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HQ 968222




August 14, 2006

CLA-2 RR:CTF:TCM 968222 HkP

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9015.10.4000

Ms. Nancy Ridealgh
Rascal Technologies, Inc.
4 Lansing Square
Suite 113 North York
Ontario M2J 5A2
Canada

RE: Modification of NY B87809; Leica DISTO laser distance meter

Dear Ms. Ridealgh:

This is in reference to New York Ruling (“NY”) B87809, issued to you on July 28, 1997, in which the United States Customs Service (now, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”)) classified the Leica DISTO laser distance meter (“DISTO”) under subheading 9017.80.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). We have reviewed NY B87809 and found the classification of the DISTO meter to be erroneous. This letter sets forth the correct classification.

Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1625(c)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2186 (1993), notice of the proposed modification was published on July 5, 2006, in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 40, No. 28. No comments were received in response to this notice.

FACTS:

NY B87809 described the subject merchandise as follows:

The Leica Disto is a hand-held laser meter used to measure lengths, widths and heights at distances of up to 30 meters without using a reflector. The user uses the visible laser beam to target an object without touching it. At the press of a key, the Disto calculates the distance to the laser target point and displays the result digitally, to the millimeter. The device has a LCD display, full icon touchpad, and a built-in NiCd battery which provides approximately 400 measurements. It has a laser diode light source and weighs approximately 1 ¾ pounds and is primarily used at construction sites and for other field measurement work.

CBP also described the DISTO as not incorporating optical elements. Based on this description, CBP classified the DISTO laser meter in subheading 9017.80.0000, HTS (now, HTSUS), which provides for other instruments for measuring length, for use in the hand, not specified or included elsewhere in chapter 90.

CBP has recently learned that the DISTO meter does incorporate optical elements. Specifically, the DISTO product data sheet states, inter alia, that the DISTO receivers “convert the optical signals into electronic signals and the analog-digital-converters of the micro controller convert them into digital signals.” We have also recently learned that the DISTO meter may be commercially described as a rangefinder. It is now CBP’s position that the subject merchandise was incorrectly described and classified in NY B87809.

ISSUE:

Whether the DISTO meter is properly classified in subheading 9015.10.4000, HTSUS, which provides for electrical rangefinders, or, in subheading 9017.80.0000, HTSUS, which provides for, inter alia, other instruments for measuring length, for use in the hand, not specified or included elsewhere in chapter 90, HTSUS.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

9015 Surveying (including photogrammetrical surveying), hydrographic, oceanographic, hydrological, meteorological or geophysical instruments and appliances, excluding compasses; rangefinders; parts and accessories thereof: 9015.10 Rangefinders:
9015.10.4000 Electrical ..

9017 Drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments ; instruments for measuring length, for use in the hand , not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; : 9017.80.0000 Other instruments ..

Heading 9015, HTSUS, provides for rangefinders. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (www.webster.com) defines a rangefinder as, inter alia, “a surveying instrument (as a transit) for determining quickly the distances, bearings, and elevations of distant objects.”

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide 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. EN 90.15 explains that “rangefinders” as specified in heading 9015, HTSUS, “covers all types of optical or opto-electronic rangefinders for determining the distance between the instrument and a given object”. However, ENs cannot limit the scope of legal text, such as a tariff heading. We find, therefore, that rangefinders of all types, whether or not optical or opto-electronic, are provided for in heading 9015, HTSUS.

The DISTO product data sheet states:

The distance measurement with the DISTO is based in the phase measurement principle. The laser diode emits light pulses that have defined wavelengths and pulse repetition frequency. Due to the runtime difference between the internal reference path and the external measurement path, the light pulses that reflect on the target experience a phase shift in relation to the light pulses received through the internal reference path. The phase difference between the two signals is proportional to the distance between the instrument and the target.

The receivers convert the optical signals into electronic signals and the analog-digital-converters of the micro controller convert them into digital signals. The micro controller calculates the phase difference between the reference signal and the measurement signal.

Based on the foregoing, we find that the DISTO meter was incorrectly described in NY B87809 because it does include optical elements.

We also find that because the DISTO meter is an instrument used for measuring distances, bearings and elevations of distant objects, it is specifically provided for in heading 9015, HTSUS, as a “rangefinder”. This is true whether or not the DISTO meter incorporates optical elements.

Heading 9017, HTSUS, provides for hand-held instruments for measuring length and indicates that these articles may only be classified in this heading if not specified or included elsewhere in chapter 90, HTSUS. EN 90.17(D) indicates that these instruments include micrometers, calipers, gauges, comparators (dial type), measuring rods, divided scales, and map measurers, and are used to measure “dimensions such as diameters, depths, thicknesses and heights which are indicated as a unit of length (e.g. millimeters).” Accordingly, because the DISTO meter is specifically provided for in heading 9015, HTSUS, it is precluded from classification in heading 9017, HTSUS.

Additional U.S. Note 2 to Chapter 90, HTSUS, provides:

For the purposes of this chapter, the term “electrical” when used in reference to instruments, appliances, apparatus and machines, refers to those articles the operation of which depends on an electrical phenomenon which varies according to the factor to be ascertained.

We find that the “phase measurement principle” described above meets the definition of “electrical” for the purposes of chapter 90, HTSUS. Accordingly, we find that the DISTO meter is properly classified in subheading 9015.10.4000, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

By application of GRI 1, the Leica DISTO laser distance meter is classified in heading 9015, HTSUS, and is specifically provided for in subheading 9015.10.4000, HTSUS, which provides for: “Surveying (including photogrammetrical surveying), hydrographic, oceanographic, hydrological, meteorological or geophysical instruments and appliances, excluding compasses; rangefinders; parts and accessories thereof: Rangefinders: Electrical.”

The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at www.usitc.gov.

EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:

NY B87809, dated July 28, 1997, is modified with respect to the classification of the Leica DISTO meter. The tariff classification of the other items described in NY B87809 is unchanged. In accordance with 19 U.S.C. §1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.

Sincerely,

Myles B. Harmon, Director

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