CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 950284 SK
John P. Donohue
John B. Brew
Donohue and Donohue
421 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
RE: Reconsideration of NYRL 862903 (5/16/91); affirmed;
classification of sludge filtering belt imported in material
lengths; subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA; straining cloth of kind
used in oil presses or the like synonymous with filtering belt
used to filter sludge in dewatering process
Dear Messrs. Donohue and Brew:
On May 16, 1991, our New York office issued your client,
Scandiafelt N.A., New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 862903,
classifying sludge filtering belts. This office has been asked
to review that ruling with regard to the classification of the
filtering belt imported in material lengths.
FACTS:
At issue is the classification of a sludge filtering belt
made from woven polyester or nylon monofilaments. The belt will
be imported in material lengths and is intended to be used on
machines for the purpose of allowing sludge a period of free
drainage through the use of pressure between filter cloths. The
weight of this material is over 650 grams per square meter.
The importer states that the subject merchandise is an
industrial textile belt primarily used for environmental control
dewatering facilities.
New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 862903, dated May 16, 1991,
classified filtering belts, when imported endless or fitted with
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linking devices, under subheading 5911.32.0090, HTSUSA. The same
textile fabric, imported in material lengths, was classified
under subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA.
The importer's request for reconsideration concerns the
classification of the fabric imported in material lengths and
our reconsideration of NYRL 862903 is accordingly limited to this
issue.
ISSUE:
Whether the sludge filtering belts that are imported in
material lengths are classifiable under heading 5911, HTSUSA, as
straining clothes of a kind used in oil presses or the like, or
under this heading's residual provision for "other" textile
products?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed
by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order.
GRI 1 provides that classification will be determined by the
terms of the headings, and any relative section or chapter notes.
The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the HTSUSA constitute the
official interpretation of the tariff at the international level.
While not legally binding, they do represent the considered views
of classification experts of the Harmonized System Committee. It
has therefore been the practice of the Customs Service to follow,
whenever possible, the terms of the EN when interpreting the
HTSUSA.
Chapter 5911, HTSUSA, provides for textile products and
articles for technical uses so long as they are specified in note
7 to Chapter 59. Note 7 to Chapter 59 reads:
Heading 5911 applies to the following goods, which do not
fall in any other heading of Section XI:
(a) Textile products in the piece, cut to length or
simply cut to rectangular (including square) shape
(other than those having the character of the products
of headings 5908 to 5910), the following only:
(i) Textile fabrics, felt and felt-lined woven
fabrics, coated, covered or laminated with
rubber, leather or other material, of a kind
used for other technical purposes;
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(ii) Bolting cloth;
(iii) Straining cloth of a kind used in oil
presses or the like, of textile material or
human hair; [emphasis added]
(iv) Flat woven textile fabric with multiple warp
or weft, whether or not felted, impregnated
or coated, of a kind used in machinery or
other technical purposes;
(v) Textile fabric reinforced with metal, of a
kind used for technical purposes;
(vi) Cords, braids and the like, whether or not
coated, impregnated or reinforced with
metal, of a kind used in industry as packing
or lubricating materials.
(b) Textile articles (other than those of headings
5908 to 5910) of a kind used for technical purposes
(for example, textile fabrics and felts, endless or
fitted with linking devices), of a kind used in
paper-making or similar machines (for example, for
pulp or asbestos-cement), gaskets, polishing discs
and other machinery parts).
There is no doubt that Note 7 to Chapter 59 provides for
sludge filtering belts of textile material designed for technical
purposes. Counsel has raised some question as to the appropriate
classification of these articles within Chapter 59.
In your submission you state that NYRL 862903 was incorrect
in its classification of the filtering belt imported in material
lengths under subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA, inasmuch as the
product at issue has no use in industrial oil presses. You
acknowledge that subheading 5911.32.0090, HTSUSA, is an
inappropriate classification for this article because the
Explanatory Notes (EN) to heading 5911, HTSUSA, require that
products classifiable under this international subheading be
"endless or fitted with linking devices"; this product is
imported in material lengths and is therefore precluded from
classification here. Counsel offers subheading 5911.90.0000,
HTSUSA, the residual provision for textile products and articles
for technical uses, as the most appropriate classification for
this product.
