HQ 087703
JAN 18 1991
CLA-2:CO:R:C:G 087703 JAS
John B. Rehm, Esq.
Dorsey & Whitney
330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
RE: Composting Machinery, Farm Type; Non-Industrial
Composter
Dear Mr. Rehm:
In a letter, dated August 7, 1990, on behalf of Ryan
Construction Company of Minnesota, Inc., you inquire as to the
tariff classification of machinery from France for transforming
organic waste materials into compost. A November 19, 1990,
meeting in our office, confirmed by a December 21, 1990,
telefax complete the record. Our ruling follows.
FACTS:
Submitted literature describes machinery, designated the
Siloda, which will be used by a solid waste treatment plant
consisting of two components, a paddle wheel and transfer
lorry. A side travel mechanism and screw augur are integral
with the paddle wheel.
Municipal garbage trucks unload garbage and other solid
waste onto a mobile shuttle overhead conveyor - not a part of
this importation - which deposits the waste in the first of two
rows of five silos each. Each silo is horizontal and measures
approximately 140 ft. x 13 ft., surrounded by 5 ft. 9 in.
concrete walls. The Siloda can process between 40,000 and
120,000 cubic yards of organic waste each year to produce
between 5,000 and 60,000 tons of compost.
The paddle wheel consists of a hollow cylinder fitted with
steel loading paddles and rotates on its axis to turn over,
slice, chop and aerate the waste. Domestically sourced blowers
provide additional oxygen for what is essentially a
fermentation process. The rotating wheel then raises the waste
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to a height from which it falls by gravity into a trough or
hopper inside the wheel, then to the screw augur which
transfers it to the next silo where the process is repeated.
The side travel mechanism or drive wheel is an integral part of
the paddle wheel and enables it to rotate inside a silo along
its entire length. It consists mainly of two supporting
blocks, each with two motor-driven wheels and tires.
The second component in issue here is a lorry called a
transfer crab. It is a motor-driven wheeled chassis with
transmission designed to run on rails. Although it has a
hydraulic loading/unloading device, it functions to carry the
paddle wheel between silos.
The waste is moved between silos every four days. After
about a month you state the waste has reached a degradation
level of 60 percent which qualifies it as class 1 compost. The
product is to be sold to farmers to enhance the subsoil and to
replace eroded topsoil.
You maintain that the common meaning of the term
"agriculture" encompasses cultivation of the soil, harvesting
of crops, or the production of plants and animals. As such,
the machinery in issue here qualifies as agricultural machinery
and is classifiable duty-free as other agricultural and
horticultural machinery in subheading 8436.80.0090, Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).
ISSUE:
Whether the components in issue qualify as agricultural or
horticultural machinery of the type provided for in heading
8436.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) in accordance
with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 states
in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes and, provided the headings or
notes do not otherwise require, according to GRIs 2 through 6.
In common meaning, the term agriculture relates to the art
or science of cultivating the soil, growing crops, or raising
animals for food or clothing, while horticulture relates
similarly to fruits, vegetables, flowers or shrubs. We agree
that machinery of the type in issue here, which produces
compost for use as a soil nutrient on farms, in gardens,
nurseries or greenhouses, orchards, etc. is sufficiently
agricultural or horticultural for tariff purposes.
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The Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the Customs
Cooperation Council's official interpretation of the Harmonized
System. While not legally binding, the notes provide a
commentary on the scope of each heading of the HS and are
useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under
the System. Customs believes the ENs should always be
consulted. See T.D. 89-80. ENs at p. 1217 indicate that
heading 8436 covers machinery which is of the type used on
farms (including agricultural schools, co-operatives or testing
stations), in forestry, market gardens, or poultry-keeping or
bee-keeping farms or the like. However, it excludes machines
clearly of a kind designed for industrial use. (Emphasis
added).
The ENs distinguish farm-type machines from industrial
machines, but provide little guidance on how this distinction
is to be made. The provision in heading 8436 is governed by
the concept of principal use. See U.S. Rule of Interpretation
1(a), HTSUSA. You have provided evidence of at least two U.S.
manufactured composting machines used on a turkey farm and
chicken farm (in Ephraim, Utah, and Potosi, Mo., respectively),
with processing/output capabilities within those of the Siloda.
In the absence of other evidence of similar machines used in
industrial, non-farm applications, we conclude that the instant
machine belongs to a class or kind of composting machinery
principally used on farms, industrial schools, co-operatives or
testing stations and the like.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 1, the composite article
consisting of the paddle wheel, side travel mechanism and screw
augur, is provided for in heading 8436, other agricultural or
horticultural machinery. Actual classification is in
subheading 8436.80.0090, HTSUSA, other machines. The rate of
duty is free.
This ruling is based on the evidence available to us at
this time. As additional evidence is developed on the
principal use of the class or kind of composting machinery to
which the Siloda belongs, we may have cause to review the
matter.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division