CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 962381 JAS
Sean T. Murray, Esq.
Miller & Company P.C.
4929 Main Street
Kansas City, MO 64112
RE: Pelletizer, Machine for Making Feed Pellets for Animals; Pelletizer Imported with Counterflow Cooler; Functional Unit, Section XVI, Note 4, HTSUS; Agricultural and Horticultural Machinery, Heading 8436; HQ 089935, HQ 961408;
Counterflow Cooler, Industrial Machinery for the Treatment of Materials, Heading 8419; Machinery, Equipment and Implements to be Used for Agricultural or Horticultural Purposes, Heading 9817.00.50, ABB Power Transmission v. U.S.
Dear Mr. Murray:
In letters to this office, dated February 18 and August 24,
1998, on behalf of Technostahl Schouten, Inc., you inquire as to
the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) of machinery for making animal feed
pellets. Your inquiry specifically relates to pelletizers
imported with counterflow coolers and counterflow coolers
imported separately.
You originally sought this ruling in the context of the
cited letters wherein you also requested reconsideration of HQ
952442, dated October 5, 1992, concerning dies and roll shells
which were parts of the pelletizer. In the process of
reconsidering HQ 952442, we did not act on your initial ruling
request. We regret the delay in responding.
FACTS:
Pelletizers or pellet mills are machines that compress
animal feed into edible pellets. Essentially, in a process
called conditioning, an auger mixes animal meal and medicaments,
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where necessary, with steam or sometimes molasses that are
introduced into the pelletizer from an external source for the
purpose of increasing the moisture level of the mixture.
Component parts called roll shells or rolls push the feed mixture
through the holes in dies of varying sizes. Heat and friction
from this process compress the mass into individual pellets.
The temperature of the hot, newly-formed pellets is between
180 to 200 degrees F. To reduce fracture and crumbling due to
temperature shock, the pellets are dropped into the top of a
cooler which operates by the counterflow principle. The cooler
is a receptacle of steel plate construction, mounted on a raised
platform. A motor-driven fan draws outside air in through
louvers in the discharge grid at the bottom of the cooler and
blows it upward to gradually cool the pellets to ambient
temperature. This process also reduces moisture in the pellets.
The cooler contains no active cooling element but, in addition to
the fan, it does have as standard equipment two product level
probes and an alarm. When a preset bed depth has been reached,
the discharge grid opens to release the cooled pellets as
additional hot pellets enter from the top.
At a meeting in our office on August 24, 1998, you stated
that the pelletizer is mounted on a subfloor slightly above the
counterflow cooler and that the newly-formed pellets drop down a
connecting duct into the cooler. Occasionally, due to space
constraints, when the cooler is located a sufficient distance
from the pelletizer, a conveyor transports the pellets to the
cooler. There are no other wires or cables that connect the two
machines. The pelletizer is said to be the approximate size of a
farm tractor or large riding mower, and the counterflow cooler
proportionally smaller.
You maintain that the pelletizer is a good of heading 8436
because the making of animal food pellets bears a sufficient
relationship to the raising of livestock for food or clothing as
to be a legitimate agricultural pursuit. You maintain further
that based on HQ 089935, dated November 6, 1991, a pelletizer
imported together with a counterflow cooler, constitutes a
functional unit under Section XVI, Note 4, HTSUS, with the
function described in heading 8436. You do not propose a
specific classification for the counterflow cooler. You do,
however, make an alternative claim for the pelletizer and cooler,
together, and for the cooler itself under heading 9817.00.50,
HTSUS, as machinery, equipment and implements to be used for
agricultural or horticultural purposes.
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The provisions under consideration are as follows:
8419 Machinery...for the treatment of materials by
a process involving a change of temperature such as...cooling:
8419.89 Other:
8419.89.90 Other
* * * *
8436 Other agricultural, horticultural... machinery...:
8436.10.00 Machinery for preparing animal feeds
* * * *
9817.00.50 Machinery, equipment and implements to be used for agricultural or horticultural purposes
ISSUE:
Whether a pelletizer imported with counterflow cooler is a
functional unit provided for in heading 8436; whether a
counterflow cooler imported separately is provided for in heading
8419; if it is, whether it is eligible for duty-free entry under
heading 9817.00.50.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 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
require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6.
Section XVI, Note 4, HTSUS, states in part that a machine,
including a combination of machines, consisting of individual
components, whether separate or interconnected by piping,
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transmission devices, cables or other devices, that contributes
to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings of
chapter 84 or chapter 85 is to be classified in the heading
appropriate to that function.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of
the Harmonized System. Though not dispositive, the ENs provide a
commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System
and Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See
T.D. 89-80. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
In HQ 961408, dated November 24, 1998, which revoked
HQ 952442 concerning dies and roll shells for animal food
pelletizers, we made the preliminary determination that the
pelletizers themselves were agricultural or horticultural
machinery of heading 8436. For purposes of Section XVI, Note 4,
a device's "function" refers to the "activity" it performs. See
ABB Power Transmission v. U.S., 19 CIT 1044 (1995). Accordingly,
we agree that a pelletizer and counterflow cooler imported
together are a functional unit, i.e., a combination of machines
that contribute together to the clearly defined function of
compressing animal meal into food pellets, which we conclude is
an agricultural activity for purposes of heading 8436. See HQ
089935, dated November 6, 1991, and cases cited.
As to the classification of the counterflow cooler, the ENs
at p. 1271 state, in part, that with certain exceptions not
relevant here, heading 84.19 covers machinery and plant designed
to submit materials to a cooling process in order to cause a
simple change of temperature, or to cause a transformation of the
materials resulting principally from the temperature change. The
machinery and plant of heading 84.19 may or may not incorporate
mechanical equipment. The ENs continue by stating that the
change in temperature, even if essential, must not be secondary
to the main mechanical function of the machine or plant. In this
case, the opening of the discharge grid to release cooled pellets
is a mechanical function, but it is clearly subordinate to the
main function of the cooler, which is to change the temperature
of the pellets. The counterflow cooler, therefore, meets the
84.19 EN description. We also note that the heading 8436 ENs at
p. 1318 specifically exclude from that heading machinery or plant
of heading 8419.
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Pursuant to Chapter 98, U.S. Note 1, HTSUS, heading
9817.00.50, HTSUS, is not governed by the rule of relative
specificity. If the counterflow cooler qualifies under this
provision it may be classified therein. As previously discussed,
the device reduces fracture and crumbling of the newly-formed
animal feed pellets by gradually cooling them to ambient
temperature. We conclude that this is a legitimate agricultural
purpose. Machinery or plant of subheading 8419.89.90 are not
among the exclusions from heading 9817.00.50 listed in Chapter
98, Subchapter XVII, U.S. Note 2, HTSUS. Finally, assuming there
is conformity with the actual use requirements of sections
10.131-10.139, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.131-10.139), the
conditions for classification in heading 9817.00.50, HTSUS, are
met.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 1, the animal feed pelletizer and
counterflow cooler, imported together, qualify as a functional
unit provided for in heading 8436. They are classifiable in
subheading 8436.10.00, HTSUS. The counterflow cooler is
classifiable in subheading 8419.89.90, but is eligible for
classification in heading 9817.00.50, HTSUS, upon compliance with
sections 10.131-10.139, Customs Regulations.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division