CLA-2 RR:TC:MM 959754 JAS
Mr. Jack Eldridge
Scan American Corporation
9505B N. Congress Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri 64153
RE: HQ 959379 Affirmed; Belt Grill; Continuous Contact Roasting Plant; Industrial Oven, Heading 8417; Machinery for Treatment of Materials by a Change in Temperature Such as Heating, Cooking, Roasting, Heading 8419; Oven, Common Meaning, F.L. Smidth & Company v. United States, C.D. 3141
Dear Mr. Eldridge:
In a letter, dated August 30, 1996, you ask that we
reconsider a ruling concerning the tariff status of the Berief
Dubra model 10/1000 Continuous Roasting Plant or Belt Grill from
Germany. At a meeting in our office on September 16, 1996, you
and Mr. Charles Parker, President of Scan American, made
additional arguments in support of your proposed classification,
which you confirmed in a letter to us, dated September 17, 1996.
In HQ 959379, issued to Scan American Corporation on August
20, 1996, we held that the Belt Grill was classifiable as a
nonelectric industrial oven, in subheading 8417.80.00, Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), or in an equivalent
provision in heading 8514, if electric. The contents of HQ
959379 are incorporated by reference in this letter.
You maintain that the proper classification is in subheading
8419.81.50, HTSUS, a provision for cooking stoves, ranges and
ovens which are industrial machinery for the treatment of
materials by a process involving a change of temperature such as
heating, cooking or roasting. You contend the Belt Grill is not
an oven because traditional ovens cook food by the principal of
convection or circulating air, and this method is unreliable
because during operation the sides of the Belt Grill are open.
The Belt Grill, you state, cooks by means of bringing heated top - 2 -
and bottom conveyors into actual contact with the food. In this
respect, you liken the Belt Grill to a double sided frying pan.
For the reasons stated in HQ 959379, the provision in
heading 8417, if it applies, is deemed more specific than the
provision in heading 8419. In reaching our initial
classification decision, we relied, in part, on the common
meaning of the term oven, sanctioned by the United States Customs
Court (now the Court of International Trade), as a heated chamber
or other enclosure used for baking, heating, drying or hardening.
This meaning does not prescribe a particular method of baking,
heating, drying or hardening, nor is it limited to apparatus
utilizing convection heat. The heading 8417 provision for ovens
describes a product eo nomine, by name. Such a designation,
without limitation or a contrary legislative intent or judicial
decision, will include all forms of the named article.
We have given full and careful consideration to the
arguments you have raised. However, for the stated reasons, we
remain of the opinion that the Berief Dubra 10/1000 Belt Grill is
an industrial oven for tariff purposes. It is classifiable in
subheading 8417.80.00, HTSUS, if of the thermal oil type, or in
subheading 8514.10.00, HTSUS, if electric.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification
Appeals Division
cc: Port Director of Customs
200 Granby St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
Port Director of Customs
477 Michigan Ave
Detroit, MI 48226