HQ 081819: Electronic still video photographic camera

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                                      HQ 081819

                                    July 7, 1989


          CLA-2  CO:R:C:G  081819  KK

          CATEGORY:  Classification

          TARIFF NO:  9006.59.40; 9006.59.90

          K. Ohyama
          Senior Vice President
          & General Manager
          Canon U.S.A., Inc.
          One Canon Plaza
          Lake Success, N.Y. 11042

          RE:  Electronic still video photographic camera


          Dear Mr. Ohyama:

                This letter is our response to your request of February 16,
          1989, for a binding ruling under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
          of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), regarding the tariff
          classification of Canon's still video cameras (SVC's), models RC
          250, RC 470, RC 701 and RC 760.  We are also in receipt of your
          earlier letter of November 24, 1987.

          FACTS:

                Canon's still video camera models RC 250, RC 470, RC 701,
          and RC 760 -- the former two models being fixed focus, the latter
          two being variable focus -- record the image of an object onto a
          reusable, 50 picture, two-inch video floppy disk.  Models RC 470
          and RC 760 contain both frame and field mode, while models RC 250
          and RC 701 contain only field mode.  Only model RC 250 has
          built-in, direct playback.

                Once properly set and "loaded" with a disk, the SVC's are
          ready for use.  As with  conventional, hand-held photographic
          cameras, the user simply takes aim and then presses the shutter
          release.  Put somewhat differently, the SVC's are operated by:
          (1) composing the subject; (2) setting the shutter; (3) setting
          the exposure; and (4) releasing the shutter.


















                                        - 2 -


                The process by which images are recorded onto a video
          floppy disk is as follows:

                Light strikes the photodiodes of a silicon chip.  The
                light energy is in turn transformed into electrical
                energy.  The electrical energy is recorded onto the
                photodiodes, thus creating the electrical representation
                of an image.  (By contrast, conventional photography
                records a chemical representation of an image.)  A signal
                processor then transfers the image from the silicon chip
                to the floppy disk.

                To view the stored images -- except in the case of the RC
          250 which has a buit-in, direct playback -- the floppy disk is
          removed from the camera and inserted into a still video playback
          controller which connects to any television monitor/receiver
          equipped with video inputs.  The images can then be viewed on the
          television.  Hard copies of images can be produced by a color
          video printer.

                While the physical process by which Canon's SVC's reproduce
          images is significantly different from the physical process by
          which conventional camera reproduces images, both types of
          cameras may be properly described as closed box or chamber,
          containing an aperture through which the image of an object is
          recorded on light sensitive material.

          ISSUE:

                Whether Canon's SVC's are classifiable in heading 9006,
          which provides for "[p]hotographic . . . cameras;" or in heading
          9013, which provides for "other optical appliances and
          instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this
          chapter;" or in heading 8521, which provides for "[v]ideo
          recording or reproducing apparatus;" or in heading 8525, which
          provides for "television cameras."

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed
          by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).  GRI 1 states, in
          part, that classification shall be determined according to the
          terms of the headings and any relative section and chapter notes.
          The Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation of the HTSUSA
          at the international level, provide a commentary on the scope of
          each heading of the Harmonized System, and are thus useful in
          ascertaining the tariff classification of merchandise.

                Instructive regarding a determination of whether under GRI
          1 the Mavica falls to be classified in heading 9006, is United
          States v. E. Besler & Company, 64 CCPA 121, C.A.D. 1193 (1977).











                                        - 3 -


          Citing Webster's New International Dictionary of the English
          Language, Second Edition Unabridged (1939) as its authority, the
          Besler court defined the term "camera" as "[a] closed box or
          similar chamber through the aperture of which the image of an
          object is recorded on a light-sensitive material."  Further, in
          holding that certain optical printers were classifiable under the
          Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) as "cameras" in item
          722.16, TSUS, the court stated that "the fact that the imports
          are not adapted to general picture taking but are, instead,
          special-purpose cameras, does not preclude their being classified
          as cameras."

                All the subject Canon SVC's fall within the Besler court's
          definition of cameras.  In effect, the Canon SVC's possess:  (1)
          a closed box or chamber; (2) an aperture through which the image
          of an object is recorded; and (3) light sensitive material
          (photodiodes) upon which an image is recorded.

                The Canon SVC's also fall within the article description of
          "photographic cameras" set forth in Explanatory Note I to heading
          9006, which states in pertinent part:

                (I) Photographic (other than cinematographic) cameras

                This group covers all kinds of photographic cameras
                . . . whether for professional or amateur use, and
                whether or not presented with their optical elements
                (objective lenses, viewfinders, etc.).

                There are many different types of cameras, but the
                conventional type consists essentially of a light-tight
                chamber, a lense, a shutter, a diaphragm, a holder for
                a photographic plate or film, and a viewfinder.

          In effect, the Explanatory Notes indicate that the term
          "photographic cameras" includes both conventional and other types
          of photographic cameras.

                In view of the foregoing, in the absence of an HTSUS
          heading which more specifically describe the Canon SVC's the same
          are properly classifiable in heading 9006.  Insofar as heading
          9013 provides for "other optical appliances and instruments, not
          specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, and heading 9006
          specifically provides for the subject merchandise, heading 9013
          is not applicable.  Further, the Canon SVC's cannot fall to be
          classified in Chapter 85, heading 8521, "[v]ideo recording or
          reproducing apparatus," or in heading 8525, "television cameras,"
          by operation of Section XVI, Note 1(m), which states that Section
          XVI "does not cover . . . [a]rticles of Chapter 90."
          Accordingly, the Canon SVC's falls to be classified in heading
          9006.











                                        - 4 -


          HOLDING:

                The Canon SVC models RC 250 and RC 470, which are fixed
          focus, are properly classifiable in subheading 9006.59.40, HTSUS,
          which provides for "[p]hotographic . . . cameras . . . [o]ther
          . . . [f]ixed focus," dutiable at the rate of 4 percent ad
          valorem.  The Canon SVC models RC 701 and RC 760, which are
          variable focus, are properly classifiable in subheading
          9006.59.90, HTSUS, which provides for "[p]hotographic . . .
          cameras . . . [o]ther . . . [o]ther than fixed focus . . .
          [v]alued at over $10 each, dutiable at the rate of 3 percent ad
          valorem.

                                              Sincerely,




                                              John Durant, Director
                                              Commercial Rulings Division