HQ 957679: Protest 3501-93-100381; Turret Slitter Rewinder Machine; heading 8441; EN 84.41; Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(a); chapter 84, note 7; principal use

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 957679

                           May 25, 1995
                                                               


CLA-2 R:C:M  957679 LTO

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  8479.89.90

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
110 South 4th Street
Room 154
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401

RE:  Protest 3501-93-100381; Turret Slitter Rewinder Machine;    heading 8441; EN 84.41; Additional U.S. Rule of   Interpretation 1(a); chapter 84, note 7; principal use

Dear District Director:

     The following is our decision regarding Protest 3501-93-100381, which concerns the classification of the model TS 350
Turret Slitter Rewinder Machine, manufactured by Atlas Converting
Equipment, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS).  The subject merchandise was entered on February
22, 1993, and the entry was liquidated on June 4, 1993.  The
protest was timely filed on August 12, 1993.

FACTS:

     The subject article is the model TS 350 Turret Slitter
Rewinder Machine ("TS 350").  The protestant states that the TS
350 is used to unwind and cut large rolls of paper and plastic
films into narrower widths and rewind the cut material into
rolls.  A sales brochure submitted by the protestant indicates
that the TS 350 is capable of cutting plastic film, paper and
"laminates," and can be used for "other applications" as well. 
The brochure does not elaborate on what types of laminates or
other materials may be cut.  However, the protestant has
submitted samples of paper/plastic and paper/metal foil
laminates.  Presumably, the TS 350 can be used to cut                               - 2 -

plastic/metal foil or other laminates which do not contain any
paper.

     The merchandise was entered under subheading 8441.10.00,
HTSUS, which provides for paper cutting machinery.  The machine
was classified upon liquidation under subheading 8479.89.90,
HTSUS, which provides for other machines having individual
functions, not specified or included elsewhere.

ISSUE:

     Whether the TS 350 is classifiable as a paper cutting
machine under subheading 8441.10.00, HTSUS, or as a machine
having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere,
under subheading 8479.89.90, HTSUS.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUS
govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule.  GRI 1
states in pertinent part that "for legal purposes, classification
shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and
any relative section or chapter notes . . . ."

     The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the Customs Co-operation
Council's official interpretation of the Harmonized System. 
While not legally binding, and therefore not dispositive, the ENs
provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the
Harmonized System, and are generally indicative of the proper
interpretation of these headings.  See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg.
35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).

     The headings under consideration are as follows:

     8441      Other machinery for making up paper pulp, 
               paper or paperboard, including cutting 
               machines of all kinds . . . 

     8479      Machines and mechanical appliances having
               individual functions, not specified or 
               included elsewhere in this chapter . . . 
     
     EN 84.41, pg. 1232, states that heading 8441, HTSUS, "covers
all machinery used for cutting, and . . . all machinery for
making up paper pulp, paper or paperboard after it has been
manufactured, ranging from machines for cutting into the widths
required or into sheets of commercial sizes to those for the                               - 3 -

manufacture of various made up articles [emphasis in original]." 
The note further states that the heading covers "[w]inders
(slitter-winders), for unwinding reels of paper, slitting the
paper into bands (slits) of the required width and rewinding it
[emphasis in original]."  

     The TS 350 is similar to the "winders" or "slitter-winders"
described in EN 84.41, except that the TS 350 can be used to wind
and slit materials other than paper.  A brochure submitted by the
protestant states that the TS 350 is an "[a]utomatic turreting
slitter for a wide variety of flexible packaging materials
[emphasis added]."  Another brochure states that the TS 350 is
"suitable for most films, papers and laminates . . . ."  On the
other hand, the SR 1000 slitter winder machine, another Atlas
product, is described as a device that is particularly
"[s]uitable for paper and paper laminates with uneven material
thickness."

     EN 84.41 further notes that "some machines described above
(such as cutting, folding or bag-making machines) may also be
suitable for use in making up certain plastics or thin sheet
metal.  Such machines remain in this heading provided they are of
a type normally used for making up paper or paperboard [emphasis
in original]."  The file contains no evidence indicating that the
TS 350 is "of a type normally used for making up paper or
paperboard." nor a machine that belongs to a class or kind of
machines that are principally used for "making up paper pulp,
paper or paperboard."  See Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation
1(a), HTSUS.  The TS 350 appears to be a machine used for a
variety of applications, which merely includes the cutting of
paper.  Accordingly, the TS 350 cannot be classified under
heading 8441, HTSUS.

     Note 7 to chapter 84, HTSUS, provides that "[a] machine
which is used for more than one purpose is, for the purposes of
classification, to be treated as if its principal purpose were
its sole purpose."  The note further provides that "a machine the
principal purpose of which is not described in any heading or for
which no one purpose is the principal purpose is, unless the
context otherwise requires, to be classified in heading 8479." 
It is our opinion that the TS 350 is a machine "for which no one
purpose is the principal purpose," and it is therefore
classifiable under heading 8479, HTSUS.  Specifically, the TS 350
is classifiable under subheading 8479.89.90, HTSUS, which
provides for other machines having individual functions, not
specified or included elsewhere.
                              - 4 -

HOLDING:

     The TS 350 Turret Slitter Rewinder Machine is classifiable
under subheading 8479.89.90, HTSUS.  

     The protest should be DENIED.  In accordance with section
3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4,
1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, together
with the Customs Form 19, should be mailed by your office to the
protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. 
Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision
must be accomplished prior to the mailing of the decision.  Sixty
days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and
Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs
personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public
via the Diskette Subscription Service, Freedom of Information Act
and other public access channels.

                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division