OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H343962 SKK
Center Director
Machinery Center of Excellence and Expertise
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
109 Shiloh Dr., Suite 300
Laredo, TX 78045
ATTN: Derrick M. Logan, Import Specialist; Bernard Ash, Supervisory Import Specialist
RE: UVC disinfecting device; Application for Further Review of Protest No. 1703-23-
115544.
Dear Center Director:
This is in response to an Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest No. 1703-
23-115544, filed on April 17, 2023, by Liviliti Health Products Corp (“Protestant”). The AFR is
against U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (“CBP”) classification under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) of the “Paptizer UVC Sanitizer.” No sample
was provided for examination.
The AFR was forwarded to this office for review.
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue in Protest No. 1703-23-115544 is identified as the Liviliti
Paptizer UVC 1 Sanitizer (“Paptizer”). The primary function of the Paptizer is to sanitize certain
medical equipment. The subject device is comprised of a plastic enclosure containing 40
individual UVC LED lights, heating element, temperature sensor, fan, and various control
electronics. The Paptizer measures 11.89 x 10.59 x 6.06 inches and weighs 4.29 pounds. Items
to be sanitized are placed in the machine’s cavity and subjected to UVC light and heat for the
prescribed cycle time. Heat is used to dry items after washing and to maintain optimal
conditions (i.e., humidity and temperature) for sanitized storage.
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UVC LED sanitizers use ultraviolet C (UVC) light to disinfect equipment and other objects.
The Paptizer user manual describes the device’s three operating modes as follows: 2
• “Fast Sanitize” Mode (cycle time 3 minutes).
• “Auto” Mode (cycle time 1-24 hours) “Fast Sanitize” mode followed by 60-minute
“Smart Drying” cycle using internal fan and temperature control features. Sensors
determine whether additional drying time is needed. Once drying is complete, the
Paptizer switches to “Sanitized Storage,” which uses low light UVC LEDs.
• “Fast Sanitize + Sanitized Storage” Mode (cycle time 1-24 hours)
See https://www.liviliti.com/_files/ugd/2a5b17_f9d44e46778445bcad4d88c487ad2059.pdf (site
last visited December 1, 2025).
The subject merchandise was entered under heading 8419, specifically subheading 8419.
20.00, HTSUS, which provides for “[M]achinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not
electrically heated (excluding furnaces, ovens and other equipment of heading 8514), for the
treatment of materials by a process involving a change of temperature such as heating, cooking,
roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilizing, pasteurizing, steaming, drying, evaporating,
vaporizing, condensing or cooling, other than machinery or plant of a kind used for domestic
purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters, nonelectric; parts thereof: Medical, surgical or
laboratory sterilizers. The subject entries were liquidated on March 17 and March 24, 2023
under heading 8543, specifically subheading 8543.70.98, HTSUS, which provides for
“[E]lectrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included
elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other.”
ISSUE:
Whether the subject device is properly classified under heading 8419, HTSUS, as an
electrical machine for the treatment of materials by a process involving a change of temperature,
or under heading 8543, HTSUS, as an electrical machine or apparatus, having an individual
function, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
This matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. 1514(a)(2) as a decision on classification. The
protest was timely filed on April 17, 2023, within 180 days of liquidation, pursuant to 19 U.S.C.
1514(c)(3). Further Review of Protest No. 1703-23-115544 is properly accorded pursuant to 19
CFR § 174.24(b), as this protest is alleged to involve questions of law or fact that have not been
ruled upon by the Commissioner of CBP or his designee or by the customs courts.
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Modes 2 and 3 are designed for use in clinical settings.
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Classification under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation
(“GRIs”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods will be determined according to the
terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. If a good
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 will then be applied in order. GRI 6 provides
that classification of goods at the subheading level will be determined according to the terms of
those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the preceding
GRIs on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable.
The following HTSUS provisions are under consideration:
8419 Machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not electrically heated
(excluding furnaces, ovens and other equipment of heading 8514), for the
treatment of materials by a process involving a change of temperature such as
heating, cooking, roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilizing, pasteurizing, steaming,
drying, evaporating, vaporizing, condensing or cooling, other than machinery or
plant of a kind used for domestic purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters,
nonelectric; parts thereof
8543 Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or
included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof:
Note 2(A)(v) to Chapter 84, HTSUS, provides that heading 8419 does not cover
“[M]achinery, plant or laboratory equipment, designed for mechanical operation, in which
a change of temperature, even if necessary, is subsidiary.”
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes
(“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level.
