HQ 952744: Himawari, Sunlight Collection and Transmission System; Subheadings 9001.10.00, 9002.19.00, 9405.50.40; Chapter 90, note 3; Additional U.S. Note 3 to Chapter 90; Section XVI, note 4

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 952744

                         January 5, 1993


CLA-2 CO:R:C:M  952744  EJD

CATEGORY:    Classification

TARIFF NO:   9013.80.60

Mr. Patrick K. McCooey
Manager, Customs Clearance
Mitsubishi International Corporation
520 Madison Avenue
New York, New York  10022

RE:  Himawari, Sunlight Collection and Transmission System; 
     Subheadings 9001.10.00, 9002.19.00, 9405.50.40; Chapter 90,
     note 3; Additional U.S. Note 3 to Chapter 90; Section XVI,
     note 4

Dear Mr. McCooey:

     This is in response to your letters dated August 10, and
September 4, 1992, to Customs in New York concerning the tariff
classification of the Himawari, a sunlight collection and
transmission system, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS).  Your letter was forwarded to this office
for a response.


FACTS:

     The Himawari, a sunlight collection and transmission system,
is made in Japan.  The Himawari System consists of an acrylic
dome, a sun collector (a series of Fresnel lenses arranged in a
honeycomb pattern and mounted in a housing), a sun sensor, a
light receiving component, a rotation motor, and a control unit. 
The Himawari System is imported with optical fiber cables.  

     The Himawari System works in the following manner.  The sun
collector focuses sunlight onto a fiber optic cable.  The light
is carried over the cable to a fixture which is a reflector, not
a bulb or similar item.  The purpose is to transmit sunlight from
outside to indoor locations.  The sun collector focuses sunlight
into exactly one optical fiber cable.  These thin, flexible
optical fibers then transmit this light to wherever it is needed. 
When sunlight passes through the Fresnel lens, chromatic
aberration occurs, causing different wavelengths of sunlight--
ultraviolet, visible, and infrared (heat)--to be at different
distances from the lens.  When the input end of the optical fiber
is placed at focus of the visible light rays, only the visible
light rays enter the optical fiber, and most of the ultraviolet
radiation and infrared radiation are eliminated.

     The Himawari System has an internal clock mechanism used to
calculate the position of the sun; the rotation motor moves the
Himawari's lenses in the direction of the sun.  The Himawari
System works only in the daylight.  After sunset, the Himawari
System shuts off and positions itself for the next morning
sunrise.  

     You maintain that the Himawari System with optical fiber
cables would be separately classified under the HTSUS.  You
believe that the optical fiber cables should be classified as
such under subheading 9001.10.00, HTSUS, with a rate of duty of
8.4 percent ad valorem.  You believe that the Himawari System
should be classified as lenses under subheading 9002.19.00,
HTSUS, with a rate of duty of 6.6 percent ad valorem.  In the
alternative, you ask that the Himawari System be classified as a
non-electric lamp under subheading 9405.50.40, HTSUS, with a rate
of duty of 7.6 percent ad valorem.


ISSUE:

     What is the classification of this merchandise under the
HTSUS?


LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by
the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), taken in order.  GRI
1 provides that classification shall be determined according to
the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter
notes.

     Chapter 90, HTSUS, provides for optical instruments and
apparatus.  Additional U.S. Note 3 to Chapter 90, HTSUS,
provides:

     For the purposes of this chapter, the terms "optical
     appliances" and "optical instruments" refer only to those
     appliances and instruments which incorporate one or more
     optical elements, but do not include any appliances or
     instruments in which the incorporated optical element or
     elements are solely for viewing a scale or for some other
     subsidiary purpose.

     The Himawari System meets the requirements of optical
appliances and optical instruments under Additional U.S. Note 3
to Chapter 90, HTSUS.  It contains one or more optical elements
which are not solely for viewing a scale or for some other
subsidiary purpose to its function.  Further, it is not elsewhere
described under the HTSUS.
     
     In our opinion, the Himawari System consisting of the
acrylic dome, sun collector (Fresnel lenses), sun sensor, light
receiving component, rotation motor, and control unit is
classified under subheading 9013.80.60, HTSUS, which provides for

     Liquid crystal devices not constituting articles provided
     for more specifically in other headings; lasers, other than
     laser diodes; other optical appliances and instruments, not
     specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts and
     accessories thereof...[o]ther devices, appliances and
     instruments...[o]ther,

with a rate of duty of 9 percent ad valorem. 

     The question as to whether the Himawari System and the
optical fiber cables are classifiable separately is answered by
Chapter 90, Note 3, HTSUS.  It states that:

     The provisions of note 4 to section XVI apply also to this
     chapter.

     Section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, states that:

     Where a machine (including a combination of machines)
     consists of individual components (whether separate or
     interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by
     electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute
     together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the
     headings in chapter 84 or chapter 85, then the whole falls
     to be classified in the heading appropriate to that
     function.

     Therefore, for classification purposes, under chapter 90,
note 3, HTSUS, and section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, the Himawari
System with the optical fiber cable is a functional unit
classifiable together under subheading 9013.80.60, HTSUS.

     You expressed the opinion that the Himawari System should be
classified under subheading 9002.19.00, HTSUS, which provides
for: 

     Lenses, prisms, mirrors and other optical elements, of any
     material, mounted, being parts of or fittings for
     instruments or apparatus, other than such elements of glass
     not optically worked; parts and accessories thereof...
     [o]bjective lenses and parts and accessories thereof...
     [o]ther.

     Inasmuch as the Himawari System consists of several articles
in addition to the mounted Fresnel lenses, subheading 9002.19.00,
HTSUS, cannot apply.

     With regard to your alternative claim, subheading
9405.50.40, HTSUS, provides for:

     Lamps and lighting fittings including searchlights and
     spotlights and parts thereof, not elsewhere specified or
     included; illuminated signs, illuminated nameplates and the
     like, having a permanently fixed light source,and parts
     thereof not elsewhere specified or included...[n]on-
     electrical lamps and lighting fittings...[o]ther...[o]ther.

     The purpose of the Himawari System is to collect and
transmit sunlight to an indoor location.  It does not have the
capacity to store sunlight, nor does it covert sunlight to
electricity.  It is not a lamp or a lighting fitting, but is a
means to transmit visible light from the sun to the light
receiving component.  Therefore, it can not be classified as a
non-electric lamp.


HOLDING:

     The Himawari System with optic fiber cables is classifiable
under subheading 9013.80.60, HTSUS, which provides for other
optical appliances or devices.


                                   Sincerely,




                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division