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HQ 967268




November 5, 2004

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 967268 NSH

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7020.00.6000

Mr. David C. Williams, Esq.
8 Brook Lane
Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567

RE: Acid waste drain and vent piping system

Dear Mr. Williams:

This is in response to your request dated July 14, 2004, to the Director, National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, on behalf of your client, Schott North America, Inc., concerning the classification of an acid waste drain and vent piping system under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your letter was forwarded to this office for a response.

FACTS:

The merchandise at issue is an acid waste drain and vent piping system that is exclusively used for the disposal of waste material associated with the production and handling of hazardous chemicals and pharmaceutical products. According to the information provided, this type of system is installed in laboratory facilities which typically handle these waste materials, such as university science buildings, research centers, hospitals, and similar locations where corrosive materials with a pH of 5.5 or lower must be properly disposed of. In operation, hazardous materials are drained from the above referenced facilities and transported to a dilution or neutralization device.

The system is composed of corrosion-resistant beaded borosilicate glass pipes/tubes and fittings. Straight lengths of glass tubes measuring either five or ten feet in length are imported, as are blister packed kits containing, for example, S-shaped and Y-shaped glass tubes, as well as all fittings, couplings, sealing rings and assemblies, all of which are specifically tailored for the individual customer’s facility.

ISSUE:

Whether the acid waste drain and vent piping system is classified as glass tubes of heading 7002, HTSUS, or laboratory, hygienic or pharmaceutical glassware of heading 7017, HTSUS, or other articles of glass of heading 7020, HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Merchandise is classifiable under the HTSUS in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the remaining GRIs.

The Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level. The ENs, although neither dispositive nor legally binding, facilitate classification by providing 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.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

Glass in balls (other than microspheres of heading 7018), rods or tubes, unworked:

Tubes:

7002.39.00 Other

Laboratory, hygienic or pharmaceutical glassware, whether or not graduated or calibrated:

Other:

Other

Other articles of glass:

7020.00.60 Other

You urge that classification should be under subheading 7020.00.60, HTSUS. Used exclusively in laboratory facilities and designed specifically for removing corrosive waste products from them, the importation of this system comprises two forms: straight lengths of glass tubes measuring either five or ten feet in length and imported in bulk, and blister packed kits designed for specific customers, each of which contains various-shaped glass tubes and all fittings, couplings, sealing rings and assemblies necessary to complete the system.

EN 70.20 states, in pertinent part, that:

This heading covers glass articles (including glass parts of articles) not covered by other headings of this Chapter or of other Chapters of the Nomenclature.

These articles remain here even if combined with materials other than glass, provided they retain the essential character of glass articles. The heading includes:

(1) Industrial articles such as S-shaped tubes; ; guttering and drains for corrosive products

We note initially that heading 7020, HTSUS, is a basket provision. Therefore, inasmuch as EN 70.20 makes reference to “S-shaped tubes,” and drains for corrosive products, descriptions that describe the instant merchandise, we must first examine the other provisions which would take precedence over heading 7020, HTSUS, if applicable.

Heading 7017, HTSUS, applies to laboratory, hygienic or pharmaceutical glassware and EN 70.17 states, in pertinent part, that:

This heading covers glass articles of a kind in general use in laboratories (research, pharmaceutical, industrial, etc.), including special bottles (gas washing, reagent, Woulf’s, etc.), special tubes (gas washing, drying, condensation, filter, gas burettes, test-tubes, etc.), stirrers, distilling flasks, graduated jars, culture flasks (Kolle, Roux, etc.), burettes of all kinds, evaporating dishes, volumetric flasks, special bell-jars and receivers (vacuum, necked, etc.), special dropping bottles (calibrated, etc.), retorts, crystallizing dishes, drying cylinders, filter plates and discs, spoons, desiccators, dialyzers, adapters, condensers, receivers for distillation apparatus, special funnels (with stop-cock, bulb-shaped funnels, etc.), cylinders, crucibles, filter crucibles, special flasks (conical, multi-necked, etc.), special spirit burners, mortars, weighing boats, pipetes, vacuum vessels of various specialized typeswash-bottles, stop cocks, spatulas, jars (filtering, precipitating, multinecked, etc.), muffles, crucible support plates, microscope slides and cover glasses, etc.

The expression “hygienic or pharmaceutical glassware” refers to articles of general use not requiring the services of a practitioner. The heading therefore covers, inter alia, nozzles (for syringes, enemas, etc.), urinals, bed pans, chamber pots, spittoons, cupping-glasses, breast relieverseye-baths, inhalers and tongue depressors. Spools for winding surgical catgut are also included

Articles of this heading may be graduated or calibrated. They may be made of ordinary glass (particularly for pharmaceutical or hygienic purposes), but laboratory glassware is frequently of borosilicate glass, fused quartz or other fused silica because of the greater chemical stability and low coefficient of expansion of such glass.

This heading excludes:
chemists’ special display bottles and glassware of a kind used for industrial purposes (heading 70.20).

