HQ 957599 - Protest 1703-95-100030; Screw Press; Machinery for Making Pulp of Fibrous Cellulosic Material; Filtering or Purifying Machinery and Apparatus for Liquids; Headings 8421 and 8439; EN 84.21; HQs 073775 and 088848; NYs 851544 and 860231 - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 957599

August 29, 1995

CLA-2 R:C:M 957599 RFA

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8421.29.00

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
1 East Bay Street
Savannah, GA 31401

RE: Protest 1703-95-100030; Screw Press; Machinery for Making Pulp of Fibrous Cellulosic Material; Filtering or Purifying Machinery and Apparatus for Liquids; Headings 8421 and 8439; EN 84.21; HQs 073775 and 088848; NYs 851544 and 860231

Dear District Director:

The following is our decision regarding Protest 1703-95-100030, which concerns the classification of the Tasster Model FB 525 screw press under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The subject merchandise is the Tasster Model FB 525 screw press which is the extruder screw press in sludge dewatering equipment. Dewatering and compaction are performed in the screw press attached to the bottom of a vertical chamber. The screw press is within a horizontal cylinder containing: an extruder drive; an extruder feed screw; a filtrate outlet; a self-cleaning screen; an extruder screw; a compacted sludge outlet; an outlet valve; air bellows support; and a purge valve. Before reaching the screw press, sludge is settled and thickened in a vertical chamber (which was not entered with the screw press). The dewatering and compaction of the sludge are performed in the screw press attached to the bottom of the vertical chamber and surrounded by a cylindrical screen converging to the outlet valve. The valve counterbalances the hydrostatic pressure in the chamber and that generated by the extruder. By changing the pressure at the outlet valve, it is possible to regulate the compaction within the extruder and the dryness of the finished product. The screw press thereby concentrates waste sludge so that the sludge can be burned to produce energy. This energy is then used to operate a pulp or paper mill.

The merchandise was entered under subheading 8439.10.00, HTSUS, as machinery for making pulp of fibrous cellulosic material. The entry was liquidated on December 23, 1994, under subheading 8421.29.00, HTSUS, as other filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids. The protest was timely filed on March 7, 1995.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

8421.29.00: Centrifuges, including centrifugal dryers; filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus, for liquids or gases . . . : [f]iltering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids: [o]ther. . . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of 3.9 percent ad valorem.

8439.10.00 Machinery for making pulp of fibrous cellulosic material or for making or finishing paper or paperboard (other than the machinery of heading 8419). . . : [m]achinery for making pulp of fibrous cellulosic material. . . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of free.

ISSUE:

Whether the screw press is classifiable as other filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids, or as machinery for making pulp of fibrous cellulosic material, under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN) constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 FR 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). EN 84.21, pages 1181-1182, states that:

(II) FILTERING OR PURIFYING MACHINERY AND APPARATUS, FOR LIQUIDS OR GASES

Much of the filtration or purification plant of this heading is purely static equipment with no moving parts. The heading covers filters and purifiers of all types (physical or mechanical, chemical, magnetic, electro-magnetic, electrostatic, etc.). The heading covers not only large industrial plant, but also filters for internal combustion engines and small domestic appliances. The heading does not, however, include filter funnels, milk strainers, vessels, tanks, etc., simply equipped with metallic gauze or other straining material, nor general purpose vessels, tanks, etc., even if intended for use as filters after insertion of a layer of gravel, sand, charcoal, etc.

The liquid filters of this group separate solid, fatty, colloidal, etc., particles from a liquid, for example, by passing it through a sheet, membrane or mass of porous material (e.g., cloth, felt, wire-cloth, skin, stoneware, porcelain, kieselguhr, sintered metallic powders, asbestos, paper pulp, cellulose, charcoal, animal black, sand). In the treatment of drinking water, some of these materials (e.g., porcelain and charcoal) remove bacteria, etc., in the process of filtration, filters using these materials are therefore sometimes called "water purifiers". Filters are also used to eliminate liquids from materials in the form of a slurry (e.g., from ceramic materials or ore concentrates). The heading covers liquid filters whether of the gravity, suction (or vacuum) or pressure types.

(5) Filter presses. These consist of a horizontal series of filtering chambers formed by readily detachable vertical filter plates and frames; these are covered by a filtering medium (cloth, cellulose, etc.), and are held in place by a screw or press mechanism. The liquid is forced through the cells by a pump, and the chambers may be heated internally by steam, etc. The filtrate is drawn from the press and the residue collects in cakes between the plates. Filter presses are used for filtering or clarifying many liquids (e.g., in the chemical industry, the sugar industry, in brewing, wine making, oil purification, ore concentration, in the manufacture of ceramics, man-made textiles, etc.).

Under the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), the precursor to the HTSUS, we have consistently held that screw press/dewatering machines were classifiable under item 661.95, TSUS (the precursor provision to subheading 8421.29.00, HTSUS), which provided for filtering and purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids or gases. See HQ 073775 (March 22, 1984), and HQ 088848 (May 30, 1991). Congress has indicated that earlier rulings must not be disregarded in applying the Harmonized Code. The conference report to the Omnibus Trade Bill states that on a case by case basis prior decisions should be considered instructive in interpreting the HTSUS, particularly where the nomenclature previously interpreted in those decisions remains unchanged and no dissimilar interpretation is required by the text of the HTSUS. H.Rep No. 576, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. 548 (1988) at 550.

The description for filtering and purifying machinery and apparatus under the HTSUS does not materially differ from item 661.95, TSUS. Based upon the prior rulings and the guidance in the language of EN 84.21, we find that the screw press is classifiable under subheading 8421.29.00, HTSUS, which provides for other filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids. See also NY 851544, dated May 1, 1990; NY 860231, dated February 19, 1991.

The importer argues that the merchandise should be classified under heading 8439, HTSUS, as machinery for making pulp of fibrous cellulosic material. According to the information provided, the subject merchandise is producing waste sludge which is burned in order to create energy. The subject screw press is not used in the actual making of pulp of fibrous cellulosic material. Therefore, we find that the classification of the screw press under heading 8439, HTSUS, is precluded because it does not meet the terms of the heading.

HOLDING:

For the foregoing reasons, the screw press is classifiable under subheading 8421.29.00, HTSUS, as other filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids.

The protest should be DENIED. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, should be mailed by your office to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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