HQ 082222: Electrophoresis equipment from Great Britain

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 082222

                        October 31, 1989


CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  082222  JMH

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  9027.20.40

Mia Yoo
Product Manager
Bioscan, Inc.
4590 MacArthur Blvd., N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20007

RE:  Electrophoresis equipment from Great Britain

Dear Ms. Yoo:

     Your letter of March 25, 1988, requesting a classification
ruling for electrophoresis equipment has been referred to this
office for a reply.

FACTS:

     The merchandise in question is electrophoresis equipment
imported from Great Britain.  Electrophoresis is the "migration
of electrically charged particles in solution or suspension in
the presence of an applied electric field.  Each particle moves
toward the electrode of opposite electrical polarity."  McGraw-
Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, Vol. 3, p. 238 (6th
Ed. 1987).  Electrophoresis instruments perform this migration of
particles.  Two such instruments are being imported.

     The first apparatus is the Mini-Vertical Electrophoresis
System .  This system is supplied complete with a gel bed, a pair
of buffer plates, a sample comb, a silicon rubber tubing gasket,
a safety hood with incorporated power cords, two jubilee clips
and an instruction manual.  It can run up to ten samples in both
agarose or acrylamide gels with a gel format of 80mm x 60mm.  It
is said to be ideal for proteins and DNA separation.

     The second instrument is the Mini-Gel Electrophoresis
System.  This apparatus has been developed for preparative and
analytical DNA research, as well as for use in a conventional
electrophoresis mode. It comes complete with two of each four,
eight, and sixteen teeth combs, two buffer plates and an
instruction manual.  It has the capacity to run one or two gels.

                               -2-

     The importer states that the equipment "is scientific
instrumentation and will be used only in research..."

ISSUE:

     Under which heading of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUSA) should the Mini-Vertical Electrophoresis
System and the Mini-Gel Electrophoresis System be classified?

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 "for legal purposes, classification shall be determined
according to the terms of the headings and any relative section
or chapter notes..."  The relevant heading for classification is
9027, HTSUSA.

     Heading 9027 describes "Instruments and apparatus for
physical or chemical analysis...parts and accessories thereof..."
The importer's instructions on the use of the Mini-Vertical and
Mini-Gel Electrophoresis Systems state that the devices are for
analysis.

     The classification of these items is determined by the use
to which the instruments are put.  In a situation where there is
more than one use, the principal use determines the
classification.  Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation 1,
HTSUSA.  The electrophoresis systems in question have both
preparative and analytical functions.  However, the minute
amounts of substances involved in the use of these instruments
are most useful in an analytical process.

     It is the opinion of this office that the equipment in
question is for use in a "physical or chemical analysis".  The
proper classification for the Mini-Vertical Electrophoresis
System and the Mini-Gel Electrophoresis System is within heading
9027, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

     The Mini-Vertical Electrophoresis System and the Mini-Gel
Electrophoresis System are classifiable under heading 9027.20.40,
HTSUSA.  The rate of duty is 4.9 percent ad valorem.

                              Sincerely,



                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division