CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H032674 GC
Roland Shrull, Esq.
50 Burlington Mall Road, Suite 205
Burlington, Massachusetts 01803-4536
RE: Modification of NY 898413 and NY R01892;
Tariff classification of computer-to-plate plate-making apparatus
Dear Mr. Shrull:
This letter pertains to your request, following our meeting of July 7, 2008, that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reconsider New York Ruling Letter (NY) 898413, dated June 20, 1994, and NY R01892, dated May 26, 2005. The two rulings concerned the tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of the Platesetter (NY 898413) and the Lotem or Trendsetter (NY R01892), all of which are used in computer-to-plate (CTP) systems to create printing plates used in offset printing. Also consulted in the preparation of this ruling were your electronic submissions of December 2, 2008, December 20, 2008, January 9, 2009, and February 20, 2009. We have since reviewed NY 898413 and NY R01892, and find them to be factually incorrect. For the reasons set out below, we are modifying these two rulings. Pursuant to section 625(c)(1), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1625(c)(1)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI, notice proposing to modify NY 898413 and NY R01892 was published on April 10, 2009, in Volume 43, Number 15, of the Customs Belletin. CBP received no comments in response to the notice.
The company to which NY 898413 and NY R01892 were issued, Creo Products, Inc., was subsequently acquired by Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak). Accordingly, pursuant to your correspondence on January 14, 2009, we are addressing the modification of these rulings to you in your capacity as counsel for Kodak.
FACTS:
The Platesetter (model 3244) was described in NY 898413 as a fully automatic CTP imaging machine. It is used to “write” digital information which is to be printed directly onto pre-sensitized printing plates. The plates created by the Platesetter are fixed in a developer and then mounted onto the cylinder of a printing press. Direct digital imaging onto a printing plate enables large commercial printers to eliminate traditional plate-making steps involving imaging and exposing photographic film, thus saving both time and money.
Particularly relevant in this case, it was noted in NY 898413 that the plates are created by loading digital data into the Platesetter, processing the data with computer workstation and raster image processor incorporated in the unit utilizing specialized software, and using multiple laser beams to create the corresponding image onto photo-sensitive receiving plates.
In NY R01892, CBP referenced NY 898413 in the description of the Lotem or Trendsetter products, which were incorporated into the CTP systems subject to the ruling. In so doing, we described the plate making process as involving the transfer of digital data onto photo-sensitive receiving plates by multiple laser beams.
Since the issuance of NY R01892 and NY 898413, new facts have come to our attention regarding the operation of the subject CTP products. According to your submissions, the lasers incorporated within the CTP products from NY R01892 and NY 898413 do not transfer digital data by emitting light onto photosensitive media. Rather, through an infrared (IR) laser beam, they transfer the data directly onto heat-sensitive aluminum plates.
Through your correspondence on this issue, you have clarified that two types of aluminum plates, generally described as physical thermal plates and chemical thermal plates, are used with the subject CTP products. You state that the physical thermal printing plates are coated with thermoplastic pearls, which fuse together and bond to the aluminum plate to produce the desired image when they react to an IR laser beam of a specified threshold temperature. The thermoplastic pearls that do not come into contact with the laser, are washed away in a solution.
The chemical thermal printing plates are coated with a phenolic resin that contains certain polymers as well as dyes, which serve to absorb the IR laser beam. When the IR beam of a specified threshold temperature makes contact with the resin coating, acid in the coating reacts with the polymers, causing them to bond and adhere to the aluminum plate, thus creating the desired image. The unaffected coating is then washed off of the plate using an alkaline developer solution comprised of silicates and hydroxides.
As a result, the composition of the coatings on the plates used with the subject equipment is such that the image is formed directly on the plate when a threshold temperature is reached. The heat-based operation eliminates the risk of over-exposure or under-exposure that can be associated with plate making machines using lasers to deliver a source of light. Likewise, the Platesetter, Lotem, and Trendsetter products can be utilized anywhere in the printing plant, as there is no need for darkrooms or safety lights, which is the case for other light-based, computer-to-film plate making systems.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject merchandise is classified under heading 8442, HTSUS, as apparatus for preparing or making plates, or under heading 9006, HTSUS, as photographic cameras?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration in this case are as follows:
8442 Machinery, apparatus and equipment (other than the machine tools of headings 8456 to 8465), for preparing or making plates, cylinders or other printing components; plates, cylinders and other printing components; plates, cylinders and lithographic stones, prepared for printing purposes (for example, planed, grained or polished); parts thereof:
8442.30.01 Machinery, apparatus and equipment…
8442.30.0150 Other machinery, apparatus and equipment
* * *
9006 Photographic (other than cinematographic) cameras; photographic flashlight apparatus and flashbulbs other than discharge lamps of heading 8539; parts and accessories thereof:
9006.10.0000 Cameras of a kind used for preparing printing plates or cylinders…
Note 1(m) to Section XVI, HTSUS, excludes “[a]rticles of Chapter 90” from classification in Section XVI. Accordingly, before considering heading 8442, HTSUS, which covers apparatus for preparing or making plates, cylinders or other printing components, we must first analyze whether the subject merchandise fits the terms of heading 9006, HTSUS, which provides for photographic cameras.
The term “photographic” is not defined in the HTSUS. In the absence of contrary legislative intent, tariff terms are to be construed in accordance with their common and commercial meanings which are presumed to be the same. Various dictionaries agree that the term photography means "[t]he art or process of producing images on sensitized surfaces by the action of light or more generally, of any form of radiant energy." See Headquarters Ruling Letter 958054, dated September 26, 1995; see also St. Regis Paper Co., v. United States, 11 CIT 601 (1987) (where the Court of International Trade adopted the same broad definition within the context of the Tariff Schedule of the United States).
In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Note (ENs) may be utilized. The ENs, though not dispositive or legally binding, may provide commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS, and are the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. CBP believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
In its description of the scope of heading 9006, HTSUS, and the scope of the term “photographic camera”, EN 90.06 (I) states the following, in pertinent part:
There are many different types of cameras, but the conventional types consist essentially of a light-tight chamber, a lens, a shutter, a diaphragm, a holder for a photographic plate or film, and a viewfinder. Variations in these essential features characterize the different kinds of cameras…
* * *
The cameras of this group include:
(17) Cameras used for composing or preparing printing plates or cylinders by photographic means. This apparatus may be of considerable size and may differ considerably from other types of photographic cameras mentioned above. This group includes:
* * *
Laser photoplotter for creating latent images on photosensitive film, generally from digital formats, (e.g., colour transparencies, which are used to reproduce digital artwork with continuous-tone) by means of a laser beam. To reproduce an image, the primary colours (cyan, magenta and yellow) are first selected, whereupon each colour is separately turned into rasterized data by an automatic data image processor. The raster image processor may be incorporated into the photoplotter.(
One of the methods of using lasers to create printing plates involves the exposure of sheets of either photographic film or bromide paper to a light source. The laser emits a beam of ultraviolet (UV) light onto the film to create the desired image through variation of the intensity of the light as well as the duration of exposure. Once the film is developed, the high quality black and white image is then used to expose lithography plates used in offset printing. Indeed, this method of plate making adheres to that described in EN 90.06 (I)(17)(iv), as well as EN 84.42(A).
However, the subject CTP products complete the plate making process using a different method from that described in EN 90.06 (I)(17)(iv). As described in the “Facts” section above, the lasers incorporated within the subject CTP products do not transfer digital data by emitting light onto photosensitive film for subsequent imaging onto plates. Rather, the lasers from the Platesetter, Lotem, and Trendsetter products transfer the data directly onto the heat-sensitive aluminum plates using an IR laser beam. As a result, the composition of the coatings on the plates used with the subject equipment is such that the image is formed directly on the plate when a threshold temperature is reached.
This description of the plate making process utilized by the Platesetter, Lotem, and Trendsetter machines is in fact partially consistent with rulings at issue here. In NY R01892, CBP explained that the computer systems managing the plate making operations are “integrated with the thermal printing platesetters…” This is the accurate description of the plate making process undertaken by the subject machines, which contrasts with the process by which other plate making machines use lasers to impose digital images on photosensitive film for ultimate creation of printing plates.
Thus, while the technology incorporated by the subject CTP products may fit within the broad definition of “photography” in the sense that the IR laser is a form of radiant energy, and the plates are pre-sensitized, the technology does not fall within the scope of the term “photographic cameras” contemplated by heading 9006, HTSUS, because the plate making process does not involve the exposure of film to light. Rather, the subject merchandise incorporates technology that directly casts an image onto the aluminum printing plates using either a physical or chemical reaction achieved only through the precise application of heat in the form of a laser. For instance, the melting of thermoplastic beads directly onto the physical thermal aluminum plate is entirely distinguishable from the photographic process employed by a good of heading 9006, HTSUS. The chemical reaction catalyzed by the direct application of the IR laser, which causes polymers to bind directly to the chemical thermal aluminum plate, also differs from the photographic plate making process covered by heading 9006, HTSUS.
Accordingly, we find that the subject plate making machines are not described by the term “photographic cameras”, which fall under heading 9006, HTSUS, because the plate making process conducted by the Platesetter, Lotem, and Trendsetter products is not “photographic”. Consequently, they are specifically provided for under heading 8442, HTSUS, as apparatus for preparing or making plates. See also HQ 086122, dated January 17, 1991 and HQ 088459, dated November 4, 1991.
HOLDING:
By application GRI 1, the aforementioned Platesetter, Lotem, and Trendsetter products are provided for in heading 8442, HTSUS. They are specifically classifiable in subheading 8442.30.0150, HTSUS, which provides for, in pertinent part: “Machinery, apparatus and equipment … for preparing or making plates, cylinders or other printing components…; parts thereof: Machinery, apparatus and equipment… Other machinery, apparatus and equipment”. The column one, general rate of duty is free.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
NY 898413, dated June 20, 1994, and NY R01892, dated May 26, 2005, are hereby MODIFIED.
In accordance with 19 U.S.C. §1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division