H306368

U.S. Customs and Border Protection HQ H306368 November 13, 2020 CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H306368 NVF CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NOs.: 3926.90.99; 8479.82.00 Aaron Collett Resolve Designs LLC 1447 North 1000 W Mapleton, UT 84664 RE: Request to reconsider NY N306102; Classification of Pill Crusher and Plastic Pouch Dear Mr. Collett: This letter is in response to your request, dated April 6, 2020, for reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N306102, which was issued to your firm on October 1, 2019. In NY N306102, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) classified a pill crusher under heading 8479 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), which provides for “Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, parts thereof” and a plastic pill pouch under heading 3926, HTSUS which provides for “Other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings 3901 to 3914.” We have reviewed NY N306102, determined that it is correct, and for the reasons set forth below, are affirming that ruling. FACTS: As described in NY N306102, the subject merchandise is used to crush and pulverize hard medicament pills so the powder can be easily dissolved into a liquid and dispensed to a patient through a feeding tube. To operate, the user inserts the pill into a plastic pill pouch, which is in turn positioned under the crush block. A manual process of moving the handle up and down breaks the pill. The plastic pill pouch is then moved under the roller and the handle is moved side to side to pulverize the pill into powder. The crusher is imported in an incomplete, unassembled condition. The critical components necessary to perform the crushing function are: the Crush Block made of cast and machined aluminum with powder coating the Pivot Block made of cast and machined stainless steel the Handle made of machined stainless steel the Roller made of machined polyvinyl chloride (PVC) the Base Plate made of machined aluminum with powder coating the Link made of machined stainless steel the Anti-Rotation Plate made of cast stainless steel After importation, the RxCrush Pill Crushing System is assembled with components sourced in the United States such as 1-1/2” snap ring, 2-5/8” snap rings, a PVC grip, 4-5/16” stainless steel press pins, 5-suction cups feet, 2-1/4” stainless steel screws, and a “locktite”. The plastic pouch is used with the pill crusher device. It is intended to completely contain medicament dust while crushing hard pills. The pouch is about three inches by five inches and made of two clear plastic sheets that are 0.005 inches thick, sealed together on the sides. One end of the pouch is fitted with an ENFit syringe connection, and the other end is sealed with a zip seal. The pill is inserted in the pouch through the zip seal and then closed. The pouch with pill is then placed in the crusher machine to pulverize the pill into powder. After the pill is crushed, liquid is inserted into the pouch to dissolve the pill powder, the contents of drawn out with a syringe, and the syringe is then used to inject the contents into a feeding tube of a patient. The pouch is imported separately and is not reusable. In our original ruling, we determined that the pill crusher was not classifiable in heading 9018, HTSUS, because it is not used by practitioners in direct contact with a patient and not used directly in a professional practice to make a diagnosis, prevent or treat an illness, or perform surgery. We concluded that the pill crusher was classified under heading 8479, HTSUS. We also determined that the plastic pill pouch was classified under heading 3926, HTSUS. ISSUE: Whether the pill crusher is properly classified under heading 9018, HTSUS, as instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences or under heading 8479, HTSUS as machines or machinery having individual functions not specified elsewhere. Whether the pill pouch is classified under heading 9018, HTSUS, as instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences, or under heading 3926, HTSUS as other articles of plastic. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification 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. PILL CRUSHER: The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: 9018 Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences including scintigraphic apparatus, other electro-medical apparatus and sight-testing instruments; parts and accessories thereof: Note 1(m) to Section XVI, which encompasses Chapter 84, states that articles of Chapter 90 are not covered by Section XVI. Therefore, we must first determine whether the pill crusher is classified in heading 9018, HTSUS. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding or dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings at the international level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989). EN 90.18 states that heading 9018, HTSUS covers a “wide range of instruments and appliances which, in the vast majority of cases, are used only in professional practice (e.g., by doctors, surgeons, dentists, veterinary surgeons, midwives), either to make a diagnosis, to prevent or treat an illness or to operate, etc.” We observe that the pill crusher is not used by a doctor to make a diagnosis, to prevent or treat an illness or to operate. While it is used to prepare pills for the eventual dispensation of the medicaments they contain, any treatment effect is derived from dispensing of the medication, not the pill crusher. Therefore, the pill crusher is not an instrument or appliance used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences and therefore does not fall under the scope of heading 9018, HTSUS. You argue that the pill crusher is only used alongside enteral feeding systems, which administer medication to a patient, and that the pill crusher is therefore as much a medical device as the feeding tube and feeding syringe. However, in making this argument, you do not provide additional details about the enteral system nor any support for your assertion that a feeding tube and feeding syringe are medical instruments of heading 9018, HTSUS. Even assuming arguendo that the enteral feeding system is an article of heading 9018, and noting that the pill crusher is not itself an article of heading 9018, HTSUS, the pill crusher is not a part or accessory to such a system. The term “part” is not defined in the HTSUS. In the absence of a statutory definition, the courts have fashioned two distinct but reconcilable tests for determining whether a particular item qualifies as a part for tariff classification purposes. See Bauerhin Technologies Limited Partnership, & John V. Carr & Son, Inc. v. United States, 110 F.3d 774 (Fed. Cir. 1997). Under the first test, articulated in United States v. Willoughby Camera Stores, 21 C.C.P.A. 322 (1933), an imported item qualifies as a part only if can be described as an “integral, constituent, or component part, without which the article to which it is to be joined, could not function as such article.” Bauerhin, 110 F.3d at 779. Pursuant to the second test, set forth in United States v. Pompeo

Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification 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. PILL CRUSHER:The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof:9018 Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences including scintigraphic apparatus, other electro-medical apparatus and sight-testing instruments; parts and accessories thereof:Note 1(m) to Section XVI, which encompasses Chapter 84, states that articles of Chapter 90 are not covered by Section XVI. Therefore, we must first determine whether the pill crusher is classified in heading 9018, HTSUS.The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes(“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding ordispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUSand are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings at theinternational level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).EN 90.18 states that heading 9018, HTSUS covers a “wide range of instruments and appliances which, in the vast majority of cases, are used only in professional practice (e.g., by doctors, surgeons, dentists, veterinary surgeons, midwives), either to make a diagnosis, to prevent or treat an illness or to operate, etc.” We observe that the pill crusher is not used by a doctor to make a diagnosis, to prevent or treat an illness or to operate. While it is used to prepare pills for the eventual di