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 > 1998 NY Rulings > NY NY82 - NY NY855 > NY NY828

Previous Ruling Next Ruling


NY C88238


July 14, 1998

CLA-2-84:RR:NC:1:103 C88238

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: Various

Mr. Patrick D. Gill

Ms. Eleanore Kelly-Kobayashi

Rode & Qualey

295 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10017

RE: The tariff classification of the HaystackTM Automated Compound Management System from the United Kingdom and Switzerland

Dear Mr. Gill and Ms. Kelly-Kobayashi:

In your letter dated May 20, 1998 on behalf of Bristol-Myers Squibb you requested a tariff classification ruling. You submitted additional information regarding this prospective transaction in letters dated June 4, 1998 and June 30, 1998.

The HaystackTM is an automated modular system for the storage, retrieval, and preparation of very large numbers of chemical compounds and dissolved samples used in pharmaceutical research. A researcher places an order for a controlled quantity of a specific compound by means of a computer interconnected to the HaystackTM system database. The HaystackTM system automatically obtains the desired compound from the storage module, prepares a specific amount of the compound, and makes the compound available to the researcher. The system is sold in various configurations, depending on the needs of the customer, and can include modules which store, weigh out, make solutions and retrieve minute samples for screening.

The particular system your client intends to import will basically consist of the following modules:

Dry compound store;

Microtube store;

Microtitre plate store;

Six manual dispensing (weighing) stations;

Solubilization unit; and

Twenty-eight computers.

Each bottle containing a chemical compound is assigned a bar code identification which is recorded in the HaystackTM database. The bottles are then loaded onto trays and transferred to the dry compound store. Utilizing robots and conveyors, the trays are unloaded onto automated carrousels and the samples are transferred to storage racks. The sample's bar code ID is utilized to keep track of its location in the storage rack.

When a sample is requested, the robot retrieves the appropriate bottle and conveyors bring it to the weighing stations (which you refer to as manual powder dispensers) so that the precise quantity needed by the researcher can be obtained (in your letter of June 4, 1998 you stated that the HaywainTM, an automated powder dispensing unit, was previously imported by your client and is currently operating independently; this unit subsequently will be integrated with the balance of the modules). The weighing stations each consist of a computer display and a digital scale accurate to within 0.1 mg. The display indicates to the operator the amount of compound needed, and the operator manually dispenses the powder onto the scale until the desired amount is reached. The weight is automatically recorded in the HaystackTM system. The operator then fills a container with the compound and inputs this data to update the inventory records.

The powder is then transported to the solubilization module. Based on information previously stored in the HaystackTM system, the correct amount of solvent is automatically dispensed and mixed with the compound. A display unit tells the operator what types of microtubes and microtitre plates to load into the module. The solubilized powders are automatically dispensed onto the plates or into the tubes, as appropriate.

The microtubes, which are held in racks, are carried to the microtube store module where, as in the dry compound store, robots and conveyors are used to move the racks into storage and the rack's bar code ID is recorded. The microtitre plates are transferred to the microtitre plate store module. By scanning the bar code on the plates, the operator is instructed as to where to place the samples in the unit's rolling storage drawers for subsequent retrieval by the researcher.

The activities of the HaystackTM system are controlled by a complex system of 28 computers which link all of the modules together. The computers consist of:

5 PCs which control the dry compound store (4 bottle unit control PCs and 1 bottle store control PC);

5 PCs which control the microtube store (4 tube unit control PCs and 1 tube store control PC);

4 PCs (mounted in a rack with one monitor/keyboard/mouse set with a switchbox) which control the plate store;

6 PCs which control the manual dispensing (weighing) units;

2 database servers, which track the location and status of all the vessels and operations in the HaystackTM system;

1 system PC and a 1 doorman PC, which act as the interface between the HaystackTM system and the Bristol-Myers Squibb computer network;

1 maintenance PC, used for daily back-up operations;

1 supervisor workstation; and

2 handheld portable maintenance PCs incorporating a flat display and a stylus input device.

The two database servers are in a tower format and each has its own monitor, keyboard and mouse. The rack-mounted system and doorman PCs are in a desktop format and they utilize a switchbox to share monitor, keyboard and mouse with one of the plate store PCs. The dedicated software needed to operate the HaystackTM system will be imported either on diskettes or on the hard disk drives of the computers. The software is not available on CD, and has no sound or image capabilities.

You contend the HaystackTM system is a functional unit and is classifiable in heading 8428, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery. You point out that subheadings within heading 8428 provide for automated transport, handling and storage machinery, which are also the functions performed by the HaystackTM. You also cite the Explanatory Notes to Section XVI, note 4, which gives several examples of functional units you believe are pertinent.

