HQ 956909

January 31, 1995

CLA-CO:R:C:T 956909 GG

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 5911.40.0000

Mr. Dennis Murphy

District Director

U.S. Customs Service

101 E. Main Street

Norfolk, VA 23510

RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 1401-94-100159;
classification of air filter

media

Dear Mr. Murphy:

This is in response to the application for further review of the protest
referenced above.

FACTS:

The protestant imported filter media, known as Filter Media Micro 2000,
designed for use in

industrial air filters. The filter media were imported in rolls 27
inches wide. After importation,

filter media of this kind are cut to size to form individual dust
holding pockets, which are bonded

and sealed to their own J-channel support frames. The support frames are
then fastened to 28-gauge galvanized steel enclosure frames.

The filter media, described as dual stage media, consist of a prefilter
layer of coarse polyester

fibers and a layer of microfine polypropylene fibers spun bonded and
fastened to a polypropylene

backing or scrim. The first stage, or prefilter layer, is designed to
arrest larger particulate in the

airstream and enhance dirt loading ability. The purpose of the second
stage is to capture any

remaining smaller particles.

The merchandise was entered under subheading 4706.93.0000 of the
Harmonized Tariff

Schedule of the United States (HTSUSA), at a free rate of duty. Customs
disagreed with the

entered classification and liquidated the entries under subheading
5911.40.0000, HTSUSA. The

protestant timely protested the classification of the filters, and
requests reliquidation under either

subheading 3926.90.9590 or subheading 5911.90.0080, HTSUSA.

ISSUE:

How are the air filter media properly classified?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Articles are classified under the HTSUSA in accordance with the General
Rules of

Interpretation (GRI\'s). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be
according to the terms of the

headings and any relative section or chapter notes. Merchandise that
cannot be classified in

accordance with GRI 1 is to be classified in accordance with subsequent
GRI\'s.

Heading 5911, HTSUSA, provides for textile products and articles, for
technical uses,

specified in note 7 to \[Chapter 59\]. The term \"for technical uses\"
is not defined in the HTSUSA.

However, the Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding

System, which constitute the official interpretation of the nomenclature
at the international level,

offer some general guidance regarding the meaning of this phrase:

The textile products and articles of this heading present particular
characteristics which identify

them as being for use in various types of machinery, apparatus,
equipment or instruments or as

tools or parts of tools.

The Filter Media Micro 2000 is incorporated into a cartridge for certain
air filter apparatus.

Accordingly, it appears to fall generally within the scope of heading
5911.

Section XI, Chapter 59, note 7, HTSUSA, specifically describes the goods
which are

encompassed by heading 5911. This note states that:

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

card clothing, and similar fabrics of a kind used for other technical

purposes;

\(ii\) Bolting cloth;

\(iii\) Straining cloth of a kind used in oil presses or the like, of
textile material or

of human hair;

{iv) Flat woven textile fabrics with multiple warp or weft, whether or
not felted,

impregnated or coated, of a kind used in machinery or for 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 papermaking or similar

machines (for example, for pulp or asbestos-cement), gaskets, washers,

polishing discs and other machinery parts).

Under the terms of Chapter 59, note 7(a), only the textile fabrics and
products enumerated in

7(a)(I) through 7(a)(vi) fall within the purview of heading 5911. Note
7(b) enlarges the scope of

this heading to include textile articles of a kind used for technical
purposes. However, in this case

note 7(b) is inapplicable as the filter material is imported in the
piece (i.e., in material lengths).

Therefore, this merchandise is classified under heading 5911 only if it
is one of the fabrics and

products specified in notes 7(a)(I) through 7(a)(vi).

Note 7(a)(iii) provides for \"straining cloth of a kind used in oil
presses or the like.\" The EN to

heading 5911 define this phrase as follows:

Straining cloth (e.g., woven filter fabrics and needled filter 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 a

characteristic rigidity. It also includes similar straining cloth of
human hair. (Emphasis

added).

Hence, straining cloth includes, for example, filter fabrics used for
technical applications in industrial

dust collecting systems.

In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 950493, dated September 29, 1992, we
addressed the

proper classification of certain polyester filter material imported in
rolls for use as an air filter to

remove dust particles from treated intake air. In that ruling, we
interpreted EN 59.11 as follows:

The subject filter mat is made of a nonwoven fabric imported in the
piece, which is used

for filtering purposes. It is installed in the ceilings or walls of down
draft spray booths to

filter unwanted dust particles from the air. This is considered a
technical application in an

industrial dust collecting system. It is clear that the Notes have not
limited the term

\"straining cloth\" to textiles which are used as straining cloth in oil
presses, since other

filtering processes are provided for, including those for air and other
gases.

Thus, we found that cloth used to filter dust particles from the air to
be a technical application in

an industrial dust collecting system. On this basis, the air filter
material was classified as a

straining cloth, pursuant to subheading 5911.40, HTSUSA. See also, HRL
954138, dated June

15, 1993; HRL 953056, dated June 16, 1993; and New York Ruling Letter
(NY) 863512, dated

June 11, 1991. The merchandise whose classification is currently being
protested also serves to

filter dust particles from the air, and as such, is classifiable under
the same provision.

The protestant contends that the filter media more correctly falls under
subheading 5911.90,

HTSUSA, as an other textile product, for technical uses, if found to be
a textile, or under

subheading 3926.90, HTSUSA, as an other article of plastic, if
considered to be a plastic. The

basis for labeling the filter media a plastic is its polypropylene
content. However, the first stage of

the filter media is composed of polyester fibers, the second stage of
spun bonded polypropylene

fibers. The General Explanatory Notes to Chapter 54 of the HTSUSA list
polypropylene fibers as

an example of a synthetic fiber qualifying as a man-made textile fiber.
Therefore, we disagree with

the protestant\'s characterization of the filter media as a plastic.
Finally, it

would be incorrect to classify the filter media under subheading
5911.90, HTSUSA, because,

pursuant to GRI 3, subheadings providing a more specific description
prevail over those that are

more general, and subheading 5911.40, HTSUSA, gives the most specific
description of the

merchandise.

HOLDING:

The filter media were correctly classified under subheading
5911.40.0000, HTSUSA, as textile

products and articles, for technical uses, specified in note 7 to this
chapter: straining cloth of a

kind used in oil presses or the like, including that of human hair. The
applicable rate of duty at

the time the entries in question were liquidated was 17% ad valorem.

You are directed to DENY the protest in full. In accordance with Section
3A(ii)(b) of Customs

Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest
Directive, this decision

should be mailed by your office to the protestant no later than 60 days
from the date of this letter.

Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision must be
accomplished prior to

mailing the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the
Office of Regulations and

Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs
personnel via the Customs

Rulings Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette Subscription
Service, Lexis, Freedom of

Information Act and other

public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Commercial Rulings Division