It is Customs' determination, however, that the merchandise
at issue is not precluded from subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA,
merely because it is not used in oil presses.
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The language in the tariff schedule qualifies the types of
straining clothes classifiable under subheading 5911.40.0000,
HTSUSA, as those "of a kind used in oil presses or the like". To
classify the subject merchandise under this provision, two
issues must be resolved: 1) are "straining" cloths synonymous
with "filtering" cloths or belts, and 2) is the subject
merchandise of "the like" used in oil presses or in similar
technical straining processes?
A careful reading of the language used in subheading
5911.40, HTSUSA, reveals that there is no requirement that the
straining cloths in this provision be used in oil presses;
rather, the term "or the like" is used which serves to broaden
the types of straining clothes that are properly classifiable
here.
The EN to heading 5911, HTSUSA, describes "straining
clothes" as:
... (e.g., woven filter fabrics and [sic] needled fabrics),
whether or not impregnated, of a kind used in oil presses
or for similar filtering purposes (e.g., in sugar refineries
or breweries) and for gas cleaning or similar technical
applications in industrial dust collecting systems. The
heading includes oil filtering cloth, certain thick heavy
fabrics of wool or of other animal hair, and certain
unbleached fabrics of synthetic fibers (e.g., nylon) thinner
than the foregoing but of a close weave and having char-
acteristic rigidity. It also includes similar straining
cloth of human hair. [emphasis added]
This language indicates that the drafters of the tariff schedule
have included in their definition of "straining cloth" a much
broader range of articles than those that are merely used in oil
presses. Counsel's argument that the article at issue is
precluded from classification under subheading 5911.40.0000,
HTSUSA, because it is not used in oil presses, is therefore
insufficient to bar classification under this provision.
We next address whether a "straining cloth" is different
than a "filtering" cloth or belt. It is this office's opinion
that the terms are synonymous as evidenced by the common usage
of the word "strain" and the identical functions of straining
cloths and filtering cloths or belts. Webster's II New Riverside
University Dictionary (Riverside 1984) defines "strain" as "to
pass (a substance) through a filtering agent; ... to remove or
draw off by filtration". In other words, to strain is to filter
and, by analogy, a straining cloth is a filtering cloth or belt.
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The question then arises as to whether this filtering or
straining cloth is of a kind used in oil presses "or the like".
Customs accepts the fact that the subject merchandise is not used
in oil presses, but rather to dewater sludge in industrial and
municipal treatment systems. EN(A)(3) to heading 5911, HTSUSA,
enumerates several examples of types of industrial filtering
which utilize straining cloths (e.g., oil presses, sugar
refineries, breweries). There is no fundamental difference in
the filtering function of the instant merchandise as compared
with those enumerated. Any straining or filtering cloth
classifiable in subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA, is designed to
separate solid matter from fluid and is for a technical use.
The subject merchandise is put to the same use as the straining
cloths used in oil presses, sugar refineries and breweries and it
is clearly used for technical purposes. Accordingly,
classification of the subject merchandise is proper under
subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA, and we need not examine the
merits of classifying the subject merchandise under the "other"
breakout in heading 5911, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
The subject merchandise is classifiable under subheading
5911.40.0000, HTSUSA, which provides for textile products and
articles, for technical uses, specified in Note 7 to Chapter 59:
straining cloth of a kind used in oil presses or the like,
including that of human hair. The rate of duty is 17% ad valorem
and there is no textile category applicable to the subject
merchandise at this time.
Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation
and the restraint (quota/visa) categories applicable to textile
merchandise, you should contact your local Customs office prior
to importation of this merchandise to determine the current
status of any import restraints or requirements.
NYRL 862903 is affirmed.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Ruling Division