The tariff classification of a "Zowie Playzone" from China
Issued August 5, 1999 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Tariff classification
HTS codes: 8524.39.4000, 8471.60.9090
Product description
The merchandise under consideration involves a Zowie Playzone, which is a sophisticated “smart toy” that allows children to play with physical objects (e.g. figurines) and have the power of the computer contribute to the play experience. Each Zowie Playzone consists of the following: a- A plastic playset (such as Redbeard’s Sea Quest) with figurines and objects that the child can place at arbitrary locations on the playset. b- A cable to connect the playset to a PC running Windows 95 or Windows 98 c- A CD-ROM that contains software. The plastic playset has embedded in it a sensing surface connected to a printed circuit board, also enclosed inside the playset. The printed circuit board contains two integrated circuits. One IC is mostly analog, while the other is entirely digital. The digital IC contains as a component a standard microcontroller core. The electronic components in the playset communicate with the PC over a cable that connects to the PCs serial port. There are several kinds of software that work in conjunction with the playset. The digital IC in the playset has embedded inside it a ROM memory containing a bootloader program. Essentially the electronic playset functions much like a mouse or other ADP input units. The user controls the PC action by playing with the figures on the Playzone. Noting Legal Note 5 (B) to Chapter 84, the electronic playset would appear to meet the definition of a “unit” of an ADP system. The “Zowie Playzone” is imported and marketed in a retail package, and would meet the definition of a retail set as per GRI-3 (b). The essential character of this retail set would be exemplified by the electronic playset. Noting Legal Note 6 to Chapter 85, the CD-ROM software would however be separately classifiable.
CBP rationale
The applicable subheading for the “Zowie Playzone” will be 8471.60.9090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other input units. The applicable subheading for the CD-ROM software will be 8524.39.4000, HTS, which provides for other media for reproducing representations of instructions, data, sound, and image, recorded in a machine readable binary form, and capable of being manipulated or providing interactivity to a user, by means of an ADP machine.
Full text
NY E85534 August 5, 1999 CLA-2-84:RR:NC:1:110 E85534 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8471.60.9090; 8524.39.4000 Mr. Machiko Celli Nippon Express USA, Inc. P.O. Box 2487 South San Francisco, CA 94083-2487 RE: The tariff classification of a “Zowie Playzone” from China Dear Mr. Celli: In your letter dated July 26, 1999, on behalf of Siix USA Corporation, you requested a tariff classification ruling. The merchandise under consideration involves a Zowie Playzone, which is a sophisticated “smart toy” that allows children to play with physical objects (e.g. figurines) and have the power of the computer contribute to the play experience. Each Zowie Playzone consists of the following: a- A plastic playset (such as Redbeard’s Sea Quest) with figurines and objects that the child can place at arbitrary locations on the playset. b- A cable to connect the playset to a PC running Windows 95 or Windows 98 c- A CD-ROM that contains software. The plastic playset has embedded in it a sensing surface connected to a printed circuit board, also enclosed inside the playset. The printed circuit board contains two integrated circuits. One IC is mostly analog, while the other is entirely digital. The digital IC contains as a component a standard microcontroller core. The electronic components in the playset communicate with the PC over a cable that connects to the PCs serial port. There are several kinds of software that work in conjunction with the playset. The digital IC in the playset has embedded inside it a ROM memory containing a bootloader program. Essentially the electronic playset functions much like a mouse or other ADP input units. The user controls the PC action by playing with the figures on the Playzone. Noting Legal Note 5 (B) to Chapter 84, the electronic playset would appear to meet the definition of a “unit” of an ADP system. The “Zowie Playzone” is imported and marketed in a retail package, and would meet the definition of a retail set as per GRI-3 (b). The essential character of this retail set would be exemplified by the electronic playset. Noting Legal Note 6 to Chapter 85, the CD-ROM software would however be separately classifiable. The applicable subheading for the “Zowie Playzone” will be 8471.60.9090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other input units. The rate of duty will be free. The applicable subheading for the CD-ROM software will be 8524.39.4000, HTS, which provides for other media for reproducing representations of instructions, data, sound, and image, recorded in a machine readable binary form, and capable of being manipulated or providing interactivity to a user, by means of an ADP machine. The rate of duty will be 0.9 percent ad valorem. 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 Art Brodbeck at 212-637-7019. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director, National Commodity Specialist Division
More rulings on the same tariff codes
The tariff classification of an educational supplies bundle kit from China.
The tariff classification of a wireless optical mouse from China
The tariff classification of a relay device from Hungary.
The tariff classification of an automated fare collection system and its components, the country of origin was not stipulated.
The tariff classification of Radio Frequency Identification Reader from unknown country.
The tariff classification of the Net Jet Master Pack Instant Online Game System and a Net Jet Key Booster from China.
The tariff classification of a Genius mouse pen tablet set from China
The tariff classification of an Intuos.3 professional pen, mouse and tablet set and a Graphire.4 pen tablet set from China, and a Cintiq interactive pen display set from Taiwan
The tariff classification of "ViVOPAY" smart card reader and cable from China
The tariff classification of Yamaha GO46 Mobile Audio Interface Units from Japan
Searching CBP rulings the smart way
TariffLens semantically searches all 200,000+ CBP rulings, surfaces the ones that actually match your product, and builds defensible classifications backed by ruling citations.
Book a demo →