CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 085900 TLS
Mr. Ken Lewis
Shred-Tech, Ltd.
201 Beverly Street
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada N1R 7G8
RE: Mobile security shredder truck
Dear Mr. Lewis:
Your letter of October 20, 1989, to our New York office
requested a ruling on the proper tariff classification of a
mobile security shredder truck under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). It has been
referred to this office for reply.
FACTS:
The mobile security shredder is a diesel powered, van-type
delivery truck equipped with a paper shredding and compacting
machine. It is manufactured by Shred-Tech Limited, a Canadian
company specializing in reduction engineering and manufacturing.
The body of the vehicle consists of the shredding area and
the cargo area. The shredding compartment includes the shredder,
the controls, the loading hopper, the paper compactor and loading
doors on both sides of the vehicle. Auxiliary equipment
contained in the shredder area include an oil cooler opening, a
shredder opening, a window, two side doors, a step ladder and
rail, and a dome light. The cargo area has a chute or door
opening built into its side wall. The shredder area is 180-1/2
inches long and 93-7/8 inches wide. The cargo area is 84-1/2
inches long and 93-7/8 inches wide. The gross vehicle weight is
29,500 lbs.
The shredder operates when bags of paper are placed in the
shredder hopper and the controls are pushed or pulled. The
shredded paper is then pushed through a compactor and into the
cargo van area of the truck through a chute in the wall. The
unit shreds paper at a rate of approximately 8,000 lbs. per hour,
and can store approximately 8,000 lbs. of shredded paper. The
entire body of the truck can be hydraulically lifted for dumping
at a landfill or recycling site.
Customs issued a ruling (HQ 083669) on May 2, 1989, in which
it classified the mobile security shredder under HTSUSA
subheading 8704.22.50, as a motor vehicle for the transport of
goods. You contend that such a classification is improper in
light of additional facts which were omitted from the original
ruling. You submit that the document shredder will function only
through the power of the truck's motor in conjunction with the
operation of the truck. We previously stated in the original
ruling that the shredder and the shredder truck performed
separate functions and operated as two separate units rather than
as one unit.
ISSUE:
Considering these additional facts, under which of the
following HTSUSA headings is the mobile security shredder
properly classifiable:
8704, HTSUSA, covering motor vehicles for the transport of
goods;
8705, HTSUSA, covering special purpose vehicles, other than
those principally designed for the transport of persons or goods
(for example, wreckers, mobile cranes, fire fighting vehicles,
concrete mixers, road sweepers, spraying vehicles, mobile
workshops, mobile radiological units).
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) govern
classification of articles under HTSUSA. GRI 1 requires that
classification be determined according to the terms of the
headings and any relative section or chapter notes. In HQ
083669, we decided that the mobile security shredder could not be
classified under heading 8705 as a special purpose truck because
it did not fit any description provided for under Explanatory
Note 87.05 (the Explanatory Notes (EN), although not
dispositive, should be looked to for the proper interpretation of
the HTSUSA. See 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989)).
This decision was based on the belief that the shredder
operated independent of the truck itself. You submit that such
is not the case and in fact the shredder can only be operated
through the power supplied by the truck's motor when the vehicle
is in operation. There is no specific mention of the mobile
security shredder truck or any similar vehicle under HTSUSA or
the Explanatory Notes.
There are other vehicles listed under EN 87.05 that have
devices that perform non-transport functions and are driven by
the vehicle's engine, such as motor pump vehicles (EN 87.05 (1))
and concrete-mixer trucks capable of both making and transporting
concrete (EN 87.05 (10)). The mobile security shredder has
characteristics of both of the aforementioned vehicle-types. The
shredding device must be driven by the truck's engine to be
operated and truck is capable of both shredding documents and
transporting them as well. However, we believe that the mobile
security shredder is first and foremost a vehicle for the
transport of goods. The transporting function of the truck would
remain even if the shredder and compactor were removed; the
opposite obviously is not true. Therefore, upon finding that the
principal function of this truck is to transport goods, we find
that mobile security shredder truck is properly classifiable
under heading 8704.
HOLDING:
The mobile security shredder truck is classified under
subheading 8704.22.50, HTSUSA, as a motor vehicle for the
transport of goods, if it has a compression-ignition internal
combustion engine, and its G.V.W. does not exceed 29 metric tons.
This ruling affirms Customs decision letter HQ 083669,
pursuant to 19 C.F.R. 177.9(d).
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division