HQ 955500: Merlin Identifier System; Commercial Caller ID System; Signalling Apparatus; Telephonic Apparatus; 8531; 8517; HQs 954390, 953366

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 955500
                                                               
                         February 10, 1994

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M  955500 MBR

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  8531.20.00

Mr. Michael J. McCarthy
Vice President, Imports
Oceanair Inc.
135 American Legion Highway
Revere, MA 02151

RE:  Merlin Identifier System; Commercial Caller ID System;
     Signalling Apparatus; Telephonic Apparatus; 8531; 8517; HQs
     954390, 953366 

Dear Mr. McCarthy:

     This is in reply to your letters of September 23, 1993, and
November 22, 1993, to the Customs Office in New York, requesting
the classification of the "Merlin Identifier" system, under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).  Your
letters were forwarded to this office for reply.

FACTS:

     The Merlin Identifier System ("System") is a telephone Caller
ID system designed for commercial applications.  It consists of a
control unit, individual display units, an administrative keyboard,
and an administrative display unit.  As an option, the System can
also be connected to a personal computer (customer supplied) for
administrative or database management functions and to a serial
printer to output Caller ID information.

     The Control Unit provides Caller ID functions to the displays,
administrative functions, and the Merlin Identifier database.  For
each incoming call the system sends the following information to
the displays: the last two digits of the line number on which the
call was received, the time and date of the call as recorded at the
central office, and the caller's telephone number.  If the
telephone number matches a record in the database that has a name
associated with it, the name appears on the display as well. 
Additionally, if the caller's name has a "priority flag" in the
database, an audible "beep" will sound.


                               -2-

     The keyboard is used to set up the system and maintain the
database.  A customer supplied personal computer can take the place
of the keyboard and the administrative display.  The serial printer
provides a printed copy of the Caller ID information. 

ISSUE:

     Is the Merlin Identifier Caller ID system classifiable under
heading 8531, HTSUS, as electric sound or visual signalling
apparatus, or under heading 8517, HTSUS, as electrical apparatus
for line telephony? 

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUS
govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule.  GRI 1
states, in pertinent part:

     ...classification shall be determined according to the terms 
    of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...

     The current legal precedent for the classification of Caller
ID units is HQ 953366, dated April 5, 1993, as affirmed by 954390,
dated October 7, 1993, which held that Caller ID units were
classifiable in heading 8531, HTSUS, which provides for signalling
apparatus.  In HQ 953366 Customs cited the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes ("ENs") regarding
heading 85.31, page 1382, which state that signalling apparatus
includes:

     Number indicators.  The signals appear as illuminated figures
     on the face of a small box; in some apparatus of this kind the
     calling mechanism is operated by the dial of a telephone.

     Although not dispositive, the ENs are to be used for guidance
in determining the proper interpretation of the HTSUS.  54 Fed.
Reg. 35128 (August 23, 1989).

     Additionally, in HQ 953366 Customs stated the following:
"[a]lthough the devices appear to be prima facie described by
heading 8517, HTSUS, they are still classified in heading 8531,
HTSUS, where they are more specifically provided for pursuant to
GRI 3."  Thus, we relied on GRI 3(a), which provides that: "[t]he
heading which provides the most specific description shall be
preferred to headings providing a more general description."

     Therefore, signalling apparatus, such as Caller IDs, whose
sole purpose and function is merely signalling, and particularly
apparatus which is enumerated in the ENs in heading 85.31, is
properly classifiable in heading 8531, HTSUS.



                               -3-

     Section XVI Legal Note 4, HTSUS, provides direction in the
classification of a "functional unit."  It states as follows:

     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.

     The Merlin Identifier system is a combination of machines
interconnected by cables, intended to contribute together to the
clearly defined function of signalling (chapter 85).  Therefore,
the whole system is classifiable in subheading 8531.20.00, HTSUS.

HOLDING:
  
     The Merlin Identifier system is a commercial telephone Caller
ID system which is classifiable in subheading 8531.20.00, HTSUS,
which provides for signalling apparatus.  The rate of duty is 2.7
percent ad valorem.  

                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division

Enclosures: HQ 953366