CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H304965 NVF
Larry Ordet
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
1000 NW 57th Court
Suite 600
Miami, FL 33126
RE: Request to reconsider NY N301759; Classification of Rotimatic Flatbread Maker
Dear Mr. Ordet:
This letter is in response to your request, dated February 28, 2019, for reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N301759, which was issued to your client, Zimplistic Inventions, LLC, on November 30, 2018. In NY N301759, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) classified a Rotimatic flatbread maker under subheading 8516.60.60 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), which provides for “Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters; electric space heating apparatus . . . and hand dryers; electric flatirons; other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes; electric heating resistors, other than those of heading 8545; parts thereof: Other ovens; cooking stoves, ranges, cooking plates, boiling rings, grillers and roasters: Other.” We have reviewed NY N301759, determined that it is correct, and for the reasons set forth below, are affirming that ruling.
As described in the original ruling, the subject merchandise is an automated flatbread maker intended for household use. The flatbread maker measures, mixes, and kneads ingredients into a dough ball then presses the dough into a flat shape and cooks it between two heated plates. In the original ruling, we determined that the flatbread maker was not an oven because the dough was cooked on heated plates, not in an enclosed compartment.
In your reconsideration request, you assert that the flatbread maker should be classified under subheading 8516.60.40, HTSUS, as an oven.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
8516.60 Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters; electric space heating apparatus and soil heating apparatus; electrothermic hairdressing apparatus (for example, hair dryers, hair curlers, curling tong heaters) and hand dryers; electric flatirons; other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes; electric heating resistors, other than those of heading 8545; parts thereof:
Other ovens; cooking stoves, ranges, cooking plates, boiling rings, grillers and roasters:
8516.60.40 Cooking stoves, ranges and ovens…
8516.60.60 Other…
Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
Since there is no disagreement that the flatbread maker is classifiable under heading 8516, HTSUS, the instant matter is governed by GRI 6, which states that:
For 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 mutandis, 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.
Subheading 8516.60.40, HTSUS provides for cooking stoves, ranges, and ovens. The term, “oven” is not defined in either the HTSUS or the The Explanatory Notes of the Harmonized Commodity Description Coding System (“ENs”), which constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. We therefore look to its common and commercial meaning. See Nippon Kogasku (USA) Inc. v. United States, 69 C.C.P.A. 89, 92-93 (1982); C.J. Towers & Sons v. United States, 69 C.C.P.A. 128, 133-134 (1982). This office has previously stated that:
In examining the common meaning of the term, we find that “oven” is broadly defined in the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition, p. 827 (1999), as: "a chamber used for baking, heating, or drying.” In HQ 956227, dated September 19, 1994, Customs relied upon a similar definition provided in Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary, p. 837 (1984), that an oven is “[a]n enclosed compartment supplied with heat and used for cooking food and for heating or drying objects placed within.”
HQ 963678 (Sep. 11, 2000).
In challenging this definition of an oven, you cite to a definition on dictionary.com which states that an oven is “a chamber or compartment, as in a stove, for baking, roasting, heating, drying, etc.” You also cite to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary which defines an oven as “a chamber used for baking, heating, or drying.” The Merriam Webster definition that you cite is identical to the definition we used in HQ 963678. You also observe that CBP’s Informed Compliance Publication* concerning the Classification of Cooking Ranges, Stoves and Ovens states that “the very first oven appears to have been a rock-lined pit containing a wood fire. After the ashes were removed, the food was placed inside the pit and covered until cooked.” Lastly, you observe that a wood-fired pizza oven, despite not being electrothermic, has an open enclosure. Therefore, you argue that CBP’s definition of an oven as an enclosed compartment is not in keeping with the common meaning of an oven, that an “oven” of subheading 8516.60.40 does not necessarily have to be to fully enclosed, and therefore, the subject flatbread maker is an oven.
We find that your reliance on the degree of enclosure in defining an oven is misguided. The definitions of an oven as “a chamber” or an “enclosed compartment” refer not just to the shape of the goods covered by the term but also the manner in which they apply heat to the items they cook, bake, or dry. Specifically, the chamber-like or enclosed nature of ovens facilitates the application of radiant or indirect heat. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an oven as “a furnace; a chamber in or below which fuel is burnt to produce an intense consuming heat” and “an enclosed compartment which is heated in order to cook or warm food.” All ovens, including the pizza oven that you reference, are considered such because they have a chamber that cooks food using ambient, indirect heat rather than the direct heat that is utilized by a cooking range or hotplate.
In this case, the flatbread maker does not form an enclosure or chamber nor does it utilize indirect or radiant heat to bake flatbread. Rather, flatbread dough is cooked directly on top of a hot cooking plate, and when the dough begins to expand, a second hot plate is lowered into direct contact with the dough, which browns the top of bread. This operation of cooking is substantially similar to other electric cooking plates or griddles. Such cooking plates or griddles cook food directly on a hot plate or between two hot plates. See NY N179422 (Sep. 8, 2011) (indoor electric grill); NY N151555 (Mar. 25, 2011) (electric grill); NY N131318 (Dec. 1, 2010) (electric smokeless grill); NY N130979 (Nov. 24, 2010) (open-top electric griddle); NY N084039 (Dec. 7, 2009) (contact searing grill).
Therefore, the Rotimatic flatbread maker falls outside the scope of subheading 8516.60.40, HTSUS, and is classified under subheading 8516.60.60, HTSUS which provides for: “Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters; electric space heating apparatus and soil heating apparatus; electrothermic hairdressing apparatus (for example, hair dryers, hair curlers, curling tong heaters) and hand dryers; electric flatirons; other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes; electric heating resistors, other than those of heading 8545; parts thereof: Other ovens; cooking stoves, ranges, cooking plates, boiling rings, grillers and roasters: Other.”
For the aforementioned reasons, we find that the flatbread maker is correctly classified under subheading 8516.60.60, HTSUS. We therefore affirm NY N301759, dated November 30, 2018.
Sincerely,
Craig T. Clark, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division