Ruling request for novelty lamps

HQ 967429 January 24, 2005 CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 967429 DBS CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8513.10.4000 Ms. Annie Wong Supertoys Industrial Co. Ltd. Unit 603-609, 6/F.,World Finance Centre North Tower 17-18 Canton Road Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong RE: Ruling request for novelty lamps Dear Ms. Wong: This is in regard to your request dated October 25, 2004 to the Director, National Commodity Specialist Division (NCSD) for a binding ruling on the tariff classification of novelty lamps under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your request was forwarded to this office for reply. FACTS: The merchandise at issue was described as Halloween Light and Sound products in the shape of a ghost, a skull and a witch. The articles are novelty lamps that are comprised of plastic figures with handles in the rear. The figures have a button that releases opens the mouth of the characters to reveal the lamp and make a shrill sound. Photographs of the ghost and skull were submitted with your request. You stated the witch operates in the same fashion as the other two. ISSUE: Whether the novelty flashlights are classified as portable electric lamps in heading 8513, HTSUS. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods 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 may then be applied. In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) may be utilized. The ENs, though not dispositive or legally binding, provide commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS, and are the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). The HTSUS provision under consideration is as follows: 8513 Portable electric lamps designed to function by their own source of energy (for example, dry batteries, storage batteries, magnetos), other than lighting equipment of heading 8512; parts thereof: 8513.10 Lamps: 8513.10.40 Other The ENs state that heading 8513, HTSUS, covers portable electric lamps designed to function by means of a self-contained source of electricity. The ENs describe the term “portable lamps” as referring "only to those lamps…which are designed for use when carried in the hand or on the person. They usually have a handle or a fastening device and may be recognised by their particular shapes and their light weight." Exemplars in the ENs include "Fancy torches in the shape of pistols, lipsticks, etc. Composite articles composed of a lamp or torch and a pen, screwdriver, key ring, etc., remain classified here only if the principal function of the whole is the provision of light." In New York Ruling Letter (NY) J89992, dated October 30, 2003, CBP classified a similar line of portable plastic novelty Halloween Lamps in the form of skeletons, vampires and the like. Like the products at issue, these products contained a mechanism that when depressed raises the mouth of the figure to expose a lamp, triggering both a beam of light and the sound of a frightful laugh. CBP classified these goods as lamps in subheading 8513.10.4000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated. They are plastic figures combined with a light source and sound. They are designed to be carried in the hand, which clearly contributes to their use as a portable light source. Therefore, the principal function of these goods is that of a portable lamp. As such, these products fit the description and exemplar in the ENs to heading 8513, HTSUS. Further, classification in this heading is consistent with NY J89992. Accordingly, at GRI 1, the Halloween Light and Sound products are classified as portable lamps in heading 8513, HTSUS. HOLDING: The Halloween Light and Sound products are classified in subheading 8513.10.4000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated, which provides for, "Portable electric lamps designed to function by their own source of energy (for example, dry batteries, storage batteries, magnetos), other than lighting equipment of heading 8512; parts thereof: Lamps: Other." Sincerely, Myles B. Harmon, Director Commercial Rulings Division