Reconsideration of NY N300209; Classification of 'Sterility and Aseptic Technique' training kit from China.

HQ H305659 December 30, 2019 OT:RR:CTF:CPMM:ABL CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9603.90.8050 Ms. Cindi Kavanaugh Mohawk Global Trade Advisors 4455 Genesee Street, Suite 521 Cheektowaga, NY 14225  RE: Reconsideration of NY N300209; Classification of 'Sterility and Aseptic Technique' training kit from China. Dear Ms. Kavanaugh, This is in response to your March 15, 2019 request for reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NY) N300209, dated September 19, 2018, on behalf of your client, The Apprentice Corporation submitted through the electronic rulings portal to the National Commodity Specialist Division (NCSD), pertaining to the tariff classification of the 'Sterility and Aseptic Technique' training kit from China under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). In that ruling, the kit was described as follows: The article under consideration consists of: IO gowns, two steri-sheets (the gowns are packed in this), 10 overshoes (pairs), 10 surgeon caps, 10 mop caps, 10 surgical masks, 10 surgery brushes, 20 disposable paper towels, 10 plastic protective aprons, one red waste bag, one leaflet/flyer, one hand glove size chart, one hand rub/hand wash diagram, 20 sterile pairs of gloves, and one box of 100 surgical gloves. The goods will be packaged in a retail box, which states, "Future Doctors Academy's 'Sterility and Aseptic Technique' Training Kit." The kit is intended for classroom instruction and training purposes. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determined that the product was a set classified under GRI 3(c) in subheading 9603.90.8050, HTSUS, which provides, for "[b]rooms, brushes (including brushes constituting parts of machines, appliances or vehicles), hand-operated mechanical floor sweepers, not motorized, mops and feather dusters; prepared knots and tufts for broom or brush making; paint pads and rollers; squeegees (other than roller squeegees): [o]ther: [o]ther: [o]ther." You claim classification in heading 9023, HTSUS, the provision for "[I]nstruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for example, in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses, and parts and accessories thereof." Your reconsideration request was forwarded to this office for review. In your request, you claim that this "kit is unsuitable for other uses." However, as we noted in NY N300209, "[t]he myriad of elements in the training kit (gloves, brushes, surgical masks, etc.) are evidently of a standard type, and would be suitable for other uses. The training kit is a collection of utilitarian elements that, even if put together for the purpose of classroom training, do not meet the terms of heading 9023." We affirm this finding. Moreover, there are no instruments or apparatus' within the Sterility and Aseptic Technique Training Kit. Neither is there any indication that the kit is "exclusively intended for education purposes." The sterility, or lack thereof, of the articles in the kit is not an indication of the intent to only use them for educational purposes. In fact, the kit includes 2 steri-sheets and 20 pairs of sterile gloves and most of the other items are disposable and not of the type that need sterilization for use in medical applications. Despite your claim that the kit is to demonstrate the "sterility and aseptic technique," the fact remains that the majority of its contents are clearly of the standard type and they are not "unsuitable for other uses." You also cite to NY N243533, dated July 23, 2013 and NY N286762, dated June 22, 2017, wherein course and training kits were classified under subheading 9023.00.0000, HTSUS, as instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes and unsuitable for other uses. However, the Venipuncture Course and Training Kit and the Fracture Reduction Simulation Course Kit and Fracture Reduction Refill Kit in those rulings, respectively, both contained actual instruments and/or models. The former contained a Venipuncture Trainer; the latter contained instruments such as forceps, catspaw retractors, a surgical drill unit, and curved scissors. The latter also contained a fracture simulation arm in both kits. For the aforementioned reasons, we hereby affirm that the "Sterility and Aseptic Technique Training Kit" qualifies as a set put up for retail sale. As no one item provides the essential character of the kit, the kit is classified correctly in accordance with GRI 3(c), i.e., in the heading that occurs last in numerical order among the competing headings that equally merit consideration. Hence, the "Sterility and Aseptic Technique Training Kit" is classified in 9603.90.8050, the provision for "other brushes." Lastly, under GRI 3(c) column 1, the rate of duty is 2.8 %. Sincerely, Myles B. Harmon, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division 2