HQ 087703: Composting Machinery, Farm Type; Non-Industrial Composter

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 087703

                                          JAN 18 1991

            CLA-2:CO:R:C:G  087703 JAS

            CATEGORY:   Classification

            TARIFF NO.: 8436.80.0090, HTSUSA

            John B. Rehm, Esq.
            Dorsey & Whitney
            330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
            Washington, D.C. 20036

            RE:  Composting Machinery, Farm Type; Non-Industrial
                 Composter

            Dear Mr. Rehm:

                 In a letter, dated August 7, 1990, on behalf of Ryan
            Construction Company of Minnesota, Inc., you inquire as to the
            tariff classification of machinery from France for transforming
            organic waste materials into compost.  A November 19, 1990,
            meeting in our office, confirmed by a December 21, 1990,
            telefax complete the record.  Our ruling follows.

            FACTS:

                 Submitted literature describes machinery, designated the
            Siloda, which will be used by a solid waste treatment plant
            consisting of two components, a paddle wheel and transfer
            lorry.  A side travel mechanism and screw augur are integral
            with the paddle wheel.

                 Municipal garbage trucks unload garbage and other solid
            waste onto a mobile shuttle overhead conveyor - not a part of
            this importation - which deposits the waste in the first of two
            rows of five silos each.  Each silo is horizontal and measures
            approximately 140 ft. x 13 ft., surrounded by 5 ft. 9 in.
            concrete walls.  The Siloda can process between 40,000 and
            120,000 cubic yards of organic waste each year to produce
            between 5,000 and 60,000 tons of compost.

                 The paddle wheel consists of a hollow cylinder fitted with
            steel loading paddles and rotates on its axis to turn over,
            slice, chop and aerate the waste.  Domestically sourced blowers
            provide additional oxygen for what is essentially a
            fermentation process.  The rotating wheel then raises the waste











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            to a height from which it falls by gravity into a trough or
            hopper inside the wheel, then to the screw augur which
            transfers   it to the next silo where the process is repeated.
            The side travel mechanism or drive wheel is an integral part of
            the paddle wheel and enables it to rotate inside a silo along
            its entire length.  It consists mainly of two supporting
            blocks, each with two motor-driven wheels and tires.

                 The second component in issue here is a lorry called a
            transfer crab.  It is a motor-driven wheeled chassis with
            transmission designed to run on rails.  Although it has a
            hydraulic loading/unloading device, it functions to carry the
            paddle wheel between silos.

                 The waste is moved between silos every four days.  After
            about a month you state the waste has reached a degradation
            level of 60 percent which qualifies it as class 1 compost.  The
            product is to be sold to farmers to enhance the subsoil and to
            replace eroded topsoil.

                 You maintain that the common meaning of the term
            "agriculture" encompasses cultivation of the soil, harvesting
            of crops, or the production of plants and animals.  As such,
            the machinery in issue here qualifies as agricultural machinery
            and is classifiable duty-free as other agricultural and
            horticultural machinery in subheading 8436.80.0090, Harmonized
            Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).

            ISSUE:

                 Whether the components in issue qualify as agricultural or
            horticultural machinery of the type provided for in heading
            8436.

            LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                 Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
            Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) in accordance
            with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs).  GRI 1 states
            in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be
            determined according to the terms of the headings and any
            relative section or chapter notes and, provided the headings or
            notes do not otherwise require, according to GRIs 2 through 6.

                 In common meaning, the term agriculture relates to the art
            or science of cultivating the soil, growing crops, or raising
            animals for food or clothing, while horticulture relates
            similarly to fruits, vegetables, flowers or shrubs.  We agree
            that machinery of the type in issue here, which produces
            compost for use as a soil nutrient on farms, in gardens,
            nurseries or greenhouses, orchards, etc. is sufficiently
            agricultural or horticultural for tariff purposes.  











                                       - 3 -

                 The Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the Customs
            Cooperation Council's official interpretation of the Harmonized
            System.  While not legally binding, the notes provide a
            commentary on the scope of each heading of the HS and are
            useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under
            the System.  Customs believes the ENs should always be
            consulted.  See T.D. 89-80.  ENs at p. 1217 indicate that
            heading 8436 covers machinery which is of the type used on
            farms (including agricultural schools, co-operatives or testing
            stations), in forestry, market gardens, or poultry-keeping or
            bee-keeping farms or the like.  However, it excludes machines
            clearly of a kind designed for industrial use. (Emphasis
            added).

                 The ENs distinguish farm-type machines from industrial
            machines, but provide little guidance on how this distinction
            is to be made.  The provision in heading 8436 is governed by
            the concept of principal use.  See U.S. Rule of Interpretation
            1(a), HTSUSA.  You have provided evidence of at least two U.S.
            manufactured composting machines used on a turkey farm and
            chicken farm (in Ephraim, Utah, and Potosi, Mo., respectively),
            with processing/output capabilities within those of the Siloda.
            In the absence of other evidence of similar machines used in
            industrial, non-farm applications, we conclude that the instant
            machine belongs to a class or kind of composting machinery
            principally used on farms, industrial schools, co-operatives or
            testing stations and the like.

            HOLDING:

                 Under the authority of GRI 1, the composite article
            consisting of the paddle wheel, side travel mechanism and screw
            augur, is provided for in heading 8436, other agricultural or
            horticultural machinery.  Actual classification is in
            subheading 8436.80.0090, HTSUSA, other machines.  The rate of
            duty is free.

                 This ruling is based on the evidence available to us at
            this time.  As additional evidence is developed on the
            principal use of the class or kind of composting machinery to
            which the Siloda belongs, we may have cause to review the
            matter.

                                        Sincerely,



                                        John Durant, Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division