HQ 957267, dated May 16, 1995, further addresses heading 7017, HTSUS, and more specifically the term “laboratory glassware.” In that ruling, CBP noted that “laboratory glassware” is stated in the ENs as applying to the type of glassware used in any research, pharmaceutical or industrial laboratory. Because the term “laboratory” in the context of this type of glassware is not defined in either the HTSUS or the ENs, it is to be construed in accordance with its common and commercial meaning. See Nippon Kogasku (USA) Inc. v. United States, 69 CCPA 89, 673 F.2d 380 (1982). In addition, common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable sources. See C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 CCPA 128, 673 F.2d 12668 (1982). Noting that no definition for this term was set forth, HQ 957267 defined it, in pertinent part, as: 1. [a] building or part of a building equipped to conduct scientific experiments, tests, investigations, etc., or to manufacture chemicals, medicines, or the like. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (unabridged) 1974.

Adopting the above definition for the term “laboratory,” CBP stated that “an ‘industrial laboratory’ would therefore include glassware used to create certain scientific processes necessary for the production of chemical and pharmaceutical products” [Emphasis added]. The ruling further indicates that this would include glassware used to create a variety of scientific processes including crystallization, extraction, distillation, reaction and heat exchange. CBP notes that although EN 70.17(a) excludes glassware of a kind used for industrial purposes, the exclusion does not apply to glassware used in an industrial laboratory. Given the above analysis, you suggest that heading 7017, HTSUS, is limited to glassware used for scientific processes geared toward these production processes, as the CBP ruling specifically enumerated them.

CBP does not believe, as you urge, that the intent of HQ 957267 was to limit “laboratory glassware” to the type of glassware used only for the production of chemical and pharmaceutical products. Rather, it is apparent that the ruling merely seeks to include glassware used for those production purposes within that genre. In contrast, CBP believes that laboratory glassware is that which is used for a variety of scientific purposes, including testing, checking, holding, and production of materials regularly used within a laboratory. However, despite this broader definition of what constitutes laboratory glassware, it is apparent that the merchandise at issue still would not be included on account of it merely being a disposal system for the waste products of these processes. Better stated, laboratory glassware is used for furthering scientific processes within a laboratory setting while the instant merchandise is used to dispose of waste products resulting from these processes. As a result, despite the merchandise being unique to a laboratory setting and composed of borosilicate glass, the same type of glass used for laboratory glassware, it cannot be classified as laboratory glassware. Therefore, the merchandise is not classified under heading 7017, HTSUS

Regarding the importation of the straight lengths of glass tubes, EN 70.02 states, in pertinent part, that:

This heading covers:

Glass rods and tubing of various diameters, which are generally obtained by drawing (combined with blowing in the case of tubing); they may be used for many purposes (e.g., for chemical or industrial apparatus; in the textile industry; for further manufacture into thermometers, ampoules, electric or electronic bulbs and valves, or ornaments). Certain tubes for fluorescent lighting (used mainly for advertising purposes) are drawn with partitions running through the length.

The heading excludes balls, rod and tubing made into finished articles or parts of finished articles recognizable as such; these are classified under the appropriate heading (e.g., heading 70.11, 70.17 or 70.18, or Chapter 90). If worked, but not recognizable as being intended for a particular purpose, they fall in heading 70.20. [Emphasis in original].

In HQ 087394, dated March 11, 1991, CBP held that heading 7002, HTSUS, describes unworked rods or tubes, i.e. glass robs or tubes “obtained direct from the drawing process or merely cut into lengths the ends of which may have been simply smoothed.” The information you have provided indicates that during the manufacturing process, the end of each section of pipe and glass fitting is worked to create a “bead,” or small upturned rim. Therefore, although the glass pipes may be unrecognizable to one not familiar with the merchandise as being for a particular purpose, they still constitute a finished, or “worked,” product that is unique to this type of waste drainage system, i.e. designed specifically and used exclusively for disposing of hazardous waste resulting from chemicals and pharmaceuticals. In view of the foregoing information, CBP finds the glass tubes are not unworked tubes that would be classified under heading 7002, HTSUS. CBP additionally notes that EN 70.02 indicates that when merchandise is worked, but unrecognizable as being intended for a particular purpose, it falls under heading 7020, HTSUS.

Regarding the importation of the blister packed kits, which include various shaped glass tubes and all of the fittings, couplings, sealing rings, and assemblies necessary to install the system in a specific location, CBP believes the analysis as set forth above is again applicable. More specifically, the glass tubing of various shapes, designed for specific customers, constitute finished, or “worked” merchandise and, therefore, is exempt from classification under heading 7002, HTSUS.

Finally, EN 70.20 specifically refers to S-shaped tubes and drains for corrosive products, and indicates that articles remain in the heading despite being combined with materials other than glass, provided they retain the essential character of glass articles. In view of the foregoing, CBP believes that both the straight lengths of glass tubes and the blister packed kits are classified, pursuant to GRI 1, under subheading 7020.00.60, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The straight length of borosilicate glass tubes are classified under subheading 7020.00.6000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), as “Other articles of glass: Other.” The 2004 column one, general rate of duty is Free.

The glass tubes of various shapes and accompanying fittings, couplings, sealing rings and assemblies are classified under subheading 7020.00.6000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), as “Other articles of glass: Other.” The 2004 column one, general rate of duty is Free.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at www.usitc.gov.

Sincerely,

Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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