HQ 088876

February 3, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 088876 AJS

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 9018.90.80

District Director

U.S. Customs Service

909 First Ave.

Room 2039

Seattle, WA 98174

RE: Iris dissecting scissors; Spencer stitch scissors; Subheading

8213.00.90; ENs 90.18; H. Conf. Rep. No. 576; Additional U.S.

Rule of Interpretation 1(a); Section XV, note 1(h).

Dear District Director:

Protest for further review number 3001-90-101436 dated

12/20/90, was filed against the tariff classification of scissors

within 8213.00.90, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United

States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The articles under protest are iris dissecting scissors and

\"Spencer\" stitch scissors from Pakistan. They are specially

shaped as compared to traditional scissors. Customs laboratory

analysis indicates that they are manufactured from surgical

stainless steel. It is also claimed that they are manufactured

and designed to be used for stitch removal and eye surgery.

ISSUE:

Whether the subject scissors are properly classifiable

within subheading 8213.00.90, HTSUS, which provides for

\"\[s\]cissors, tailors\' shears and similar shears, and blades and

other base metal parts thereof: \[o\]ther.\"; or classifi-

able within subheading 9018.90.80, HTSUS, which provides for

\"other\" instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical,

dental or veterinary sciences.

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LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Heading 9018, HTSUS, provides for instruments and appliances

used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences. The

Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory

Notes (ENs) state that a number of the instruments used in

medicine or surgery are articles of cutlery (scissors, knives,

shears, etc.). ENs 90.18. Such articles are classified in this

heading only when they are clearly identifi- able as being for

medical or surgical use by reason of their special shape, the

ease with which they are dismantled for sterilization, their

better quality manufacture, the nature of the constituent metals

or by their get up. ENs 90.18. The subject scissors satisfy

this description. The submitted catalog indicates that these

types of scissors are for medical or surgical use. In addition,

they are made in a special shape and are of surgical stainless

steel. While the ENs are not dispositive, they provide a

commentary on the scope of each heading and offer guidance for

interpretation of the HTSUS. H. Conf. Rep. No. 576, 100th Cong.,

2d. Sess., p. 549, reprinted in 1988 U.S. CODE CONG. & ADMIN.

NEWS p. 1582. Accordingly, we find these ENs instructive for

determining that the subject scissors satisfy the terms of

heading 9018, HTSUS. More specifically, they are described

within subheading 9018.90.80, HTSUS, which provides for \"other\"

instruments and appliances of this heading.

A tariff classification controlled by use (other than actual

use) is to be determined in accordance with the use in the United

States at, or immediately prior to, the date of importation, of

goods of that class or kind to which the imported goods belong,

and the controlling use is the principal use. Additional U.S.

Rule of Interpretation 1(a). It was initially stated that the

subject scissors will be used for certain craft purposes.

However, the scissors are manufactured and designed for medical

or surgical use. As such, they are goods which belong to the

class of medical or surgical instruments. Accordingly, the fact

that the subject scissors may be used for craft purposes does not

exclude them from classification within heading 9018, HTSUS.

Subheading 8213.00, HTSUS, provides for scissors. As stated

previously, the articles in question are medical or surgical

scissors classifiable within Section XVIII. Instruments or

apparatus of this section are excluded from Section XV, which

includes subheading 8213.00, HTSUS. Section XV, note 1(h).

Therefore, the subject scissors are precluded from classification

within this subheading by the operation of this above legal note.

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HOLDING:

The subject scissors are classifiable within subheading

9018.90.80, HTSUS, which provides for \"other\" instruments and

appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary

sciences. You should grant the protest in full. A copy of this

decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided

to the protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Commercial Rulings Division