CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 088303 AJS
District Director
U.S. Customs Service
Port of Boston
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Federal Building
10 Causeway Street
Room 603
Boston, MA 02222-1052
RE: Internal Advice 65/90; electric convection ovens; Heading
8419; Heading 8514; Heading 8516; industrial; industrial oven;
domestic; Subheading 8419.81.50.
Dear District Director:
This is in response to your request for internal advice
(65/90) regarding the classification of electric convection ovens
under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA).
FACTS:
The articles at issue are electric convection ovens. One
accommodates eight trays of bread or croissants or 16 trays of
cookies; the other, four and eight.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject ovens are properly classifiable within
heading 8419, HTSUSA, which provides for "[m]achinery, plant or
laboratory equipment . . . for the treatment of materials by a
process involving a change of temperature such as heating,
cooking . . . other than machinery or plant of a kind used for
domestic purposes . . ."; or classifiable within heading 8514,
HTSUSA, which provides for industrial or laboratory electric
furnaces and ovens; or classifiable within heading 8516, HTSUSA,
which provides for electrothermic appliances of a kind used for
domestic purposes.
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LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 8514, HTSUSA, provides for industrial electric
furnaces and ovens. This heading includes industrial ovens for
bread, pastry or biscuit making. Explanatory Note (EN) 85.14.
The subject ovens will be used for making bread, croissants and
cookies. However, the submitted literature states that the ovens
will be used in retail bakeries, supermarket in-store bakeries,
restaurants, cafes, convenience stores, etc. These types of
ovens does not satisfy the terms of this heading. They are not
industrial ovens.
It is argued that the term "industrial" means large scale
production outside the home. The term "industry", from which the
word "industrial" is derived, is described as the commercial
production and sale of goods and services. Webster's II New
Riverside University Dictionary (1984). The term "commerce",
from which the word "commercial" is derived, is described as
"[t]he buying and selling of goods, esp. on a large scale."
Webster's II. These descriptions support the interpretation of
"industrial" as it relates to large scale production. As stated
previously, the submitted literature states that the subject
ovens will be used in retail bakeries, supermarket in-store
bakeries, restaurants, cafes, convenience stores etc. These
types of ovens do not encompass "large scale production".
Instead, they encompasses small scale retail production.
The meaning of the term "industrial oven" has been discussed
by the Customs Court in Stella D'Oro Biscuit Co., v. United
States, 79 Customs Court 28, C.D. 4709 (1977), aff'd 65 CCPA 52
(1978). This case dealt with the classification of an oven used
for the manufacture of bakery products as a component of a
"breadstick production line". This production line included such
items as mixing equipment, conveyors, an oven and a packaging or
wrapping machine. The Court concluded that this type of oven was
an industrial oven. We find this situation to be a good example
of "large scale production". The subject ovens will not be used
for this type of production.
Congress has indicated that earlier tariff rulings must not
be disregarded in applying the HTSUSA. The conference report to
the 1988 Omnibus Trade Bill, states that "on a case-by-case basis
prior decisions should be considered instructive in interpreting
the HTS[USA], particularly where the nomenclature previously
interpreted in those decisions remains unchanged and no
dissimilar interpretation is required by the text of the
HTS[USA]." H. Rep. No. 100-576, 100th Cong., 2D Sess. 548, 550
(1988). In this case, we find Stella D'Oro to be instructive for
the interpretation of the term "industrial oven".
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Heading 8516, HTSUSA, provides for electrothermic appliances
of a kind used for domestic purposes. More specifically, cooking
ovens are provided for within subheading 8516.60, HTSUSA. The
subject ovens do not satisfy this description. They are not of a
kind used for domestic purposes. The term "domestic" is
described as "[o]f or pertaining to the family or household".
Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, (1984). As
stated previously, the subject ovens are used for retail
purposes. Accordingly, they are not properly classifiable within
heading 8516.
Heading 8419, HTSUSA, provides for machinery for the
treatment of materials by heating or cooking for non-domestic
purposes. This heading does not include either industrial or
domestic ovens. EN 84.19(g) & (n). The subject ovens are used
for baking. The phrase "bake" is describe as "[t]o cook (food)
with dry heat, esp. in an oven". Webster's II New Riverside
University Dictionary (1984). The subject ovens will be used for
cooking bread, croissants and cookies in a retail setting.
Subheading 8419.81, HTSUSA, provides for machinery, plant or
equipment for cooking food. The subject ovens satisfy the terms
of this subheading. More specifically, the subject ovens are
provided for within subheading 8419.81.50, HTSUSA, as other
ovens.
HOLDING:
The subject ovens are classifiable within 8419.81.50,
HTSUSA, which provides for cooking stoves, ranges and ovens. You
should advise the Internal Advice applicant of this decision.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division