CLA-2-CO:R:C 555154 RA
TARIFF NO: 9802.00.80, HTSUS
Mr. William F. Joffroy, President
William F. Joffroy, Inc.
P.O. Box 698
Nogales, Arizona 85628-0698
RE: Gas sterilization as incidental to assembly of medical
products
Dear Mr. Joffroy:
This is in response to your letter of October 11, 1988, on
behalf of Superior Healthcare Group, Inc. of Cumberland, Rhode
Island, requesting a ruling that a gas sterilization process
would be considered as incidental to assembly for purposes of
subheading 9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
Medical products, such as specimen collector sets and
suction catheters, are assembled in Mexico from components of
U.S. origin and subjected to a gas sterilization process before
exportation to this country. This process requires exposure to a
sterilant gas of a precise concentration at certain temperature,
humidity, and pressure levels.
ISSUE:
Whether the sterilization process may be considered as an
operation incidental to assembly under the provisions of
subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
As you know, the HTSUS replaced the Tariff Schedules of the
United States (TSUS), effective January 1, 1989. Item 807.00,
TSUS, was carried over into the HTSUS without change as
subheading 9802.00.80. Subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, applies to
articles assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated
components, the product of the U.S., with no operations performed
thereon except the attachment of the components to form the
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imported merchandise and operations incidental thereto. An
article classified under this tariff provision is subject to duty
upon the full appraised value of the imported article, less the
cost or value of such products of the U.S.
You note that section 10.16(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR
10.16(b)), provides that operations such as cleaning are
considered incidental to the assembly process, and that in our
ruling 554338 dated November 5, 1986, we indicated that
sterilization was comparable to cleaning. That ruling and a
previous ruling dated July 3, 1984 (553055), concerned the
applicability of item 807.00, TSUS, to the foreign assembly and
sterilization of cotton-tipped applicators or swabs used for
medical testing purposes. We stated that sterilizing assembled
components for "ultimate use in surgical operations or
prospective care" is comparable to a cleaning process and, as
such, can be considered incidental to the overall assembly
process.
We have also held in ruling 071442 dated July 19, 1983, that
the sterilization of assembled hospital articles such as surgical
gowns and packs is comparable to a cleaning process and,
therefore, is considered incidental to the foreign assembly
process.
HOLDING:
Consistent with the above-referenced rulings, the gas
sterilization of the assembled medical products before
exportation to the U.S. is considered comparable to cleaning and,
in our opinion, is an operation incidental to assembly under the
provisions of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division