Archived – Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) - Notes 1996-2001

Section XVI:  Machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical equipment; parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles

Notes.

1. This Section does not cover:

   a) Transmission or conveyor belts or belting, of plastics of Chapter 39, or of vulcanised rubber (heading No. 40.10); or other articles of a kind used in machinery or mechanical or electrical appliances or for other technical uses, of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (heading No. 40.16);

   b) Articles of leather or of composition leather (heading No. 42.04) or of furskin (heading No. 43.03), of a kind used in machinery or mechanical appliances or for other technical uses;

   c) Bobbins, spools, cops, cones, cores, reels or similar supports, of any material (for example, Chapter 39, 40, 44 or 48 or Section XV);

   d) Perforated cards for Jacquard or similar machines (for example, Chapter 39 or 48 or Section XV);

   e) Transmission or conveyor belts of textile material (heading No. 59.10) or other articles of textile material for technical uses (heading No. 59.11);

   f) Precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) of headings Nos. 71.02 to 71.04, or articles wholly of such stones of heading No. 71.16, except unmounted worked sapphires and diamonds for styli (heading No. 85.22);

   g) Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);

   h) Drill pipe (heading No. 73.04);

   ij) Endless belts of metal wire or strip (Section XV);

   k) Articles of Chapter 82 or 83;

   l) Articles of Section XVII;

   m) Articles of Chapter 90;

   n) Clocks, watches or other articles of Chapter 91;

   o) Interchangeable tools of heading No. 82.07 or brushes of a kind used as parts of machines (heading No. 96.03);

   p) Articles of Chapter 95.

2. Subject to Note 1 to this Section, Note 1 to Chapter 84 and to Note 1 to Chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading No. 84.84, 85.44, 85.45, 85.46 or 85.47) are to be classified according to the following rules:
   1. Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of Chapters 84 or 85 (other than headings Nos. 84.09, 84.31, 84.48, 84.66, 84.73, 84.85, 85.03, 85.22, 85.29, 85.38 and 85.48) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;
   2. Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading No. 84.79 or 85.43) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading No. 84.09, 84.31, 84.48, 84.66, 84.73, 85.03, 85.22, 85.29 or 85.38 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings Nos. 85.17 and 85.25 to 85.28 are to be classified in heading No. 85.17;
   3. All other parts are to be classified in headings No. 84.09, 84.31, 84.48, 84.66, 84.73, 85.03, 85.22, 85.29 or 85.38 as appropriate or, failing that, in heading No. 84.85 or 85.48.
3. Unless the context otherwise requires, composite machines consisting of two or more machines fitted together to form a whole and other machines adapted for the purpose of performing two or more complementary or alternative functions are to be classified as if consisting only of that component or as being that machine which performs the principal function.
4. 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.
5. For the purposes of these Notes, the expression "machine" means any machine, machinery, plant, equipment, apparatus or appliance cited in the headings of Chapter 84 or 85.

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Chapter 84:  Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Millstones, grindstones or other articles of Chapter 68;
   2. Machinery or appliances (for example, pumps) of ceramic material and ceramic parts of machinery or appliances of any material (Chapter 69);
   3. Laboratory glassware (heading No. 70.17); machinery, appliances or other articles for technical uses or parts thereof, of glass (heading No. 70.19 or 70.20);
   4. Articles of heading No. 73.21 or 73.22 or similar articles of other base metals (Chapters 74 to 76 or 78 to 81);
   5. Electro-mechanical tools for working in the hand, of heading No. 85.08 or electro-mechanical domestic appliances of heading No. 85.09; or
   6. Hand-operated mechanical floor sweepers, not motorised (heading No. 96.03).
2. Subject to the operation of Note 3 to Section XVI, a machine or appliance which answers to a description in one or more of the headings Nos. 84.01 to 84.24 and at the same time to a description in one or other of the headings Nos. 84.25 to 84.80 is to be classified under the appropriate heading of the former group and not the latter.
   
