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HQ 956789




November 30, 1994

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 956789 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9031.40.80; 8524.90.40

Mr. John N. Politis
Politis, Pollack & Doran
3255 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1688
Los Angeles, CA 90010

RE: Trackscan Inspection Equipment; Corresponding Software; Chapter 90, Note 3; Section XVI, Note 4; Functional Units; Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3; Optical Instruments; GRIs 3(a) and 6; Chapter 85, Note 6; HQs 955053, 084599, and 087455; NYs 856480 and 850619; 9027.50.40; 9031.80.00

Dear Mr. Politis:

This is in response to your letter of July 26, 1994, on behalf of Christopher Associates, Inc., concerning the classification of Trackscan inspection equipment under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise consists of Trackscan inspection equipment (models 3000 and 4000), used to inspect and detect faults in bare circuit boards. The Trackscan will detect nicks, pin-holes, spacing violations, and major surface irregularities such as dish-down and poor edge factors. Model 4000 operates in the same manner as model 3000; it is simply a newer version. There are six subsystems comprising the inspection equipment: a high intensity illuminator, a CCD camera assembly, a mechanical transport assembly, data processing hardware, a final data reduction and system control computer, and corresponding software.

The high intensity illuminator utilizes a 300 watt continuous Xenon lamp, the output of which, after filtering and focusing, is transmitted via a fibre optic cable to the circuit board under inspection. Among the components of the illuminator are four glass lenses and a beam splitter to illuminate the board. Reflected light from the board is transmitted to a CCD array where it is converted to electrical signals. The reflected light and the electrical signals distinguish between the copper circuitry on the circuit board and the non-copper substrate because of the difference in brightness. The mechanical system comprises an X-Y table arranged so that the table (Y axis) moves towards and away from the operator while the CCD camera (X axis) steps across the table in 3/4 inch steps. The electrical signals from the CCD line scan camera are processed to extract the netlist of the circuit board from the background data. Simultaneously, the machine generates further netlists of artificially modified images to detect track spacing violations. These netlists can then be compared with one another and with a master netlist stored in the system control computer to detect functional defects on the board. The final data reduction and control of all major functions, including operator interface, is handled by the system control computer. This is a high power work station which receives the netlist information from the data reduction hardware and performs the netlist comparisons as well as receiving the results of the artificial image comparison from the image analysis hardware. Any faults are ranked in order of fault severity and either displayed on the system CRT or transmitted to another file server computer for later off-line fault verification and/or rectification.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

9027.50.40: [i]nstruments and apparatus for physical or chemical analysis (for example, polarimeters, refractometers, spectrometers, gas or smoke analysis apparatus); instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking viscosity, porosity, expansion, surface tension or the like; instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking quantities of heat, sound or light (including exposure meters); microtomes; parts and accessories thereof: [o]ther instruments and apparatus using optical radiations (ultraviolet, visible, infrared): [e]lectrical.

The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 4.9 percent ad valorem.

9031.40.80: [m]easuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors; parts and accessories thereof: [o]ther optical instruments and appliances: [o]ther.

The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 10 percent ad valorem.

9031.80.00: [m]easuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors; parts and accessories thereof: [o]ther instruments, appliances and machines.

The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 4.9 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

Whether the Trackscan inspection equipment is classifiable under subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS, as other electrical instruments using optical radiations; under subheading 9031.80.00, HTSUS, as other measuring or checking instruments; or under subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS, as other optical measuring or checking instruments.

Whether the corresponding software is classifiable under subheading 8524.90.40, HTSUS, as other recorded media for sound or similarly recorded phenomena.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpetation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides that classification is determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. Chapter 90, note 3, HTSUS, states that:

[t]he provisions of note 4 to section XVI apply also to this chapter.

Section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, states that:

[w]here 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.

It is our position that the Trackscan inspection equipment, which consists of six interconnected subsystems, constitutes a functional unit. We must now determine the proper classification of the equipment in the heading appropriate to its function.

You cite HQ 955053, dated October 4, 1993, to demonstrate that the subject inspection equipment is classifiable under subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS. In that ruling, we held that a combination an ellipsometer and a spectrometer/ellipsometer was classifiable under subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS. We decided that the merchandise in that case, which used optical radiations for the physical analysis of films and complex structures, was similar in function to spectrometers and polarimeters, both specifically classifiable under subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS.

The subject inspection equipment is not similar in kind to the merchandise in HQ 955053. In HQ 084599, dated August 23, 1989, we held that VOD Probe-Blast Evaluator was not classifiable under subheading 9027, HTSUS, but under heading 9031, HTSUS. In that ruling, we stated that:

[b]ased on the language of heading 9027, the article in this case cannot be classified in that heading. Classification in 9027 requires that the instrument or apparatus be used to measure or check quantities of heat, sound or light. The VOD Probe-Blast Evaluator's function is to measure the detonation velocity of an explosion. Although light is used in the process, the unit does not measure quantities of light as required by heading 9027. Assessing the detonation velocity of explosives involves measuring the time delay that occurs when the light, which is caused by the explosion, hits each fibre optic probe, and the specified probe spacing.

The Trackscan inspection equipment does not perform a chemical or physical analysis of samples as required under heading 9027, HTSUS. The function of the Trackscan is to detect and inspect faults or flaws in circuit boards by illuminating those flaws through the use of reflective light, not to measure the quantities of light. Although light is used in that process, the equipment's function is not described by any of the articles of heading 9027, HTSUS.

Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3, HTSUS, states that:

[f]or 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.

We find that, under chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3, HTSUS, the Trackscan inspection equipment, for classification purposes, is optical instruments. It is our understanding that the CCD camera assembly and the additional glass lenses are essential to the equipment working properly. Because the inspection equipment could not operate without the optical devices, those devices perform a primary function, not a subsidiary one.

Inasmuch as the Trackscan is not classifiable under heading 9027, HTSUS, we must look at heading 9031, HTSUS.

GRI 3(a) states that:

[t]he heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. . .

GRI 6 states that:

[f]or legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandi, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.

The two provisions under heading 9031, HTSUS, are subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS, which provides for other optical measuring checking instruments, and subheading 9031.80.00, HTSUS, which provides for other measuring or checking instruments. Because subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS, is limited to optical instruments, it is our position that it more specifically describes the inspection equipment, which contains optical devices.

Therefore, the Trackscan inspection equipment is classifiable under subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS. For rulings classifying similar merchandise under subheading 9031.40.00, HTSUS (the predecessor to subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS), see HQ 087455, dated October 2, 1990; NY 856480, dated October 19, 1990; and NY 850619, dated April 18, 1990.

With regard to the classification of the software, chapter 85, note 6, HTSUS, states that:

[r]ecords, tapes and other media of heading 8523 or 8524 remain classified in those headings, whether or not they are entered with the apparatus for which they are intended.

Based upon chapter 85, note 6, HTSUS, the corresponding software for the Trackscan is classifiable under subheading 8524.90.40, HTSUS, which provides for other recorded media for sound or similarly recorded phenomena.

HOLDING:

The Trackscan inspection equipment is classifiable under subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS, as other optical measuring or checking instruments.

The corresponding software is classifiable under subheading 8524.90.40, HTSUS, as other recorded media for sound or similarly recorded phenomena.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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