CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 954602 ch
Assistant Area Director
Commercial Operations
New York Seaport Area
U.S. Customs Service
6 World Trade Center
New York, New York 10048
Re: Internal advice; classification of industrial depth
filters; paper pulp; cellulose; diatomaceous earth;
article of paper pulp; slab, plate, block.
Dear Madam:
This is in response to your request for internal advice
dated June 11, 1993, requesting tariff classification under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA) for certain industrial depth filters. A sample has been
submitted to this office for examination.
FACTS:
The submitted sample, designated as SWK supra 100, is a
depth filter imported by Seitz Filtration, Incorporated, from
Germany. The sample is composed of approximately 45 percent
diatomaceous earth and 45 percent cellulose. The remaining 10
percent is comprised of cotton linters and resin. Descriptive
literature accompanying the sample suggests that the diatomaceous
earth is used as a replacement for or in lieu of asbestos. In
addition, the literature indicates that the filter is principally
used for liquid and industrial filtration.
A sample of the instant merchandise was analyzed by the New
York Customs Laboratory. Laboratory report 2-93-30660-001, dated
May 28, 1993, states that the filter weighs 1,336.4 grams per
square meter and has a thickness of 3.670 mm. The report also
states that it is composed of chemical bleached pulp fibers and
is not coated.
You have indicated that the article was not manufactured on
a paper making machine. Rather, the paper pulp was compressed
together without the aid of any binding materials.
The merchandise was entered under subheading 8421.99.00,
HTSUSA, which provides for parts of filtering machinery. You
propose heading 4812, HTSUSA, which provides for filter blocks,
slabs and plates of paper pulp as the proper classification. In
addition, subheading 4805.40.0000, HTSUSA, which provides for
uncoated filter paper and paperboard, and subheading
4823.20.9000, HTSUSA, which provides for other articles of paper
pulp: filter paper and paperboard, are offered as possible
alternatives.
ISSUE:
What is the proper tariff classification for the instant
depth filter?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 4812, HTSUSA, provides for filter blocks, slabs and
plates, of paper pulp. The Explanatory Notes (EN) to heading
4812 provide in pertinent part that:
These are composed of vegetable fibres (cotton, flax,
wood, etc.) with a high cellulose content, compressed
together in the form of blocks, slabs or plates without
the aid of any binding materials, the fibres remaining
in a loosely adherent condition.
The vegetable fibres may be mixed with asbestos fibres;
in that case, the blocks, slabs or plates are
classified in this heading provided that they still
retain the character of articles of paper pulp.
In this case, the filter features a high cellulose content
(approximately 45 percent), and has been compressed together
without the aid of binding materials. It appears to be in the
form of a plate or slab, as it is a rigid, flat and relatively
thick piece of material.
Diatomaceous earth, which comprises 45 percent of the
article, is utilized as a substitute for asbestos in this
instance. The EN to heading 4812 provide that filter slabs or
plates remain classifiable in the heading when mixed with
asbestos fibers, so long as the filter retains its character as
an article of paper pulp. In this case, the New York Customs
Laboratory has determined that the filter is an article of paper
pulp. The diatomaceous earth is nothing more than a mineral in
its natural state. It is the paper pulp which lends the filter
its structure and makes it possible to use the diatomaceous earth
as a filtering agent. Under these circumstances, we conclude
that the instant filter is an article of paper pulp. Hence, it
is classifiable, pursuant to heading 4812, as a filter plate or
slab.
Subheading 8421.99.0080, HTSUSA, encompasses parts for
filtering equipment. The EN to heading 8421, at pages 1183-1184,
state in part that:
Subject to the general provisions regarding the
classification of parts (see the General Explanatory
Note to Section XVI), the heading covers parts for the
above-mentioned types of filters and purifiers. Such
parts include, inter alia: Leaves for intermittent
vacuum filters; chassis, frames and plates for filter
presses; rotary drums for liquid or gas filters;
baffles and perforated plates, for gas filters.
It should be noted, however, that filter blocks of
paper pulp fall in heading 48.12 and that many other
filtering elements (ceramics, textiles, felts, etc.)
are classified according to their constituent material.
Thus, filtering blocks of heading 4812 are specifically excluded
from heading 8421. We conclude that filtering slabs or plates of
heading 4812 are excluded from heading 8421 by implication.
Accordingly, heading 8421 does not describe the instant filter.
Subheading 4805.40, HTSUSA, provides for filter paper and
paperboard. The EN to heading 4805, at page 673, read in part as
follows:
This heading covers machine-made uncoated papers and
paperboards as manufactured in the form of rolls or
sheets (for dimensions, see Note 7 to this Chapter),
other than those included in headings 48.01 to 48.04.
It excludes, however, certain special papers and
paperboards or special products (headings 48.06 to
48.08 and headings 48.12 to 48.16) and paper and
paperboard which have been subjected to processes other
than those permitted in Note 2, for example, coated or
impregnated paper or paperboard (headings 48.09 to
48.11) (Emphasis added).
As this language indicates, filter products of heading 4812 and
articles of paper pulp not made on a paper-making machine are
excluded from the scope of heading 4805. As the SWK filter is
described by heading 4812 and was not made on a paper-making
machine, heading 4805 is inapplicable.
Finally, subheading 4823 provides for other articles of
paper pulp not more specifically provided for elsewhere in the
Nomenclature. Subheading 4823.20.9000 encompasses other filter
paper and paperboard. Heading 4823 applies only to merchandise
not elsewhere described in Chapter 48. As heading 4812 describes
the SWK filter, we need not consider heading 4823.
HOLDING:
The subject merchandise is classifiable under subheading
4812.00.0000, HTSUSA, which provides for filter blocks, slabs and
plates, of paper pulp. The applicable rate of duty is 3.7
percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division