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HQ 963822




NOVEMBER 16, 2001

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 963822 JAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8302.50.00

Port Director of Customs
10 Causeway Street, Suite 603
Boston, MA 22220

RE: Protest 0401-99-100373; Mounting Kit

Dear Port Director:

This is our decision on Protest 0401-99-100373, filed against your classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), of the ESTI Mounting Kit, Standard. The entries under protest were liquidated on November 5, 1999, and this protest timely filed on December 6, 1999.

FACTS:

The merchandise is identified on the Customs Form 6445 as the ESTI Mounting Kit, Standard 9594/401/20426. The electronic 6431 describes a kit consisting of stainless steel top and bottom brackets, a plastic fiber optic guide that affixes to the top bracket to secure a cable in place, and screws. The components are used to mount telecommunications sub-racks to telecommunications racks, presumably to hold electrical telephonic apparatus. There is no further description of the goods. The protestant maintains that the ESTI Mounting Kit is packaged as a set, and sold to end users in the same packaging.

The merchandise was entered under a provision of heading 8302, HTSUS, for base metal hat racks, hat pegs, brackets and similar fixtures. The import specialist concluded that the merchandise was not similar to the exemplars in the entered provision, and liquidated the entries under a provision of heading 8517, HTSUS, as parts of electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

[B]ase metal hat racks, hat pegs, brackets and similar fixtures; base metal parts thereof:

8302.50.00 Hat racks, hat pegs, brackets and similar fixtures, and parts thereof:

8517 Electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy; parts thereof:

Parts:

8517.90.58 For telephonic switching or terminal apparatus

8517.90.64 Other telephonic apparatus

ISSUE:

Whether the ETSI Mounting Kit is a “set” for tariff purposes; whether it is a good of heading 8302 or heading 8517.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), goods are to be classified according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6. GRI 3(b), HTSUS, states, in part, that goods put up in sets for retail sale are to be classified as if consisting of the component which gives the good its essential character.

Protestant maintains the ETSI Mounting Kit qualifies as a “set” under GRI 3(a), in which the brackets impart the essential character. Protestant cites several rulings to support his contention that base metal brackets are provided for in heading 8302.

Initially, parts of machines and other apparatus of Chapters 84 and 85 are classifiable in accordance with Section XVI, Note 2, HTSUS. However, Section XVI, Note 1(k) excludes from that Section articles of chapter 83. Thus, if the ETSI Mounting Kit qualifies as a good of heading 8302 or of any other heading in chapter 83, it cannot be classified in heading 8517.

Under GRI 3(b), HTSUS, the term “goods put up in sets for retail sale” shall be taken to mean those goods consisting of at least two different articles which are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings; that consist of products put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity; and, which are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking. The brackets are prima facie classifiable in heading 8302, the screws in heading 7318, as screws of iron or steel, and the fiber optic guide as an article of plastics, in heading 3926. All of these articles contribute to the specific activity of supporting a weight or load. The brackets with screws support a rack on which other articles rest, and the fiber optic guide fixes in place and supports a cable. According to the available information, these articles are all sold to end users in the same packaging. Because it is the brackets which perform the actual support function, we conclude that the brackets impart the essential character to the whole. The ETSI Mounting Kit is to be classified as if consisting of the stainless steel brackets, which are provided for, eo nomine, by name, in heading 8302.

The rulings protestant cites are in accord with the heading 8302 classification. NY 873829, dated May 19, 1992, among other things, classified bent steel brackets used to attach certain telephonic transmission units to a metal rack in subheading 8302.50.00, HTSUS, as base metal fittings and mountingsbrackets. NY 810178, dated May 16, 1995, classified a steel rack mount bracket used to mount a video monitor in a surveillance system on a wall or shelf in the same provision. In accordance with Section XVI, Note 1(k), HTSUS, the heading 8302 classification eliminates heading 8517 from consideration.

HOLDING:

Under the authority of GRI 1, the ETSI Mounting Kit, Standard 9594/401/20426 is provided for in heading 8302. It is classifiable in subheading 8302.50.00, HTSUS.

The protest should be ALLOWED. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you are to mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be
accomplished prior to mailing the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to Customs personnel, and to the public on the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.customs.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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