LA-2-90:RR:NC:MM:105 F82517
Ms. Nancy Trueblood
70 Essex Street, POB 180
West Mystic, CT 06388-0180
RE: The tariff classification of simulation equipment from Norway
Dear Ms. Trueblood:
In your letter, dated January 27, 2000, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
In general, we will not be able to reply to your classification request. You have provided one page sheets regarding six systems with several items mentioned on each and options given regarding whether or not items will be imported or supplied separately, plus a twelve page brochure which discusses those and other systems. The maximum is a total of five merchandise items per Ruling Request. It is not possible to determine exactly what will be in your proposed shipments. Also, you state, “a Kongsberg Norcontrol Simulator Workstation... was incorrectly categorized by DHL”, resulting in a duty payment, and you additionally state, “This has happened with other shipments and other carriers as well.”
Ruling requests are limited to prospective transactions per Customs Regulation 177.1-a-1. If you disagree with the classification applied by Customs to previous shipments, you should pursue the protest procedures, perhaps including further review of protests, in CR 174, if the entries in question have been liquidate within the last 90 days, or the internal advice procedure in CR 177.11 if they have not been liquidated. If the previous transactions are final, i.e., they were liquidated more than 90 days ago and were not protested, or they were protested and denied more than 180 days ago and no summons has been filed in the Court of International Trade, then you should so state. If the previous transactions are final, a ruling request is a valid option despite the controversy.
We do find sufficient information to classify one item if we make some assumptions, and we will do so since that will be useful in itself and should clarify what information is needed on the other systems.
Regarding the COMSAR (GMDSS and SAR Simulator), we will assume that no shipments have been misclassified in your opinion. Your literature states, “The GMDSS trainer is software based, designed to run on standard PC’s. These PC’s can be either provided by Kongsberg Norcontrol or an existing network can be used.” If the PC’s are included in any given shipment, those PC’s would not be classified in HTS 9023, which is limited, in its heading, to apparatus which is “Unsuitable For Other Uses”. Standard PC’s are, of course, separate apparatus which are suitable for an almost infinite number of uses in addition to “Demonstrational Purposes.” We assume the software for the simulation will be in the shipment and be on disks or another similar medium. We take the Equipment paragraph to be referring to specially made devices, e.g., MF/HF radio equipment, which aid in the reality of the simulation but are cannot be used to make normal radio transmissions or receptions.
The dedicated software for the COMSAR will be separately classifiable due to Note 6 to Chapter 85 of the HTS, and its value for Customs purposes will be only the value of the medium, not the value of the content. NYRL B86452, 6-19-97, noted.
The applicable subheading for the “Equipment” for the COMSAR will be 9023.00.0000 , Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for example, in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses, and parts and accessories thereof. The general rate of duty will be free.
Returning to your other merchandise, when the information discussed above is available, you may wish to consider resubmission of your request. If you decide to resubmit your request, please include all of the material that we have returned to you and mail your request to U.S. Customs, Customs Information Exchange, Room 437, 6 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10048, attn: Binding Rulings Section. If you have any questions regarding the above, contact National Import Specialist James Sheridan at 212-637-7037.
Regarding the “Equipment” for the COMSAR, this ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177). A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported.
If you have any questions regarding any of the above, contact National Import Specialist James Sheridan at 212-637-7037.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division