While not legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the
HTS and are thus useful in ascertaining the proper classification of merchandise. It is CBP’s
practice to follow, whenever possible, the terms of the ENs when interpreting the HTSUS. See
T.D. 89-90, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
The EN to heading 84.19 provides, in relevant part:
[T]the heading covers machinery and plant designed to submit materials (solid, liquid or
gaseous) to a heating or cooling process in order to cause a simple change of temperature,
or to cause a transformation of the materials resulting principally from the temperature
change (e.g., heating, cooking, roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilising, pasteurising,
steaming, drying, evaporating, vaporising, condensing or cooling processes). But the
heading excludes machinery and plant in which the heating or cooling, even if essential, is
merely a secondary function designed to facilitate the main mechanical function of the
machine or plant, e.g., machines for coating biscuits, etc., with chocolate, and conches
(heading 84.38), washing machines (heading 84.50 or 84.51), machines for spreading and
tamping bituminous road-surfacing materials (heading 84.79).
* * *
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As heading 8543, HTSUS, provides for “[E]lectrical machines and apparatus, having
individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof,” the initial
determination is whether the subject merchandise is prima facie classifiable in heading 8419,
HTSUS.
Heading 8419, HTSUS, provides for “[M]achinery, plant or laboratory equipment… for
the treatment of materials by a process involving a change of temperature such as …
sterilizing….” Note 2(A)(v) to Chapter 84, HTSUS, set forth supra, states that heading 8419,
HTSUS, excludes “machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, designed for mechanical
operation, in which a change of temperature, even if necessary, is subsidiary.” Therefore, to fall
within the scope of heading 8419, HTSUS, the Paptizer must use heat (i.e., a change in
temperature) as its primary method of sterilization.
Protestant submits that the subject device uses UVC light to provide radiant energy to
break down the DNA cell wall structure of harmful microbes and features “environmental
controls that utilize a heating element, fan, temperature control, humidity control, and UVC
LEDs in conjunction with one another to achieve proper disinfection efficacy… .” While the
Paptizer user manual confirms that UVC light is used in all three modes of operation to eliminate
98% of germs and bacteria, it specifies that heat is only used in “Auto Mode” (to dry items after
washing) and in “Sanitizing Storage Mode” (to maintain optimal humidity and temperatures for
storage). The user guide further specifies that the device’s peak operating temperature is 40° C,
which falls below the 60° C temperature generally required for low-temperature sterilization
without chemicals. See https://www.cdc.gov/infection-control/hcp/disinfection-sterilization/low-
temperature-sterilization.html (site last visited December 1, 2025)). The foregoing design
features indicate that the Paptizer primarily uses UVC light for sterilization (which does not
involve a change in temperature), and the use of heat is ancillary to that process. This finding is
supported by research indicating that UV sterilization is more efficient in environments with low
humidity and at room temperature (see “Shedding a Light on Ultraviolet-C Technologies in the
Hospital Environment” at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9769028/ (site last visited 8
July, 2025). Accordingly, the subject merchandise is precluded from classification in heading
8419, HTSUS, by application of Chapter 84 Note 2(A)(v).
The subject merchandise is described by heading 8543, HTSUS, in that it is an electrical
machine, with an independent function as a sanitization device, that is not provided for in
heading 8419, HTSUS, or elsewhere in the Nomenclature. As such, the subject Paptizer is prima
facie classified in heading 8543, specifically subheading 8543.70.98, HTSUS, which provides
for “[E]lectrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included
elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other.” See New
York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N302623, dated March 6, 2019 (UV CPAP cleaner); NY N025969,
dated April 30, 2008 (UV-C Light Sanitizer), and; NY N252928, dated May 13, 2014 (UVC
automatic room disinfection system), the foregoing classified under heading 8543, HTSUS.
Lastly, we do not find regarding Protestant’s argument that the Paptizer is not a domestic
appliance germane to the instant classification analysis.
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HOLDING:
By application of GRI’s 1 and 6, the subject merchandise is classified under heading
8543, specifically subheading 8543.70.98, HTSUS, which provides for “[E]lectrical machines
and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter;
parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other.” The column one, general rate of
duty is 2.6 percent ad valorem.
Pursuant to U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, products of China
classified under subheading 8543.70.98, HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to an
additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. As such, the subject merchandise is covered by
heading 9903.88.02, HTSUS, in addition to subheading 8543.70.98, HTSUS, listed above.
This ruling does not address the applicability of any additional duties that may apply to
the goods discussed herein. Likewise, duty rates are provided for your convenience and are
subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are
provided at www.usitc.gov.
You are instructed to DENY the protest.
You are instructed to notify the protestant of this decision no later than 60 days from the
date of this decision. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision
must be accomplished prior to this notification. Sixty days from the date of the decision, the
Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to CBP personnel and
the public on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) at https://rulings.cbp.gov/, or
other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
for Yuliya A. Gulis, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division
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