   Heading No. 84.19 does not, however, cover:
   1. Germination plant, incubators or brooders (heading No. 84.36);
   2. Grain dampening machines (heading No. 84.37);
   3. Diffusing apparatus for sugar juice extraction (heading No. 84.38);
   4. Machinery for the heat-treatment of textile yarns, fabrics or made up textile articles (heading No. 84.51); or
   5. Machinery or plant, designed for mechanical operation, in which a change of temperature, even if necessary, is subsidiary.
   Heading No. 84.22 does not cover:
   1. Sewing machines for closing bags or similar containers (heading No. 84.52); or
   2. Office machinery of heading No. 84.72.
   Heading No. 84.24 does not cover:
   
   Ink jet printing machines (heading No. 84.43 or 84.71).
3. A machine-tool for working any material which answers to a description in heading No. 84.56 and at the same time to a description in heading No. 84.57, 84.58, 84.59, 84.60, 84.61, 84.64 or 84.65 is to be classified in heading No. 84.56.
4. Heading No. 84.57 applies only to machine-tools for working metal, other than lathes (including turning centres), which can carry out different types of machining operations either:
   1. by automatic tool change from a magazine or the like in conformity with a machining programme (machining centres),
   2. by the automatic use, simultaneously or sequentially, of different unit heads working on a fixed position workpiece (unit construction machines, single station), or
   3. by the automatic transfer of the workpiece to different unit heads (multi-station transfer machines).
5. 1. For the purposes of heading No. 84.71, the expression "automatic data processing machines" means:
      1. Digital machines, capable of (1) storing the processing program or programs and at least the data immediately necessary for the execution of the program; (2) being freely programmed in accordance with the requirements of the user; (3) performing arithmetical computations specified by the user; and, (4) executing, without human intervention, a processing program which requires them to modify their execution, by logical decision during the processing run;
      2. Analog machines capable of simulating mathematical models and comprising at least: analog elements, control elements and programming elements;
      3. Hybrid machines consisting of either a digital machine with analog elements or an analog machine with digital elements.
   2. Automatic data processing machines may be in the form of systems consisting of a variable number of separate units. Subject to paragraph E) below, a unit is to be regarded as being a part of the complete system if it meets all of the following conditions:
      1. It is of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing system;
      2. It is connectable to the central processing unit either directly or through one or more other units; and
      3. It is able to accept or deliver data in a form (codes or signals) which can be used by the system.
   3. Separately presented units of an automatic data processing machine are to be classified in heading No. 84.71.
   4. Printers, keyboards, X-Y co-ordinate input devices and disk storage units which satisfy the conditions of paragraphs B) b) and B) c) above, are in all cases to be classified as units of heading No. 84.71.
   5. Machines perforning a specific function other than data processing and incorporating or working in conjunction with an automatic data processing machine are to be classified in the headings appropriate to their respective functions or, failing that, in residual headings.
6. Heading No. 84.82 applies, inter alia, to polished steel balls, the maximum and minimum diameters of which do not differ from the nominal diameter by more than 1% or by more than 0.05 mm, whichever is less. Other steel balls are to be classified in heading No. 73.26.
7. A machine which is used for more than one purpose is, for the purposes of classification, to be treated as if its principal purpose were its sole purpose.
   
   Subject to Note 2 to this Chapter and Note 3 to Section XVI, a machine the principal purpose of which is not described in any heading or for which no one purpose is the principal purpose is, unless the context otherwise requires, to be classified in heading No. 84.79. Heading No. 84.79 also covers machines for making rope or cable (for example, stranding, twisting or cabling machines) from metal wire, textile yarn or any other material or from a combination of such materials.
8. For the purposes of heading No. 84.70, the term "pocket-size" applies only to machines the dimensions of which do not exceed 170 mm x 100 mm x 45 mm.

Subheading Notes.

1. For the purposes of subheading No. 8471.49, the term "systems" means automatic data processing machines whose units satisfy the conditions laid down in Note 5 B) to Chapter 84 and which comprise at least a central processing unit, one input unit (for example, a keyboard or a scanner), and one output unit (for example, a visual display unit or a printer).
2. Subheading No. 8482.40 applies only to bearings with cylindrical rollers of a uniform diameter not exceeding 5 mm and having a length which is at least three times the diameter. The ends of the rollers may be rounded.

