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HQ 965129




MARCH 26, 2002

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 965129 JAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8420.10.20

Port Director of Customs
610 S. Canal St.
Chicago, IL 60607

RE: Protest 3901-01-100279; UV Coating Machine

Dear Port Director:

This is our decision on Protest 3901-01-100279, filed on behalf of Printech Equipment, Inc., Richmond BC, Canada, against your classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), of a gripperless UV coating machine. The entry was liquidated on November 14, 2000, and this protest timely filed on February 8, 2001.

FACTS:

The machine at issue is the HUC-45 CSL gripperless UV coating machine. Submitted literature describes a modular component that utilizes rubber rollers to apply a surface coating to paper or paperboard sheet material. Its purpose is to make the paper product glossy or shiny so as to enhance its quality or appearance. The literature depicts the HUC-45 in tandem with feeder, cleaner, base coater, IR dryer, UV dryer and stacker components to make sheets in 12”x12” minimum size to 43”x 43” maximum size.

The machine was entered under a provision of heading 8441, HTSUS, as other machinery for making up paper pulp, paper or paperboard. On the belief that the HUC-45 performed a metalworking function, the entry was liquidated under a provision of heading 8462, HTSUS, as a machine tool for working metal. Because the HUC-45 performs a rolling function, heading 8420, HTSUS, calendering or other rolling machines, other than for metals or glass, is also under consideration.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

8420 Calendering or other rolling machines, other than for metals or glass and cylinders thereof:

Calendering and other rolling machines:

Calendering or similar rolling machines for making paper pulp, paper or paperboard

Other machinery for making up paper pulp, paper or paperboard, including cutting machines of all kinds:

8441.80.00 Other machinery

ISSUE:

Whether heading 8420 provides a more specific description for the HUC-45 than does heading 8441.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), goods are to be classified according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6. Chapter 84, Note 2, HTSUS, states, subject to certain exceptions not relevant here, that a machine or appliance which answers to a description in one or more of the headings 8401 to 8424 and at the same time to a description in one or more of the headings 8425 to 8480 is to be classified in the appropriate heading of the former group and not the latter.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. Though not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).

Initially, as the HUC-45 CSL does not perform a metalworking function, heading 8462 is not under consideration. The 84.20 ENs, on the other hand, state on p. 1441, that the heading covers calendering or other rolling machines, whether specialized for a particular industry or not. The machines of heading 8420 consist essentially of two or more parallel cylinders or rollers revolving with their surfaces in more or less close contact so as to perform, either by the pressure of the cylinders alone or by pressure combined with friction, heat or moisture, the application of dressings or surface coatings, among other operations. The HUC-45 appears to conform to this description.

The 84.41 ENs on p. 1500 state that heading includes machinery for cutting, together with all machinery for making up paper pulp, paper or paperboard after it has been manufactured. These include machines for cutting into required widths or into sheets of commercial sizes and those for the manufacture of various made-up articles. In our opinion, the HUC-45 CSL takes paper that has already been manufactured and makes it up into a special type of coated paper. This machine is described by the heading 8441 legal text.

The HUC-45 CSL is described both by heading 8420 and by heading 8441. However, because the machine answers to a description in one or more of the headings 8401 to 8424, Chapter 84, Note 2 requires that it be classified in the appropriate heading within that group.

HOLDING:

Under the authority of GRI 1 and Chapter 84, Note 2, HTSUS, the HUC-45 CSL UV coating machine is provided for in heading 8420. It is classifiable in subheading 8420.10.20, HTSUS.

Since the rate of duty under the provision we find applicable is the same as the rate for the claimed classification, the merchandise should be reclassified under subheading 8420.10.20, HTSUS, and the protest ALLOWED under that provision. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you are to mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.

Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to Customs personnel, and to the public on the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.customs.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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