United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule
faqs.org  Rulings By Number  Rulings By Category  Tariff Numbers
faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 1997 HQ Rulings > HQ 951774 - HQ 952505 > HQ 952442

Previous Ruling Next Ruling
HQ 952442




October 5, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 952442 LTO

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8438.90.90

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
610 South Canal Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607

RE: IA 46/92; Dies and Roll Shells for animal feed pelletizing machinery; 8436; EN 84.36; EN 84.38

Dear Sir:

This is in reference to your undated memorandum [MAN-1- CO:CH:CT308. JB], which concerned the classification of dies and roll shells for pelletizing machinery under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). By letter, dated March 12, 1992, the importer, Technostaal Schouten Inc., through their customhouse broker, Air Express International, requested internal advice regarding the classification of the above merchandise. Our decision follows.

FACTS:

The articles in question are dies and roll shells used on pelletizing machines. Pelletizing machines mold animal feed ingredients from loose form into a pelleted final product through the application of mechanical compression.

The Internal Advice applicant contends that the dies and roll shells are classifiable under subheading 8436.99.00, HTSUS, which provides for parts of other agricultural machinery for preparing animal feeds.

ISSUE:

Whether the dies and roll shells used in machinery for pelletizing animal feed are classifiable as parts of other agricultural machinery for preparing animal feeds.

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 that "for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes . . . ."

The headings at issue are as follows:

8436 Other agricultural, horticultural, forestry, poultry-keeping or bee- keeping machinery, . . . parts thereof

8438 Machinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, for the industrial preparation or manufacture of food or drink, . . . parts thereof

The articles in question are parts of pelletizing machinery. In a telephone conversation with Customs (New York Seaport), the importer stated that while some of their pelletizers are used on very large farms, their main market is to industrial producers of animal feed, such as Purina and Tyson, for use in large scale, commercial feed mills.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Note (EN) to Heading 8436, pg. 1217, states that the heading covers machinery "which is of the type used on farms (including agricultural schools, co-operatives or testing stations), in forestry, market gardens, or poultry-keeping or bee-keeping farms or the like. However, it excludes machines clearly of a kind designed for industrial use [emphasis in original]." Inasmuch as the pelletizing machines are for the industrial preparation of animal feed, the machines and the parts thereof are excluded from Heading 8436, HTSUS.

EN 84.38, pg. 1222, states that Heading 8438, HTSUS, "covers machinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this Chapter, for the industrial preparation or manufacture of food or drink (whether for immediate consumption or preserving, and whether for human or animal consumption) . . . [emphasis in original]." The dies and roll shells are parts of pelletizing machinery used to mold animal feed ingredients from loose form into a pelleted final product through the application of mechanical compression. The dies and roll shells are parts of machinery for the - 3 -
industrial preparation or manufacture of food for animal consumption, and they are classifiable under subheading 8438.90.90, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The dies and roll shells are classifiable under subheading 8438.90.90, HTSUS, which provides for "[m]achinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, for the industrial preparation or manufacture of food or drink, . . . parts thereof . . . [p]arts . . . [o]ther." The corresponding rate of duty for articles of this subheading is 3.5% ad valorem.

The Internal Advice applicant should be advised of this decision.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: