HQ 956789: Trackscan Inspection Equipment; Corresponding Software; Chapter 90, Note 3; Section XVI, Note 4; Functional Units; Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3; Optical Instruments; GRIs 3(a) and 6; Chapter 85, Note 6; HQs 955053, 084599, and 087455; NYs 856480 and 850619; 9027.50.40; 9031.80.00

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 956789
                        November 30, 1994


CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 956789 DWS

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 9031.40.80; 8524.90.40

Mr. John N. Politis
Politis, Pollack & Doran
3255 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1688
Los Angeles, CA 90010

RE: Trackscan Inspection Equipment; Corresponding Software;
    Chapter 90, Note 3; Section XVI, Note 4; Functional Units;
    Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3; Optical Instruments;
    GRIs 3(a) and 6; Chapter 85, Note 6; HQs 955053, 084599,
    and 087455; NYs 856480 and 850619; 9027.50.40; 9031.80.00

Dear Mr. Politis:

     This is in response to your letter of July 26, 1994, on
behalf of Christopher Associates, Inc., concerning the
classification of Trackscan inspection equipment under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

     The merchandise consists of Trackscan inspection equipment
(models 3000 and 4000), used to inspect and detect faults in bare
circuit boards.  The Trackscan will detect nicks, pin-holes,
spacing violations, and major surface irregularities such as
dish-down and poor edge factors.  Model 4000 operates in the same
manner as model 3000; it is simply a newer version.  There are
six subsystems comprising the inspection equipment: a high
intensity illuminator, a CCD camera assembly, a mechanical
transport assembly, data processing hardware, a final data
reduction and system control computer, and corresponding
software.

     The high intensity illuminator utilizes a 300 watt
continuous Xenon lamp, the output of which, after filtering and
focusing, is transmitted via a fibre optic cable to the circuit
board under inspection.  Among the components of the illuminator
are four glass lenses and a beam splitter to illuminate the
board.  Reflected light from the board is transmitted to a CCD
array where it is converted to electrical signals.  The reflected
light and the electrical signals distinguish between the copper
circuitry on the circuit board and the non-copper substrate
because of the difference in brightness.  The mechanical system
comprises an X-Y table arranged so that the table (Y axis) moves
towards and away from the operator while the CCD camera (X axis)
steps across the table in 3/4 inch steps.  The electrical signals
from the CCD line scan camera are processed to extract the
netlist of the circuit board from the background data. 
Simultaneously, the machine generates further netlists of
artificially modified images to detect track spacing violations. 
These netlists can then be compared with one another and with a
master netlist stored in the system control computer to detect
functional defects on the board.  The final data reduction and
control of all major functions, including operator interface, is
handled by the system control computer.  This is a high power
work station which receives the netlist information from the data
reduction hardware and performs the netlist comparisons as well
as receiving the results of the artificial image comparison from
the image analysis hardware.  Any faults are ranked in order of
fault severity and either displayed on the system CRT or
transmitted to another file server computer for later off-line
fault verification and/or rectification.

     The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

     9027.50.40: [i]nstruments and apparatus for physical or 
                 chemical analysis (for example, polarimeters,
                 refractometers, spectrometers, gas or smoke
                 analysis apparatus); instruments and apparatus
                 for measuring or checking viscosity, porosity,
                 expansion, surface tension or the like; 
                 instruments and apparatus for measuring or
                 checking quantities of heat, sound or light
                 (including exposure meters); microtomes; parts
                 and accessories thereof: [o]ther instruments and
                 apparatus using optical radiations (ultraviolet,
                 visible, infrared): [e]lectrical.

     The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable
     under this provision is 4.9 percent ad valorem.

     9031.40.80: [m]easuring or checking instruments, appliances
                 and machines, not specified or included 
                 elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors;
                 parts and accessories thereof: [o]ther 
                 optical instruments and appliances: [o]ther.

     The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable
     under this provision is 10 percent ad valorem.
     
     9031.80.00: [m]easuring or checking instruments, appliances
                 and machines, not specified or included 
                 elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors;
                 parts and accessories thereof: [o]ther 
                 instruments, appliances and machines.

     The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable
     under this provision is 4.9 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

     Whether the Trackscan inspection equipment is classifiable
under subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS, as other electrical
instruments using optical radiations; under subheading
9031.80.00, HTSUS, as other measuring or checking instruments; or
under subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS, as other optical measuring or
checking instruments.

     Whether the corresponding software is classifiable under
subheading 8524.90.40, HTSUS, as other recorded media for sound
or similarly recorded phenomena.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpetation (GRI's).  
GRI 1 provides that classification is determined according to the
terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.
     Chapter 90, note 3, HTSUS, states that:

     [t]he provisions of note 4 to section XVI apply also to
     this chapter.

     Section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, states that:

     [w]here a machine (including a combination of machines)
     consists of individual components (whether separate or
     interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by
     electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute
     together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the
     headings in chapter 84 or chapter 85, then the whole falls
     to be classified in the heading appropriate to that
     function.

     It is our position that the Trackscan inspection equipment,
which consists of six interconnected subsystems, constitutes a
functional unit.  We must now determine the proper classification
of the equipment in the heading appropriate to its function.

     You cite HQ 955053, dated October 4, 1993, to demonstrate
that the subject inspection equipment is classifiable under
subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS.  In that ruling, we held that a
combination an ellipsometer and a  spectrometer/ellipsometer was
classifiable under subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS.  We decided that
the merchandise in that case, which used optical radiations for
the physical analysis of films and complex structures, was
similar in function to spectrometers and polarimeters, both
specifically classifiable under subheading 9027.50.40, HTSUS.  

     The subject inspection equipment is not similar in kind to
the merchandise in HQ 955053.  In HQ 084599, dated August 23,
1989, we held that VOD Probe-Blast Evaluator was not classifiable
under subheading 9027, HTSUS, but under heading 9031, HTSUS.  In
that ruling, we stated that:

     [b]ased on the language of heading 9027, the article in 
     this case cannot be classified in that heading.  
     Classification in 9027 requires that the instrument or
     apparatus be used to measure or check quantities of heat,
     sound or light.  The VOD Probe-Blast Evaluator's function
     is to measure the detonation velocity of an explosion.
     Although light is used in the process, the unit does not 
     measure quantities of light as required by heading 9027.
     Assessing the detonation velocity of explosives involves
     measuring the time delay that occurs when the light, which
     is caused by the explosion, hits each fibre optic probe,
     and the specified probe spacing.

     The Trackscan inspection equipment does not perform a
chemical or physical analysis of samples as required under
heading 9027, HTSUS.  The function of the Trackscan is to detect
and inspect faults or flaws in circuit boards by illuminating
those flaws through the use of reflective light, not to measure
the quantities of light.  Although light is used in that process,
the equipment's function is not described by any of the articles
of heading 9027, HTSUS.

     Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3, HTSUS, states that:

     [f]or the purposes of this chapter, the terms "optical
     appliances" and "optical instruments" refer only to those
     appliances and instruments which incorporate one or more
     optical elements, but do not include any appliances or
     instruments in which the incorporated optical element
     or elements are solely for viewing a scale or for some 
     other subsidiary purpose.

     We find that, under chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3,
HTSUS, the Trackscan inspection equipment, for classification
purposes, is optical instruments.  It is our understanding that
the CCD camera assembly and the additional glass lenses are
essential to the equipment working properly.  Because the
inspection equipment could not operate without the optical
devices, those devices perform a primary function, not a
subsidiary one.

     Inasmuch as the Trackscan is not classifiable under heading
9027, HTSUS, we must look at heading 9031, HTSUS.

     GRI 3(a) states that:

     [t]he heading which provides the most specific description
     shall be preferred to headings providing a more general      
     description. . . 

     GRI 6 states that:

     [f]or legal purposes, the classification of goods in the 
     subheadings of a heading shall be determined according
     to the terms of those subheadings and any related 
     subheading notes and, mutatis mutandi, to the above rules, 
     on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level
     are comparable.  For the purposes of this rule, the relative 
     section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the 
     context otherwise requires.

     The two provisions under heading 9031, HTSUS, are subheading
9031.40.80, HTSUS, which provides for other optical measuring
checking instruments, and subheading 9031.80.00, HTSUS, which
provides for other measuring or checking instruments.  Because
subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS, is limited to optical instruments,
it is our position that it more specifically describes the
inspection equipment, which contains optical devices.

     Therefore, the Trackscan inspection equipment is
classifiable under subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS.  For rulings
classifying similar merchandise under subheading 9031.40.00,
HTSUS (the predecessor to subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS), see 
HQ 087455, dated October 2, 1990; NY 856480, dated October 19,
1990; and NY 850619, dated April 18, 1990.

     With regard to the classification of the software,     
chapter 85, note 6, HTSUS, states that:

     [r]ecords, tapes and other media of heading 8523 or 8524 
     remain classified in those headings, whether or not they are
     entered with the apparatus for which they are intended.

     Based upon chapter 85, note 6, HTSUS, the corresponding
software for the Trackscan is classifiable under subheading
8524.90.40, HTSUS, which provides for other recorded media for
sound or similarly recorded phenomena.

HOLDING:

     The Trackscan inspection equipment is classifiable under
subheading 9031.40.80, HTSUS, as other optical measuring or
checking instruments.

     The corresponding software is classifiable under subheading
8524.90.40, HTSUS, as other recorded media for sound or similarly
recorded phenomena.

                            Sincerely,



                            John Durant, Director
                            Commercial Rulings Division