CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 954551 MMC
Mr. Kenneth Hurtig, President
J.L. Bruvik, USA Inc.
S3831 Highway 12
Baraboo, WI 53913
RE: Pig dry feeder; EN 84.36; HQRLs 038707, 049588
Dear Mr. Hurtig:
This is in response to your letter of June 29, 1993,
regarding the classification of the Maxi Mat pig dry feeder under
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
Literature depicting the article was submitted for our
examination.
FACTS:
The subject article is a pig dry feeder named "Maxi Mat"
which supplies feed to pigs in a barn setting. It consists of a
stainless steel support frame, metal trough, hollow tube, and a
feed measuring device. The foodstuffs are eaten out of the
trough. The feeder is suitable for use with whey or home mixed
rations and can feed as many as fifty pigs depending upon their
size and weight. Its design is such that it fits on most on-
farm feed conveying and watering systems.
ISSUE:
Is the Maxi Mat pig dry feeder classifiable as agricultural
machinery?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's),
taken in order. GRI 1, HTSUS, 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.
Chapter 84, HTSUS, provides in pertinent part for machinery and
mechanical appliances. Note 5 to Section XVI, HTSUS, states
that for the purposes of these notes, the expression "machine"
means any machine, machinery, plant, equipment, apparatus or
appliance cited in the headings of chapter 84 or 85.
Heading 8436, HTSUS, provides for other agricultural,
horticultural, forestry, poultry-keeping or bee-keeping
machinery, including germination plant fitted with mechanical or
thermal equipment; poultry incubators and brooders; parts
thereof. In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory
Notes may be consulted. The Explanatory Notes (EN), although not
dispositive, are to be used to determine the proper
interpretation of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128, (August
23, 1989).
EN 84.36, pgs. 1216-1217, states in pertinent part that:
[t]he heading covers machinery,....which is of the type used on
farms...[t]hese include...[a]utomatic watering-troughs for
cattle, horses, pigs, etc., those consisting of a metal basin
fitted with a hinged plate which, when depressed by the animal's
muzzle, permits an inflow of water. While the present article is
not used as a watering trough, we are of the opinion that it is
machinery used on a farm and operates using the same principles
as the water troughs. It simply supplies dry feed instead of
water.
This opinion is consistent with past treatment of pig and
livestock dry feeders. HQRLs 038707 dated March 27, 1975, and
049588, dated April 21, 1977, both held that dry feeders were
classifiable as agricultural implements in item 666.00 of the
Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS). Item 666.00, TSUS,
was the precursor to heading 8436, HTSUS. Congress has decided
that prior rulings should be considered instructive in
interpreting the HTSUS, particularly where the nomenclature
previously interpreted in those decisions remains unchanged and
no dissimilar interpretation is required by the text of the
HTSUS. H. Rep. No. 100-576, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. 548 (1988) at
550.
Because of its similarity to an automatic watering trough,
and prior rulings holding similar merchandise classifiable as
agricultural implements, we find that the Maxi Mat pig dry feeder
is classifiable in subheading 8436.80.00, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The Maxi Mat pig dry feeders are classifiable in subheading
8436.80.00, HTSUS as [o]ther agricultural, horticultural,
forestry, poultry-keeping and bee-keeping machinery, including
germination plant fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment;
poultry incubators and brooders; thereof: [o]ther machinery:
[o]ther: [b]arn and barnyard machines. Under column one of the
HTSUS, articles classifiable under this provision are free of
duty.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings