CLA-2-90:RR:NC:MM:114 G89442
Mr. Gordon C. Anderson
C. H. Robinson International, Inc.
8967 Columbine Road
Suite 400
Eden Prairie, MN 55347
RE: The tariff classification of Ezy Care Medi-Scope from China
Dear Mr. Anderson:
In your letter dated March 15, 2001, on behalf of Apothecary Products, Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling. A sample of the Ezy Care Medi-Scope was submitted with the ruling request.
The submitted item number 69755, identified as the Ezy Care Medi-Scope, consists of a lighted magnifier, oral mirror, infant tongue depressor, adult tongue depressor, ear speculum and nose speculum. The lighted magnifier consists of a magnifying head piece and penlight. Depressing the pocket clip on the penlight turns on the light. The lighted magnifier requires two AAA batteries to operate the bulb. The batteries are not included. The lighted magnifier can be used to examine the eyes. The oral mirror can be used separately or attached to the penlight to inspect teeth and gums. The infant tongue depressor and adult tongue depressor are used to check the throat. The tongue depressor can be used separately or attached to the penlight. The instructions inform the user to attach the ear speculum to the lighted magnifier to examine the ears. The instructions inform the user to attach the nose speculum to the lighted magnifier to examine the nose. You have indicated that the lighted magnifier, oral mirror, infant tongue depressor, adult tongue depressor, ear speculum and nose speculum are primarily made of plastic and are made in China. The items will be imported packaged together ready for retail sale in a blister display pack with a cardboard insert. The insert contains instructions for using the Ezy Care Medi-Scope.
You have indicated that the Ezy Care Medi-Scope was designed for home use to easily inspect eyes, ears, nose and throat to provide better information to your doctor on family illnesses and progress after treatment. The Ezy Care Medi-Scope can be used to expose problems in the mouth, eyes, ears, nose or throat.
The General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) set forth the legal framework in which merchandise is to be classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTS). GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff and any relative section or chapter notes. Goods that cannot be classified in accordance with GRI 1 are to be classified in accordance with subsequent GRIs taken in order.
The Ezy Care Medi-Scope is a single retail package containing items that are classifiable under more than two separate headings or subheadings of the tariff. The Explanatory Notes (ENs) represent the official interpretation of the HTS at the international level. GRI 3 applies when goods are put up for sale collectively and are classifiable under two or more headings of the tariff. GRI 3(b) covers goods put up in sets for retail sale. EN X to GRI 3(b) defines “goods put up in sets for retail sale”. Such goods: (a) consist of at least two different articles that are classifiable in different headings, (b) consist of products put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity, and (c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking.
The subject articles, in our opinion, meet the criteria for sets as the terms are defined in the cited ENs. For the purposes of the HTS, the merchandise constitutes a set. Having determined that the items constitute a set for tariff classification purposes, we must decide the essential character. According to the ENs to GRI 3(b), essential character may be determined by the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of the constituent material in relation to the use of the goods. The lighted magnifier imparts the essential character to the set.
Regarding your claim of classification under HTS 9018 as instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences, the General EN to HTS heading 9018, which you cite, does state that the covered items “in the vast majority of cases are used only in professional practice”. You acknowledge that your import will be sold, apparently exclusively, over-the-counter to the general public. The EN also states that medical appliances are recognizable by such things as “their better quality manufacture”. Your imports are clearly much more flimsy and imprecise than the ones that health care professionals use when examining ears, noses and throats. Also, unlike, e.g., sphygmomanometers used in the home, your item does not produce basically the same result as would be achieved by a visit to the doctor for that purpose. In addition to the relative deficiencies in the equipment, the general public does not know how to interpret the significance of most of what they would be seeing (or not seeing), as opposed to reading a digital display. You acknowledge on your packing material that the use of the import is not a substitute for an examination by a physician. Therefore, we do not believe HTS 9018 applies.
The applicable subheading for the Ezy Care Medi-Scope will be 9013.80.20, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other optical appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; other devices, appliances and instruments; hand magnifiers, magnifying glasses, loupes, thread counters and similar apparatus. The rate of duty will be 6.6 percent ad valorem.
Your sample is being returned as requested.
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 the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Barbara Kiefer at 212-637-7058.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division