# HQ 963819

July 19, 2000

**CLA-2 RR:CR:GC** 963819 GOB

**CATEGORY:** Classification

**TARIFF NO.: 9032.89.60**

Port Director

U.S. Customs Service

Second and Chestnut Streets

Philadelphia, PA 19106

**RE:** Protest 1101-99-100273; Register control system

Dear Sir:

This is our decision regarding Protest 1101-99-100273 filed by Presstech
Controls Ltd. ("protestant") concerning the classification under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States ("HTSUS") of the
Audotron 1200, a register control system.

**FACTS:**

The entry at issue was filed on April 24, 1998, and was liquidated on
August 13, 1999. The protest was filed on November 9, 1999.

The article was entered under subheading 8443.60.00, HTSUS, as "Printing
machinery ...: ... Machines for uses ancillary to printing\[.\]"

The entry was rate advanced and liquidated under subheading 8537.10.90,
HTSUS, as: "Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases,
equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for
electric control or the distribution of electricity ... : ... For a
voltage not exceeding 1,000 V: ... Other\[.\]"

The protestant states that the subject article consists of the following
components: a scanning head, the main electronics, a motrol, and an
operator interface. The protestant advises that the register control
system is not imported with the motors which are later used with the
system. The submitted materials describe the "System Autotron 1200" as
follows:

System Autotron 1200 is an automatic register control system designed to
work only with small, 1 x 1.6mm rectangular register marks in the marks
ahead configuration. The major features are the photo-diode matrix
method of mark detection, electronic mark tracking and error measurement
techniques. The multi-unit control algorithms required on this type of
machine for fast, accurate and stable register are implemented by
measuring both the register error and the differences in repeat lengths
printed by the various printing units ... The system comprises the
following major modules: measurement and control module; operator
interface module; and motor drive module.

The measurement and control module consists of an encoder; scanning
heads and junction boxes; and measurement and control electronics.

The protestant cites HQ 087880 dated January 28, 1991, and states that
the article classified therein is "identical in function to the Audotron
1200." Based upon HQ 087880, the protestant now claims that the article
is classifiable under subheading 9032.89.60, HTSUS, as: "Automatic
regulating or controlling instruments and apparatus; parts and
accessories thereof: \... Other instruments and apparatus: ... Other:
... Other\[.\]"

**ISSUE:**

Is the Audotron 1200 register control system provided for in heading
8537, HTSUS, or in heading 9032, HTSUS?

**LAW AND ANALYSIS:**

We note initially that the protest was timely filed under the statutory
and regulatory provisions for protests, 19 U.S.C. 1514(c)(3)(A) and 19
CFR 174.12(e)(1).

Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General
Rules of Interpretation ("GRI's"). 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 GRI's may then be applied.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes
("EN's") constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System
at the international level. While neither legally binding nor
dispositive, the EN's provide a commentary on the scope of each heading
of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation
of these headings. See T.D. 89-80.

Heading 8537 covers:

Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases, equipped with
two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or
the distribution of electricity, including those incorporating
instruments or apparatus of chapter 90, and numerical control apparatus,
other than switching apparatus of heading 8517\[.\]

Heading 9032 covers:

Automatic regulating or controlling instruments and apparatus; parts and
accessories thereof\[.\]

Heading 8537 is within Section XVI, HTSUS. Note 1(m) to Section XVI
provides that Section XVI does not cover articles of Chapter 90, HTSUS.
Thus, if the register control system is described in Chapter 90 (which
includes heading 9032), it cannot be classified in heading 8537.

EN 90.32 (II) provides, in pertinent part:

> The automatic regulators of this heading are intended for use in
> complete automatic control systems which are designed to bring a
> quantity, electrical or non-electrical, to, and maintain it at, a
> desired value, stabilised against any disturbances, by constantly or
> periodically measuring its actual value. They consist essentially of
> the following devices:

(A) A measuring device ...

(B) An electrical control device ...

(C) A starting, stopping, or operating device ...

An automatic regulator within the meaning of Note 6(b) to this Chapter
consists of the devices described in (A), (B), and (C) above, whether
assembled together as a single entity or in accordance with Note 3 to
this Chapter, a functional unit.

Automatic regulators are connected to an electrical, pneumatic or
hydraulic actuator, which brings the controlled variable back to the
desired value ...

Legal Note 6(b) to Chapter 90, HTSUS, provides:

6.  Heading 9032 applies only to:

...

\(b\) Automatic regulators of electrical quantities, and instruments or
apparatus for automatically controlling non-electrical quantities the
operation of which depends on an electrical phenomenon varying according
to the factor to be controlled.

In HQ 087880, we determined that a "Register Guidance System IV" was
classified in subheading 9032.89.60, HTSUS. HQ 087880 cited Opinion No.
9032.89(1) of the Compendium of Classification opinions, Amending
Supplement No. 1 (July, 1988), which pertained to the classification of
a system for controlling and monitoring paper during manufacture. In
that opinion, a system including a scanner and control computer which
analyzed data and transmitted electric signals to the action devices to
regulate technical specifications (e.g., paper thickness, moisture) was
classified in subheading 9032.89, HTS.

The purpose of the register control system at issue here is to make the
distance, a standard unit of measurement, as small as possible between
the special marks on the paper and the corresponding spot on the surface
with the next layer of ink to be applied. The system sends instructions
to the motor to adjust one surface a little more to the left or right,
or up or down, proportional to the amount it is off-target ("out of
register"). The motor makes no changes if the surface is precisely on
target.

It is our determination that the subject article is provided for in
heading 9032 and is classified in subheading 9032.89.60, HTSUS as:
"Automatic regulating or controlling instruments and apparatus; parts
and accessories thereof: ... Other instruments and apparatus: ... Other:
... Other\[.\]"

We note that this classification is neither the classification claimed
at entry nor the classification under which the register control system
was liquidated.

**HOLDING:**

The articles are provided for in heading 9032, HTSUS, and are classified
in subheading 9032., HTSUS, as "Automatic regulating or controlling
instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof: ... Other
instruments and apparatus: ... Other: ... Other\[.\]

You are instructed to GRANT the protest.

In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065,
dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you are to
mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, 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 of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the
Office of Regulations

and Rulings will make the decision available to Customs personnel, and
to the public on the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at
www.customs.treas.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and
other methods of public distribution.

> Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Commercial Rulings Division