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HQ 225808





May 9, 1995

CON-9-03/CON-9-09-R:C:E 225808 CC

CATEGORY: ENTRY

Anthony Ferguson
Rolls Royce Inc.
Concorde Centre, Suite 113
22660 Executive Drive
Sterling, VA 20166

RE: Applicability of subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS; temporary importation under bond; testing aircraft engine equipment

Dear Mr. Ferguson:

This is in reply to your letter of November 3, 1994, concerning the temporary importation under bond for the testing of aircraft engine equipment.

FACTS:

You state that Rolls Royce will be importing a prototype civil aircraft turbojet engine for high altitude testing. You also state that the engine will meet the criteria for entry under subheading 9813.00.30 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

You have inquired whether the imported equipment used to conduct and support the testing meets the criteria for "test purposes" under subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS. In your submission, the following is listed as the equipment to be imported: electrical measuring and checking apparatus; photographic equipment; videos and sound recorders; data processing equipment; video monitors; engine cradles; lifting beams; trolleys; pylons; tooling fixtures; gantries; miscellaneous tooling; and engine - spare parts and accessories to effect repairs as necessary.

According to your submission, the imported merchandise will be used solely for testing the imported engine and will not be sold or offered for sale while in the U.S. It will be exported to Great Britain within three years from the date of importation.

ISSUE:

Whether the subject merchandise is eligible for temporary importation under bond under subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS, provides for articles intended solely for testing, experimental, or review purposes, including specifications, photographs and similar articles for use in connection with experiments or for study. Articles provided for under subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS, may be entered duty-free, temporarily, under bond for their exportation within one year from the date of importation unless an extension for one or more additional periods, which when added to the initial period does not exceed three years, is granted by the district director. See U.S. Note 1(a) of subchapter XIII, Chapter 98, HTSUS.

Concerning the issue of testing, we stated in HQ 223971, dated May 22, 1992, the following:

Articles may be entered under subheading
9813.00.30, HTSUS, when there is an intention to test the article itself, or when the imported articles or merchandise are imported to be used as the raw material in testing another domestic or imported article. However, free entry is not available for importation of articles which, rather than being tested themselves, are imported to measure the performance of other articles. Generally, the Customs Service has interpreted the provision to preclude purely market tests as being eligible.

Based on the information you provided, the merchandise to be imported is testing equipment. The imported merchandise is not itself to be tested, nor is it used as the raw material in testing another domestic or imported article. Instead, the subject merchandise will be imported to measure the performance of another article, the turbojet engine. Consequently, the subject merchandise does not meet the requirements to be imported temporarily, under bond, under subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS.

There is a possibility that entry would be permitted under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, which provides for the temporary entry free, under bond, of professional equipment, tools of trade, repair components for equipment or tools admitted under this heading and camping equipment, imported by or for nonresidents sojourning temporarily in the United States and for use of such nonresidents.

Under Note 1(b) of Subchapter XIII, entry shall be made by the nonresident importing the articles or by an organization represented by the nonresident which is established under the laws of a foreign country or has its principal place of business in a foreign country. Customs has consistently held that entry under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, is personal to the nonresident and is nontransferable and terminates when the nonresident ceases to use the imported merchandise. See, e.g., HQ 223970, dated September 22, 1992.

There is insufficient information available for us to determine whether the subject merchandise is eligible for temporary importation under bond under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS. We are enclosing a copy of the pertinent Customs regulations relating to TIB (19 CFR 10.31-40) and a pamphlet on TIB.

HOLDING:

The subject merchandise is not eligible for temporary importation under bond under subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS.

Sincerely,

William G. Rosoff

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