HQ 952442: IA 46/92; Dies and Roll Shells for animal feed pelletizing machinery; 8436; EN 84.36; EN 84.38

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 952442

                         October 5, 1992
                                                               


CLA-2 CO:R:C:M  952442 LTO

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  8438.90.90

District Director 
U.S. Customs Service
610 South Canal Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607

RE:  IA 46/92; Dies and Roll Shells for animal feed pelletizing
     machinery; 8436; EN 84.36; EN 84.38

Dear Sir:

     This is in reference to your undated memorandum [MAN-1-
CO:CH:CT308. JB], which concerned the classification of dies and
roll shells for pelletizing machinery under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).  By letter, dated March
12, 1992, the importer, Technostaal Schouten Inc., through their
customhouse broker, Air Express International, requested internal
advice regarding the classification of the above merchandise. 
Our decision follows. 

FACTS:

     The articles in question are dies and roll shells used on
pelletizing machines.  Pelletizing machines mold animal feed
ingredients from loose form into a pelleted final product through
the application of mechanical compression.

     The Internal Advice applicant contends that the dies and
roll shells are classifiable under subheading 8436.99.00, HTSUS,
which provides for parts of other agricultural machinery for
preparing animal feeds.  
     
ISSUE:

     Whether the dies and roll shells used in machinery for
pelletizing animal feed are classifiable as parts of other
agricultural machinery for preparing animal feeds.
                              - 2 -

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 headings at issue are as follows:

     8436      Other agricultural, horticultural,
               forestry, poultry-keeping or bee-
               keeping machinery, . . . parts 
               thereof

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    

     8438      Machinery, not specified or included 
               elsewhere in this chapter, for 
               the industrial preparation or 
               manufacture of food or drink, . . . 
               parts thereof
     
     The articles in question are parts of pelletizing machinery. 
In a telephone conversation with Customs (New York Seaport), the
importer stated that while some of their pelletizers are used on
very large farms, their main market is to industrial producers of
animal feed, such as Purina and Tyson, for use in large scale,
commercial feed mills.   

     The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Note (EN) to Heading 8436, pg. 1217, states that the
heading 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 in
original]."  Inasmuch as the pelletizing machines are for the
industrial preparation of animal feed, the machines and the parts
thereof are excluded from Heading 8436, HTSUS.

     EN 84.38, pg. 1222, states that Heading 8438, HTSUS, "covers
machinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this Chapter,
for the industrial preparation or manufacture of food or drink
(whether for immediate consumption or preserving, and whether for
human or animal consumption) . . . [emphasis in original]."  The
dies and roll shells are parts of pelletizing machinery used to
mold animal feed ingredients from loose form into a pelleted
final product through the application of mechanical compression. 
The dies and roll shells are parts of machinery for the - 3 -

industrial preparation or manufacture of food for animal
consumption, and they are classifiable under subheading
8438.90.90, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

     The dies and roll shells are classifiable under subheading
8438.90.90, HTSUS, which provides for "[m]achinery, not specified
or included elsewhere in this chapter, for the industrial
preparation or manufacture of food or drink, . . . parts thereof
. . . [p]arts . . . [o]ther."  The corresponding rate of duty for
articles of this subheading is 3.5% ad valorem.
     
     The Internal Advice applicant should be advised of this
decision.

                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director