CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 085069 AJS
TARIFF NO: 9017.20.80; 9009.21.00
Mr. Fred Long
V.P. Marketing
Mivatec Inc.
30 Wertheim Court
Suite 4
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Canada L4B 1B9
RE: Photoplotter
Dear Mr. Long:
Your letter of July 4, 1989, requests this office to
reconsider ruling letter HQ 083635, which classified a photo-
plotter as a drawing instrument within subheading 9017.20.80,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA).
Your letter states our perception that the "MIVA 25
Photoplotter rasterizes vector data which controls a Laser beam"
is incorrect. Instead, you claim that the article in question
projects its image through a standard camera lens from light
emitted by a very small CRT. You also argue that the machine
does not do any measuring or calculating like drafting tables,
calculators, or slide rulers. Lastly, you state that the
photoplotter simply produces a copy of a drawing from a picture
displayed on a CRT.
The literature originally submitted described the MIVA 25 as
an important constituent of any computer automated drafting (CAD)
system. A CAD system requires a number of special pieces of
equipment, one of which is a photoplotter. A photoplotter is
described as the device which actually draws finished artwork.
-2-
Raymond H. Clark, Handbook of Printed Circuit Manufacturing, pg.
17 (1985). It accomplishes this by using a light beam to
make marks on a piece of photographic film. The photoplotter
moves the light beam around the film on a mechanical arm, to draw
the artwork directly onto the film. The film is then developed
to produce the finished artwork. Most photoplotters get their
data directly from a computer tape. The tape is mounted on the
photoplotter with the film, the "start" button is pushed, the
photoplotter reads the tape, and then draws the artwork. This
type of device would clearly be a type of drawing instrument.
In the Compendium of Classification Opinions, Brussels First
Edition (1987), a CAD system was classified within heading 9017,
as a system for the control of drafting instruments. A plotter
was also listed as one of the components of a CAD system. As
stated previously, the MIVA 25 is an important constituent
component of any CAD system. It also is a plotter which produces
drawings. Accordingly, the photoplotter in question can be
classified within heading 9017.
Heading 9017 provides for drawing, marking-out or
mathematical calculating instruments. Your letter claims that a
photoplotter cannot be classified within heading 9017 because it
is a machine which does not perform any measuring or calculating
like drafting tables, calculators, or slide rulers. However,
the legal notes to heading 9017 do not support this claim.
Basically, a photoplotter draws artwork and can therefore be
considered a drawing instrument within subheading 9017.20.80,
HTSUSA. The fact that an article does not measure or calculate
will not, by itself, exclude an article from heading 9017. Your
claim that the MIVA 25 projects an image through a lens from
light emitted by CRT, instead of rasterizing vector data which
controls a laser beam does not change this classification. What
is important is the fact that photoplotters perform a drawing
function.
You raise the question of whether the articles are
photocopiers within the meaning of heading 9009. Photocopiers
are normally direct input units in which paper is fed manually or
automatically into the machine. They do not require computer
direction. Heading 9009 provides for photocopying apparatus
incorporating an optical system. These devices project the
optical image of an original document on to a light-sensitive
surface, and contain components for the developing and printing
of the image. Explanatory Notes (EN) 90.09(A). The MIVA 25 does
not meet this requirement. Therefore, the article in question
is not classifiable within subheading 9009.21.00, HTSUSA.
-3-
Upon reconsideration we must conclude that the articles in
question are classifiable within subheading 9017.20.80, HTSUSA,
as other drawing instruments.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division