Telephone Toll Restrictor ("PhoneCUFF"); EN 85.17; 8543; EN 8543; NY 877482; HQ 952779

HQ 952814 December 7, 1992 CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 952814 LTO CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8517.81.00 Mr. Craig Deanto Detect-A-Dial 8312 Spring Breeze Court Ellicott City, Maryland 21043 RE: Telephone Toll Restrictor ("PhoneCUFF"); EN 85.17; 8543; EN 8543; NY 877482; HQ 952779 Dear Mr. Deanto: This is in response to your letter of September 24, 1992, to the Area Director of Customs in New York, N.Y., requesting reconsideration of NY 877482, dated September 9, 1992, which concerned the classification of the PhoneCUFF under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your letter was referred to this office for a response. FACTS: The article in question is the PhoneCUFF. The PhoneCUFF is an outgoing telephone barring device for use in homes as well as a variety of business telephone systems. You state that it protects the subscriber from unauthorized users, such as technicians, employees and children. In NY 877482, the PhoneCUFF was held to be classifiable under subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUS, which provides for other telephonic apparatus. You contend that the article in question is classifiable under subheading 8543.80.60, HTSUS, which provides for electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter. ISSUE: Whether the PhoneCUFF is classifiable as electrical apparatus for line telephony under Heading 8517, HTSUS. - 2 - 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 that "for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes . . . ." The headings in question are as follows: 8517 Electrical apparatus for line telephony or telegraphy, including such apparatus for carrier-current line systems . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * 8543 Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN) constitute the Customs Co-operation Council's official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. EN 85.43, pg. 1402, states that Heading 8543, HTSUS, "covers all electrical appliances and apparatus, not falling in any other heading of this Chapter, nor covered more specifically by a heading of any other Chapter of the Nomenclature, nor excluded by the operation of a Legal Note to Section XVI or to this Chapter [emphasis in original]." Thus, if the PhoneCUFF is covered by Heading 8517, HTSUS, it cannot be classified under Heading 8543, HTSUS. In NY 877482, the PhoneCUFF was held to be classifiable under subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUS, which provides for other electrical apparatus for line telephony. You contend that the PhoneCUFF cannot be classified under Heading 8517, HTSUS, because it does not have a dialer, keypad, telephone handset or switching device, and as such, it is not similar to devices described therein. EN 85.17, pg. 1360, states that "[t]he term 'electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy' means apparatus for the transmission between two points of speech or other sounds (or of symbols representing written messages, images or other - 3 - data), by variation of an electric current or of an optical wave flowing in a metallic or dielectric . . . circuit connecting the transmitting station to the receiving station." Heading 8517, HTSUS, "covers all such electrical apparatus designed for this purpose, including the special apparatus used for carrier-current line systems." EN 85.17, pg. 1360. The PhoneCUFF, which plugs into any telephone jack, has the following features: (1) 'barred' mode--prevents undesired telephone numbers from being dialled; (2) 'allowed' mode-- prevents all numbers from being dialled except those which are desired; (3) protection--automatically protects against technicians or unauthorized users of the line; (4) overriding-- allows barred numbers to be dialled with personalized overriding code; and (5) extensions--all extensions on the same phone line are automatically included in the programming. The PhoneCUFF is designed to limit the outgoing transmission between two points of speech or other sounds. As such, it constitutes "electrical apparatus for line telephony," and it is classifiable under Heading 8517, HTSUS, specifically under subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUS, as other telephonic apparatus. The fact that the article in question does not have a dialer, keypad, etc., does not preclude its classification under subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUS. See HQ 952779, dated October 31, 1992 (wherein this office classified a "Caller ID" unit, a device that displays the telephone number of a calling party on a liquid crystal display, under subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUS). HOLDING: The PhoneCUFF is classifiable under subheading 8517.81.00, HTSUS, which provides for "[e]lectrical apparatus for line telephony or telegraphy, including such apparatus for carrier- current line systems . . . [o]ther apparatus . . . [t]elephonic." The corresponding rate of duty for articles of this subheading is 8.5% ad valorem. NY 877482, dated September 9, 1992, is hereby affirmed. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division