, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 952744 EJD

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO: 9013.80.60

Mr. Patrick K. McCooey
Manager, Customs Clearance
Mitsubishi International Corporation
520 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10022

RE: Himawari, Sunlight Collection and Transmission System; Subheadings 9001.10.00, 9002.19.00, 9405.50.40; Chapter 90, note 3; Additional U.S. Note 3 to Chapter 90; Section XVI, note 4

Dear Mr. McCooey:

This is in response to your letters dated August 10, and September 4, 1992, to Customs in New York concerning the tariff classification of the Himawari, a sunlight collection and transmission system, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your letter was forwarded to this office for a response.

FACTS:

The Himawari, a sunlight collection and transmission system, is made in Japan. The Himawari System consists of an acrylic dome, a sun collector (a series of Fresnel lenses arranged in a honeycomb pattern and mounted in a housing), a sun sensor, a light receiving component, a rotation motor, and a control unit. The Himawari System is imported with optical fiber cables.

The Himawari System works in the following manner. The sun collector focuses sunlight onto a fiber optic cable. The light is carried over the cable to a fixture which is a reflector, not a bulb or similar item. The purpose is to transmit sunlight from outside to indoor locations. The sun collector focuses sunlight into exactly one optical fiber cable. These thin, flexible optical fibers then transmit this light to wherever it is needed. When sunlight passes through the Fresnel lens, chromatic aberration occurs, causing different wavelengths of sunlight-- ultraviolet, visible, and infrared (heat)--to be at different distances from the lens. When the input end of the optical fiber is placed at focus of the visible light rays, only the visible light rays enter the optical fiber, and most of the ultraviolet radiation and infrared radiation are eliminated.

The Himawari System has an internal clock mechanism used to calculate the position of the sun; the rotation motor moves the Himawari's lenses in the direction of the sun. The Himawari System works only in the daylight. After sunset, the Himawari System shuts off and positions itself for the next morning sunrise.

You maintain that the Himawari System with optical fiber cables would be separately classified under the HTSUS. You believe that the optical fiber cables should be classified as such under subheading 9001.10.00, HTSUS, with a rate of duty of 8.4 percent ad valorem. You believe that the Himawari System should be classified as lenses under subheading 9002.19.00, HTSUS, with a rate of duty of 6.6 percent ad valorem. In the alternative, you ask that the Himawari System be classified as a non-electric lamp under subheading 9405.50.40, HTSUS, with a rate of duty of 7.6 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

What is the classification of this merchandise under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

Chapter 90, HTSUS, provides for optical instruments and apparatus. Additional U.S. Note 3 to Chapter 90, HTSUS, provides:

For the purposes of this chapter, the terms "optical appliances" and "optical instruments" refer only to those appliances and instruments which incorporate one or more optical elements, but do not include any appliances or instruments in which the incorporated optical element or elements are solely for viewing a scale or for some other subsidiary purpose.

The Himawari System meets the requirements of optical appliances and optical instruments under Additional U.S. Note 3 to Chapter 90, HTSUS. It contains one or more optical elements which are not solely for viewing a scale or for some other subsidiary purpose to its function. Further, it is not elsewhere described under the HTSUS.

In our opinion, the Himawari System consisting of the acrylic dome, sun collector (Fresnel lenses), sun sensor, light receiving component, rotation motor, and control unit is classified under subheading 9013.80.60, HTSUS, which provides for

Liquid crystal devices not constituting articles provided for more specifically in other headings; lasers, other than laser diodes; other optical appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts and accessories thereof...[o]ther devices, appliances and instruments...[o]ther,
with a rate of duty of 9 percent ad valorem.

The question as to whether the Himawari System and the optical fiber cables are classifiable separately is answered by Chapter 90, Note 3, HTSUS. It states that:

The provisions of note 4 to section XVI apply also to this chapter.

Section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, states that:

Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in chapter 84 or chapter 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function.

Therefore, for classification purposes, under chapter 90, note 3, HTSUS, and section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, the Himawari System with the optical fiber cable is a functional unit classifiable together under subheading 9013.80.60, HTSUS.

You expressed the opinion that the Himawari System should be classified under subheading 9002.19.00, HTSUS, which provides for:

Lenses, prisms, mirrors and other optical elements, of any material, mounted, being parts of or fittings for instruments or apparatus, other than such elements of glass not optically worked; parts and accessories thereof... [o]bjective lenses and parts and accessories thereof... [o]ther.

Inasmuch as the Himawari System consists of several articles in addition to the mounted Fresnel lenses, subheading 9002.19.00, HTSUS, cannot apply.

With regard to your alternative claim, subheading 9405.50.40, HTSUS, provides for:

Lamps and lighting fittings including searchlights and spotlights and parts thereof, not elsewhere specified or included; illuminated signs, illuminated nameplates and the like, having a permanently fixed light source,and parts thereof not elsewhere specified or included...[n]on- electrical lamps and lighting fittings...[o]ther...[o]ther.

The purpose of the Himawari System is to collect and transmit sunlight to an indoor location. It does not have the capacity to store sunlight, nor does it covert sunlight to electricity. It is not a lamp or a lighting fitting, but is a means to transmit visible light from the sun to the light receiving component. Therefore, it can not be classified as a non-electric lamp.

HOLDING:

The Himawari System with optic fiber cables is classifiable under subheading 9013.80.60, HTSUS, which provides for other optical appliances or devices.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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