Alternatively, if not forming a functional unit, you claim the modules are individually classifiable as follows:

The dry compound store, microtitre plate store, and microtube store in subheading 8428.39.80, HTS, which provide for other continuous-action elevators and conveyors, for goods or materials, or in subheading 8428.90.80, HTS, which provides for other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery;

The solubilization unit in subheading 8422.30.90, as other machinery for filling, closing, sealing or labeling bottles, cans, boxes, bags or other containers, or in subheading 8479.82.00, HTS, as other machines and mechanical appliances: mixing...homogenizing, emulsifying or stirring machines;

The manual dispensing (weighing) machines in subheading 9016.00.60, HTS, as other balances of a sensitivity of 5 cg or better, with or without weights;

The various computers, even if intended to work in conjunction with the other modules, in subheading 8471.49.10, HTS, as other digital automatic processing machines entered in the form of systems;

The software in heading 8524, HTS, as records, tapes and other recorded media for sound or other similarly recorded phenomena....

In our opinion the HaystackTM system your client intends to import is not a functional unit. Note 4 to section XVI states:

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.

The main function performed by the HaystackTM system is not handling and storage but preparation of a controlled quantity of a specific compound tailored to the requirements of the requestor. Sample preparation (including weighing and solubilization) is not a function encompassed within the terms of heading 8428. While you claim that any functions other than handling and storage are auxiliary, these other functions are essential in order for the HaystackTM system to operate as intended. As the HaystackTM does not perform a single, clearly defined function covered by one of the headings of chapter 84 or chapter 85, it cannot be classified as a functional unit (the Customs Service has previously ruled that functional units cannot be classified in heading 8479, which provides for machines and mechanical appliances, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in chapter 84 - see Ruling Letters HQ 958629 dated Feb. 21, 1996 and HQ 958641 dated Apr. 29, 1996).

The various modules are thus separately classifiable in their own appropriate headings:

The dry compound store, consisting of robots, conveyors, and automated storage units controlled by 5 PCs, does form a functional unit used to transport, handle and store compounds. The applicable subheading for this module, including the PCs, imported together in a single shipment, will be 8428.90.80, HTS, which provides for other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery: other machinery: other. The rate of duty will be 0.4 percent ad valorem. This same classification also applies to the microtube store and microtitre plate store and their computer controllers, imported in a single shipment, as each likewise forms a functional unit for transport, handling and storage.

In our opinion the main function of the solubilization module is the mixing of the solvent with the compound in order to solubilize the compound. As mixing is not a function encompassed by the terms of heading 8422, the solubilization module cannot be classified in subheading 8422.30.90, as you suggested. The applicable subheading for the solubilization module will be 8479.82.00, HTS, which provides for machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere (in chapter 84): other machines and mechanical appliances: mixing...homogenizing, emulsifying or stirring machines. The rate of duty will be 0.7 percent ad valorem.

Per your June 4 letter, the "signals" of the scales of the manual dispensing units "are digital". We take that to mean that the outputs of the sensor elements of the scales are electrical currents which are in digital, not analog, format. Therefore, they are not "electrical" apparatus so your proposed alternative classification in 9016.00.60 does apply. They are classifiable in HTS 9016.00.6000, dutiable at 4 percent ad valorem, as balances of a sensitivity better that 5 cg, which are neither jeweler`s balances nor "electrical".

The two database servers are basically tower format units that include a processor, monitor, keyboard and mouse. The doorman and system PCs, as well as the maintenance PC and the supervisor workstation, are in a desktop format and also incorporate a monitor, keyboard and mouse. As these meet the definition of a "system" per subheading note 1 to chapter 84, the applicable classification and rate of duty will be as follows:

Article HTS Class. Duty Rate

Processor 8471.49.1095 Free

Monitor 8471.49.2600 0.5 percent

Keyboard 8471.49.2100 Free

Mouse 8471.49.4895 Free

The two handheld maintenance PCs are basically portable PCs which have a windows screen on a flat panel display with a stylus input device. The applicable subheading for these articles will be 8471.30.0000, HTS, which provides for portable digital automatic data processing machines. The rate of duty will be 1.4 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for the software diskettes will be 8524.91.00, HTS, which provides for records, tapes and other recorded media for sound or other similarly recorded phenomena...: other: for reproducing phenomena other than sound or image. The duty rate will be 1.3¢ per square meter of recording surface. The software which will be imported on a computer hard disk drive will be classifiable in subheading 8524.99.90, HTS, which provides for records, tapes and other recorded media for sound or other similarly recoded phenomena... other: other: other. The duty rate will be 1.9¢ per square meter of recording surface.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Alan Horowitz at 212-466-5494.

Sincerely,


Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: