CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H032832 IDL
Assistant Port Director
Trade Operations
Detroit Metropolitan Airport
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
477 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Re: Request for Internal Advice 08/015; Spectrum Paintball Capsules
Dear Sir or Madam:
This letter is in response to your memorandum, dated August 6, 2008, forwarding a request for internal advice, I/A 08/015, submitted by Cataract Customhouse Brokerage, Inc., on behalf of X.O. Industries, Inc., in accordance with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Regulations, Part 177. Specifically, 19 CFR § 177.11 allows requests for "advice or guidance as to the interpretation or proper application of the Customs and related laws with respect to a specific Customs transaction . . . from the Headquarters Office at any time, whether the transaction is prospective, current, or completed." 19 CFR § 177.11(a). The request pertains to the classification of “spectrum paintballs” under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). The importer asserts that CBP has issued inconsistent classification decisions on substantially similar merchandise.
FACTS:
The port describes the “Spectrum Paintball Capsules” that are the subject of this internal advice request, as paint-filled plastic projectiles that can be fired from a gun using carbon dioxide as a propellant. The carbon dioxide is housed in a container attached to the gun.
The subject articles are used in a game known as “paintball.” The game of paintball is described in an article written by the chief editor of a popular paintball magazine, “Recon,” as posted on the Web site (http://www.paintball.org) of the Paintball Sports Trade Association, thus:
Paintball is a game in which players use compressed-gas-powered guns (paintball markers) to shoot each other with small balls of encapsulated gelatin. When these paintballs break, they leave a brightly-colored mark, about the size of a quarter, signifying that the player is eliminated from the game.
* * *
Games are played in the woods…or on small fields containing brightly colored inflatable bunkers….
(Allcot, Dawn, Ed., Recon Magazine).
ISSUE:
Whether the “Spectrum Paintball Capsules” described above are properly classified in heading 9306, HTSUS, as a projectile, or heading 9504, HTSUS, as an article for an arcade, table or parlor game?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the HTSUS in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, HTSUS, and if the headings or notes do not require otherwise, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied.
The 2009 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
9306 Bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof; cartridges and other ammunition and projectiles and parts thereof, including shot and cartridge wads:
* * *
Other cartridges and parts thereof:
Cartridges and empty cartridge shells. . . .
* * *
9306.90.00 Other. . . .
* * *
9504 Articles for arcade, table or parlor games, including pinball machines, bagatelle, billiards and special tables for casino games; automatic bowling alley equipment; parts and accessories thereof:
* * *
Other:
9504.90.40 Game machines, other than those operated by coins,
banknotes (paper currency), discs or similar articles; parts and accessories thereof. . . .
Note 1(s) to chapter 95, HTSUS, provides the following:
1. This chapter does not cover:
* * *
(s) Arms or other articles of chapter 93;
* * *
The game of paintball is “played in the woods…or on small fields,” as described above, not in an arcade, parlor, or on a table. As such, the subject articles are not “articles for arcade, table or parlor games,” as provided in heading 9504, HTSUS. Therefore, we find that the subject articles do not meet the terms of heading 9504, HTSUS. Furthermore, pursuant to Note 1(s) to chapter 95, HTSUS, insofar as the subject articles are classified in a heading of chapter 93, HTSUS, they cannot be classified in a heading of chapter 95.
Heading 9306 of chapter 93, HTSUS, describes cartridges and projectiles. Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (1965), defines “cartridge”, in pertinent part, as follows:
1a: a tube of metal, paper, or a combination of both containing a complete charge for a firearm and in modern ammunition usu. containing a cap or other initiating device…. b: a case containing an explosive charge for blasting…. [Emphasis added]
Similarly, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language:
Fourth Ed. (2000), defines “cartridge”, in pertinent part, as follows:
1a: a cylindrical, usually metal casing containing the primer and charge of ammunition for firearms.” [Emphasis added]
Further, “projectile” is defined in Merriam-Webster’s, in pertinent part, as
follows:
1: a body projected by external force and continuing in motion by its own inertia….
The subject articles are not cartridges, as they contain no casing, primer, or charge. The subject articles meet the definition of “projectiles,” as they are propelled using carbon dioxide, and continue in motion by their own inertia. Therefore, we find that the subject articles are classified in heading 9306, HTSUS, and specifically, in subheading 9306.90.00, HTSUS.
The decisions in New York Ruling Letter (NY) B85784, dated June 4, 1997, and NY R05005, dated October 11, 2006, may be inconsistent with our analysis, and will be reexamined for possible revocation.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the “Spectrum Paintball Capsules” are classified in heading 9306, and are specifically provided for under subheading 9306.90.00, HTSUS, as: “[P]rojectiles…: Other.” The 2009 column one, general rate of duty is “free.”
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web, at http://www.usitc.gov.tata/hts/.
You are directed to mail this decision to the internal advice applicant, no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. On that date, the Office of International Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other public methods of distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division