"Video Doorphone" intercom system, components importedseparately

HQ 082289 December 8, 1989 CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 082289 MBR CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8517.81.00 Ms. Madeline B. Kuflik Attorney Panasonic Company One Panasonic Way Secaucus, New Jersey 07094 RE: "Video Doorphone" intercom system, components imported separately Dear Ms. Kuflik: This is in reply to your letter of May 6, 1988, on behalf of Panasonic Company, requesting separate classification of the components of the "Video Doorphone" intercom system, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). FACTS: The "Video Doorphone" intercom system provides both visual and auditory communication between a visitor at the door and the occupant inside. The first component of the system, called the "door unit," (model VA-9020) is attachable to a door. This unit contains a video camera for transmitting a moving image of the visitor at the door, as well as a microphone for the visitor to speak to the occupant and a speaker for the occupant to speak to the visitor. The CCD (charged coupled device) camera has an infrared LED to allow for viewing, even in dark surroundings. The second component is the monitor television with single line telephone (model VA-9010). This unit permits the occupant to view the visitor through a 4-inch black and white monitor cathode ray tube and also to communicate with the visitor through the phone. Other telephonic features of this unit include; 3 one- touch dialers and 10 speed dialers each with a 16-digit capacity, dialing mode selection (tone and pulse dialing), last number redial, electronic hold and release, 3-step ringer volume control (high/low/off) and 2-step receiving volume control (high/low). Both components are interconnected by cables. ISSUE: What are the classifications of the components of the "Video Doorphone" intercom system when imported separately, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA)? LAW AND ANALYSIS: U.S. Customs Ruling Letter #HQ 081783, April 21, 1988, ruled that the merchandise imported together was classifiable as a composite machine under subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUSA, which provides for other telephonic apparatus. The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUSA govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule. GRI 1 states, in pertinent part: ...classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes... Legal Note 4 to Section XVI states: Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in chapter 84 or chapter 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes, page 1133, in further delineation of Section Note 4, state, in pertinent part: For the purposes of this Note, the expression "intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function" covers only machines and combinations of machines essential to the performance of the function specific to the functional unit as a whole, and thus excludes machines or appliances fulfilling auxiliary functions and which do not contribute to the function of the whole. The following are examples of functional units of this type within the meaning of Note 4 to this Section: (13) Burglar alarms, comprising, e.g., an infra-red lamp, a photoelectric cell and a bell. Clearly, both the "door unit," (model VA-9020), and the "telephone/intercom unit," (model VA-9010), are components which are intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function, both of which are essential to the performance of the function specific to the functional unit as a whole, in the same manner as the essential relationship between burglar alarm components. Both models are necessary, working in concert, in order for the system to function at all. Therefore, even when these components are imported separately, they still remain classifiable in subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUSA, which provides for other telephonic apparatus. See Ruling Letter #HQ 081783, April 21, 1988. HOLDING: Both the "door unit," (model VA-9020), and the "telephone/intercom unit," (model VA-9010), are classifiable under 8517.81.00, HTSUSA, which provides for other apparatus: telephonic. The rate of duty is 8.5 percent ad valorem. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division