HQ 082690: Decision on Protest and Application for Further Review of Protest No. 35018000018, Dated March 7, 1988

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 082690

  	August 7, 1989

  CLA2 CO:R:C:G  082690  VEA

  CATEGORY:  Classification

  TARIFF NO.: 661.95

  District Director of Customs
  110 South Fourth Street
  Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401

  RE:    Decision on Protest and Application for Further Review of Protest No. 35018000018, 	Dated March 7, 1988

  Dear Sir:

         The above protest and application for review were timely   filed against your action in which certain Putsch Membrane   Presses used in the sugar beet industry were classified as
 filtering and purifying machinery in item 661.95 of the Tariff   Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA).  The   merchandise was entered at Minneapolis on entry number 
892 0034340, dated March 18, 1987.

  FACTS:

         The merchandise includes PKF Putsch Membrane Presses  manufactured in West Germany and used in the filtration process   in sugar manufacturing.  The import specialist classified the
  merchandise as filtering and purifying machinery in item  661.95, TSUSA.  The importer, American Crystal Sugar Company,   through its Counsel, filed a timely protest claiming that the
  presses are used exclusively in the production of sugar and   should be classified in item 666.20, TSUSA, as machinery used   in the manufacture of sugar and parts thereof.

  ISSUE:

         Whether Putsch Membrane Presses used in the manufacture  of sugar from beets are filtering and purifying machinery  classified in item 661.95, TSUSA, or machinery for use in the
  manufacture of sugar and parts thereof classified in item  666.20, TSUSA.


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  LAW AND ANALYSIS:

         Item 661.95, which provides for machinery used in the  filtering and purifying process states:

                  				Centrifuges; filtering and purifying machinery
                  				and apparatus (other than filter funnels, milk
                  				strainer, and similar articles), for liquids or
                  				gases; all the foregoing and parts thereof

         	661.95            Other

         Following the general rule that the common meaning of a  word should be adhered to in interpreting tariff provisions, we  look to the dictionary for guidance in applying this provision.
  Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1971), page 850,  defines filtering as 1.to subject to the action of a filter:
pass (a liquid or gas) through a filter for the purpose of
purifying or separating or both: strain; also to act as a
filter toward; 2. to remove from a fluid by means of a filter.
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1966
Unabridged Edition) describes a filter as any substance, as
cloth, paper, porous porcelain on a layer of charcoal or sand
through which liquid is passed to remove suspended impurities
or to recover solids.

         	Prior Headquarters' decisions have classified machines  used as filters in item 661.95.  In a Ruling dated June 6, 1984  (file 073168), a reverse osmosis dewatering machine used to
  separate water from maple sap before the sap was fed into an  evaporation unit was classified as filtering and purifying   machinery in item 661.95.  This ruling was later upheld in a
  court decision, A.N. Deringer v. United States, 656 F. Supp.  670 (CIT 1986).  Also,  a ruling dated January 20, 1982,  classified a sludgedewatering machine under item 661.95 since
  its function of removing solids from water before it was  discharged constituted a filtering and purifying function.

         	Filtration is a major stage in the processing of beet  sugar.  In order to obtain quality refined sugar, all suspended   matter must be removed from the sugar liquor.  This is
  accomplished by filtering sugar liquors at different stages of  the refining operation.  Based on the description of the  merchandise submitted with the protest, it is clear that it is  used in the filtration process to perform a filtering function,  and is classified in item 661.95.


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         	We reject the importer's argument that the merchandise should be classified in item 666.20.  That provision provides:

         666.20   Machinery for use in the manufacture of sugar  and parts thereof
       
  Although item 666.20 appears to be a provision covering  any machinery used in the sugar manufacturing process,   Headquarters rulings and judicial decisions have not classified
  all merchandise used to manufacture sugar under this item.   Classification under 666.20 is precluded by the language of  Schedule 6, Part 4, Subpart A, Headnote 1.  Headnote 1 states
  that "A machine or appliance which is described in this subpart  and also is described elsewhere in this part is classifiable in  this subpart."  Filtering machinery is described in subpart A
  and sugar machinery is described in subpart C.  Thus, pursuant  to Headnote 1, filtering machinery can only be classified in Subpart A.

         	In American Customs Brokg. Co. V. United States,   433 F.   2d 1340 (1970), the court held that parts for a sugar  centrifuge used to separate sugar crystals from molasses was
  classifiable in item 661.90, which provides for centrifuges and  666.20, Headnote 1 precluded classification in that provision.

         The Putsch Membrane Presses are also precluded from  classification in item 666.20 by reason of  General Headnote 10  (ij), which states that a provision for parts of an article
  covers a product solely or chiefly used as a part of such  article, but does not prevail over a specific provision for  such part.  The court in Great Western Sugar Co., v. United States, 
452 F. 2d 1394 (1972), applying this headnote, held  that metal plates used to cut sugar beets into thin shaped  slices were classifiable as knives and cutting blades under  item 649.67, rather than in item 666.20.  Although the knives  were used in the manufacture of sugar, the provision for knives  was found to be a specific provision which prevailed over the  provision for 

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  parts.  Thus, under General Headnote 10 (ij), in this case,  the provision for filtering machinery, item 661.95 prevails   over 666.20


 HOLDING:

         	The Putsch Membrane Presses in question are properly  classified in item 661.95, TSUSA, as filtering and purifying  machinery.  You should deny the protest in full.  A copy of
  this decision should be attached to the Form 19 and provided to  the protestant.

                             					Sincerely


                            					 John Durant, Director
                             					Commercial Rulings Division