HQ 086123: Remote cable pair switching system (RECAPSS) for telephonicsystems

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 086123


                         April 13, 1990


CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  086123 MBR

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  8517.40.50

Mr. Paul D. Ellet
Director of Sales
Remote Switch Systems, Inc.
2683 North Taft Avenue
Loveland, Colorado 80538

RE:  Remote cable pair switching system (RECAPSS) for telephonic
systems

Dear Mr. Ellet:

  This is in reply to your letter of November 13, 1989,
requesting classification of a remote cable pair switching system
(RECAPSS), under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA).

FACTS:

  The RECAPSS system is used to accomplish an uninterrupted
transfer of telephone subscribers' lines from the cables of one
central office to the cables of another central office.  Both the
new and the old cables are connected to the RECAPSS system.
Then, from a remote location, each individual phone line can be
switched from the old cable to the new cable.  Each telephone
line is switched by a "C" type latching relay.  After all the
lines have been switched to the new cable, the RECAPSS system is
removed and used at a different location.

  The components of the RECAPSS system are:

     1.  Remote switch unit with relays
     2.  Portable switch actuator
     3.  Switch control unit
     4.  Console interface
     5.  General purpose AT&T monitor
     6.  General purpose keyboard




ISSUE:

  What is the classification of a RECAPSS remote telephone cable
replacement switching system under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA)?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

  The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUSA
govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule.  GRI 1
states, in pertinent part:

     ...classification shall be determined according to the terms
     of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...

  Heading 8517, HTSUSA, provides for: "[e]lectrical apparatus for
line telephony or line telegraphy, including such apparatus for
carrier-current line systems."  The Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes to heading 8517,
page 1360, state:

     The term "electrical apparatus for line telephony or line
     telegraphy" means apparatus for the transmission between two
     points of speech or other sounds (or of symbols representing
     written messages, images or other data), by variation of an
     electrical current or of an optical wave flowing in a
     metallic or dialectric (copper, optical fibers, combination
     cable, etc.) circuit connecting the transmitting station to
     the receiving station.  (Emphasis added).

  The RECAPSS system is designed "for the transmission between
two points of speech..." and for "...connecting the transmitting
station to the receiving station."  Clearly, the whole purpose of
the RECAPSS device is to prevent the interruption of phone
service when replacing telephonic cables.  Furthermore,
telephonic speech flows directly through the RECAPSS system while
it is connecting the transmitting station to the receiving
station.

  All of the components of the RECAPSS system contribute to the
clearly defined telephonic function.  Legal Note 4, section XVI,
directs that all RECAPSS components must be classified in the
heading appropriate to the function.  Therefore, the RECAPSS
system is properly classifiable under heading 8517, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

  The RECAPSS telephonic cable switching system is classifiable
under 8517.40.50, HTSUSA, which provides for: "[e]lectrical





apparatus for line telephony...: [o]ther apparatus, for carrier-
current line systems: [o]ther."  The rate of duty is 8.5% ad
valorem.

                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division