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NY H89389





April 9, 2002

CLA-2-84:RR:NC:1:110 H89389

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8473.40.8000

Mr. Michael Fung
Siemens Shared Services, LLC
186 Wood Avenue South
Iselin, NJ 08830

RE: The tariff classification of toner canisters and developer bottles from Japan or Spain.

Dear Mr. Fung:

In your letter dated March 12, 2002, on behalf of your client Oce Printing Systems U.S.A., Inc. you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The merchandise under consideration is “Toner A2.5” and “Toner A2.6” toner canisters, and “Developer A1.5” and “Developer B1.6” developer bottles. The canisters and bottles are for use with the Oce PageStream and DemandStream high-speed printers. Samples of toner canisters and developer bottles were submitted with your ruling request along with operating manuals for the Oce PageStream printers. All samples except for the “Developer A1.5” will be returned to you. The toner canisters and developer bottles are said to be unique bottle dispensers that are patented by Oce for use exclusively in the PageStream and DemandStream printers. These printers are developed specially for centralized production printing in host and network environments. These are large printers for print-on-demand environments. Typical applications include: book publishing, commercial print and in plant graphics, reference and training material, financial documents, personalized publishing, transaction documents, personalized marketing, retail/wholesale and applications. The canisters are made of molded plastic housings that are used as a reservoir for the toner and developer. They are engineered in terms of size, shape, and surface contact characteristics, to interface and engage with the toner suction assemblies of various Oce printers. The unique dispenser bottles are the primary source of delivering toner into the printers. The toner canisters and developer bottles are sold with the toner and developer inside.

The toner canisters fit into a mechanical cartridge housing in the printer. The canisters are configured only to operate with the specially designed configuration of the Oce printers. The toner canisters remain with the printer until the toner is used up. When the toner runs out of these canisters, the entire canister is replaced, and the empty canister is discarded or may be used to replace the Waste Toner Collector in the printers. The “Toner A2.5” and “Toner A2.6” toner canisters are the primary source of delivering toner into the Oce PageStream printers. The toner canisters are not designed to be refill with new toner.

Section XVI, Note 2 states in part:

Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to chapter 84 and to note 1 to chapter 85, parts of machinesare to be classified according to the following rules:

(b) Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same headingare to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings 8517 and 8525 to 8528 are to be classified in heading 8517;

The applicable subheading for the Oce “Toner A2.5” and “Toner A2.6” toner cartridges will be 8473.40.8000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for “Parts and accessoriessuitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8469 to 8472: Parts and accessories of the machines of heading 8472: Parts and accessories of the goods of subheading 8472.90.80.” The rate of duty will be free.

We are rejecting your request for a classification ruling for the “Developer A1.5” and “Developer B1.6” developer bottles, and any related samples, exhibits, etc., because we need additional information in order to issue a ruling on these items. Please submit the additional information indicated below:

A Sample of the “Developer B1.6” developer bottle and other pictorial representation of it, which was not submitted with this ruling request.

Please clarify your claim with regard to the developer bottles that they remain in the printer while it is operating. According to the submitted literature, these bottles appear to be emptied and discarded. They also do not appear to have any special connectors, which allow them to mate with the machine. They appear to have a standard twist off lid. When this information is available, you may wish to consider resubmission of your request.

If you decide to resubmit your request, please include all of the material that we have returned to you and mail your request to U.S. Customs, Customs Information Exchange, 10th Floor, One Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10119, attn: Binding Rulings Section.

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 above, contact National Import Specialist Eileen S. Kaplan at 646-733-3016.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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