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Chapter 85:  Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Electrically warmed blankets, bed pads, foot-muffs or the like; electrically warmed clothing, footwear or ear pads or other electrically warmed articles worn on or about the person;
   2. Articles of glass of heading No. 70.11; or
   3. Electrically heated furniture of Chapter 94.
2. Headings Nos. 85.01 to 85.04 do not apply to goods described in heading No. 85.11, 85.12, 85.40, 85.41 or 85.42.
   
   However, metal tank mercury arc rectifiers remain classified in heading No. 85.04.
3. Heading No. 85.09 covers only the following electro-mechanical machines of the kind commonly used for domestic purposes:
   1. Vacuum cleaners, floor polishers, food grinders and mixers, and fruit or vegetable juice extractors, of any weight;
   2. Other machines provided the weight of such machines does not exceed 20 kg.
   The heading does not, however, apply to fans or ventilating or recycling hoods incorporating a fan, whether or not fitted with filters (heading No. 84.14), centrifugal clothes-dryers (heading No. 84.21), dish washing machines (heading No. 84.22), household washing machines (heading No. 84.50), roller or other ironing machines (heading No. 84.20 or 84.51), sewing machines (heading No. 84.52), electric scissors (heading No. 85.08) or to electro-thermic appliances (heading No. 85.16).
4. For the purposes of heading No. 85.34 "printed circuits" are circuits obtained by forming on an insulating base, by any printing process (for example, embossing, plating-up, etching) or by the "film circuit" technique, conductor elements, contacts or other printed components (for example, inductances, resistors, capacitors) alone or interconnected according to a pre-established pattern, other than elements which can produce, rectify, modulate or amplify an electrical signal (for example, semiconductor elements).
   
   The expression "printed circuits" does not cover circuits combined with elements other than those obtained during the printing process, nor does it cover individual, discrete resistors, capacitors or inductances. Printed circuits may, however, be fitted with non-printed connecting elements.
   
   Thin- or thick-film circuits comprising passive and active elements obtained during the same technological process are to be classified in heading No. 85.42.
5. For the purposes of headings Nos. 85.41 and 85.42:
   1. "Diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor devices" are semiconductor devices the operation of which depends on variations in resistivity on the application of an electric field;
   2. "Electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies" are:
      1. Monolithic integrated circuits in which the circuit elements (diodes, transistors, resistors, capacitors, interconnections, etc.) are created in the mass (essentially) and on the surface of a semiconductor material (doped silicon, for example) and are inseparably associated;
      2. Hybrid integrated circuits in which passive elements (resistors, capacitors, interconnections, etc.), obtained by thin- or thick-film technology, and active elements (diodes, transistors, monolithic integrated circuits, etc.) obtained by semiconductor technology, are combined to all intents and purposes indivisibly, on a single insulating substrate (glass, ceramic, etc.). These circuits may also include discrete components;
      3. Microassemblies of the moulded module, micromodule or similar types, consisting of discrete, active or both active and passive, components which are combined and interconnected.
      For the classification of the articles defined in this Note, headings Nos. 85.41 and 85.42 shall take precedence over any other heading in the Classification which might cover them by reference to, in particular, their function.
6. Records, tapes and other media of heading No. 85.23 or 85.24 remain classified in those headings, whether or not they are presented with the apparatus for which they are intended.
7. For the purposes of heading No. 85.48, "spent primary cells, spent primary batteries and spent electric accumulators" are those which are neither usable as such because of breakage, cutting-up, wear or other reasons, nor capable of being recharged.

Subheading Note.

1. Subheadings Nos. 8519.92 and 8527.12 cover only cassette-players with built-in amplifier, without built-in loudspeaker, capable of operating without an external source of electric power and the dimensions of which do not exceed 170 mm x 100 mm x 45 mm.