Request for Reconsideration of NY N274720; Classification of a hand-operated food dicer

HQ H278927 July 17, 2018 OT: RR: CTF: EMAIN: H278927 PF CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8210.00.00 Alina Hernandez Assistant Import Compliance HSN 1 HSN Drive St. Petersburg, FL 33729 Re: Request for Reconsideration of NY N274720; Classification of a hand-operated food dicer Dear Ms. Hernandez: This is in response to your letter, dated May 19, 2016, in which you request reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NY) N274720. NY N274720, issued to you on May 3, 2016 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), involves classification of a hand-operated food dicer under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). We have reviewed NY N274720, determined that it is correct, and, for the reasons set forth below, are affirming that ruling. We are also returning the merchandise sample included with your reconsideration request. NY N274720 provides the following description of the hand-operated food dicer: The article under consideration is identified as the Master Dicer, Item No. KS 0096U. It is a hand-operated mechanical appliance that is used for dicing/slicing fruits and vegetables. The item is made of plastic and weighs approximately 2.5 lbs. It measures approximately 2.75 inches tall by 4.5 inches wide by 10.5 inches long. It consists of a top/handle containing a pusher that is hinged to the base. The base has a slot for the placement of a blade in the middle. The Master Dicer includes three stainless steel blades inserts, a cleaning brush and a container to hold the food while dicing/cutting. In addition, in an instruction manual, the hand-operated food dicer is described as having a “chopper base,” and is shown standing on a table or flat surface. * * * The HTSUS provisions under consideration in this reconsideration are as follows: 7323 Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof, of iron or steel; iron or steel wool; pot scourers and scouring or polishing pads, gloves and the like, of iron or steel: 8210 Hand-operated mechanical appliances, weighing 10kg or less, used in the preparation, conditioning or serving of food or drink, and base metal parts thereof. The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level. While neither legally binding nor 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. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). The EN to 73.23 (A) Table, Kitchen or Other Household Articles and Parts Thereof, states, in relevant part: This group comprise a wide range of iron or steel articles, not more specifically covered by other headings of the Nomenclature, used for table, kitchen or other household purposes… It further states: The heading excludes: (d) Household articles having the character of tools, e.g., shovels of all kinds; cork-screws; cheese graters, etc.; larding needles; can –openers; nut-crackers; bottle openers; curling irons, pressing irons; fire-tongs; egg whisks; waffling irons; coffee-mills, pepper-mills; mincers; juice extractors, vegetable pressers, vegetable mashers (Chapter 82). The General EN to Chapter 82, which covers tools and implements of base metal states the following in relevant part: This Chapter includes: (D) Articles of cutlery (whether intended for professional, personal or domestic use), certain mechanical domestic appliances, spoons and forks and similar tableware and kitchen utensils (heading 82.10 to 82.15). In general, the Chapter covers tools which can be used independently in the hand, whether or not they incorporate simple mechanisms such as gearing, crank-handles, plungers, screw mechanisms or levers. The EN to 82.10 states, in relevant part: This heading covers non-electric mechanical appliances, generally hand-operated, not exceeding 10 kg in weight, used in the preparation, serving or conditioning of food or drink. For the purposes of this heading an appliance is regarded as mechanical if it has such mechanisms as crank-handles, gearing, Archimedean screw-actions, pumps, etc.; a simple level or plunger action is not in itself, however regarded as a mechanical feature involving classification in this heading unless the appliance is designed for fixing to a wall or other surface, or is fitted with base plates, etc. for standing on a table, on the floor, etc. The heading thus comprises appliances which would fall either in heading 82.05 or in Chapter 84 but for the fact that they fulfill the following conditions: They weight 10 kg or less. They have the mechanical features described. The following are examples of goods falling in the heading, provided they conform to the conditions set out above: Coffee or spice mills; vegetable mincers and mashers; meat mincers and slicers; meat pressers; graters for cheese, etc.; vegetable or fruit slicers, cutters and peelers, … In NY N274720, CBP classified the hand-operated food dicer in subheading 8210.00.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Hand-operated mechanical appliances, weighing 10kg or less, used in the preparation, conditioning or serving of food or drink, and base metal parts thereof.” You assert in your May 19, 2016 letter that classification of the hand-operated food dicer in subheading 8210.00.00, HTSUS, is incorrect. You maintain that the hand-operated food dicer is properly classified in subheading 7323.93.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof, of iron or steel; iron or steel . . . Other: Of stainless steel.” In particular, you state that the hand-operated food dicer cannot be classified in subheading 8210.00.00, HTSUS, because it has no mechanical features and operates via a lever action. The subject hand-operated food dicer, however, is mechanical because it has a top/handle that contains a pusher that is hinged to the base for slicing, chopping, and dicing food. The base has a slot for the placement of a blade in the middle, which slices, chops, and dices food when the handle of the dicer is pressed down. The food dicer also has a base that is designed for standing on a table or flat surface. EN 82.10 notes that an appliance is regarded as “mechanical” if it is “fitted with based plates, etc. for standing on a table, on the floor, etc. . . .” In an instruction manual, the hand-operated food dicer is described as having a “chopper base,” and is shown standing on a table or flat surface. Therefore, the subject hand-operated food dicer is a “mechanical appliance” and is properly classified in subheading 8210.00.00, HTSUS. CBP has classified similar articles in Headquarters Ruling Letter H266149, dated October 21, 2015 and NY N165115, dated May 20, 2011. In addition, classification of an article described as a non-electric hand operated mechanical appliance fitted with a base for standing on a table or flat surface, for personal or domestic use, which slices, chops, and dices, in subheading 8210.00.00, HTSUS, is consistent with EN 82.10, which provides that vegetable or fruit slicers and cutters are examples of goods provided for therein. Because the hand-operated food dicer is provided for in subheading 8210.00.00, HTSUS, it cannot be classified in heading 7323, HTSUS, which is a residual provision for goods not more specifically covered by other headings of the Nomenclature. See EN 73.23 subsection (A) Table, Kitchen or Other Household Articles and Parts Thereof. For all the aforementioned reasons, we hereby affirm NY N274720. Accordingly, the subject hand-operated food dicer remains classified in heading 8210, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 8210.00.00, HTSUS, as “Hand-operated mechanical appliances, weighing 10kg or less, used in the preparation, conditioning or serving of food or drink, and base metal parts thereof.” Sincerely, Myles B. Harmon, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division