[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR301.2]

[Page 8-10]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
 CHAPTER III--INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 301_INSTRUMENTS AND APPARATUS FOR EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC 
INSTITUTIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  301.2  Definitions.

    For the purposes of these regulations and the forms used to 
implement them:
    (a) Director means the Director of the Statutory Import Programs 
Staff, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
    (b) Customs means the U.S. Customs Service and the ``The 
Commissioner'' means Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, or the 
official(s) designated to act on the Commissioner's behalf.
    (c) Customs Port or the Port means the port where a particular claim 
has been or will be made for duty-free entry of a scientific instrument 
or apparatus under subheading 9810.00.60, HTSUS.
    (d) Entry means entry of an instrument into the Customs territory of 
the United States for consumption or withdrawal of an instrument from a 
Customs bonded warehouse for consumption.
    (e) United States includes only the several States, the District of 
Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
    (f) Instrument means instruments and apparatus specified in U.S. 
Note 6(a), Subchapter X, Chapter 98, HTSUS. A combination of basic 
instrument or apparatus and accompanying accessories shall be treated as 
a single instrument provided that, under normal commercial practice, 
such combination is considered to be a single instrument and provided 
further that the applicant has ordered or, upon favorable action on its 
application, firmly intends to order the combination as a unit. The term 
``instrument'' also covers separable components of an instrument that 
are imported for assembly in the United States in such instrument where 
that instrument, due to its size, cannot feasibly be imported in its 
assembled state. The components, as well as the assembled instrument 
itself, must be classifiable under the tariff provisions listed in U.S. 
Note 6(a), Subchapter X, Chapter 98, HTSUS. See paragraph (k) of this 
section and Sec.  301.3(f). Unless the context indicates otherwise, 
instrument or apparatus shall mean a foreign ``instrument or apparatus'' 
for which duty-free entry is sought under subheading 9810.00.60, HTSUS. 
Spare parts typically ordered and delivered with an instrument are also 
considered part of an instrument for purposes of these regulations. The 
term ``instruments'' shall not include:
    (1) Materials or supplies used in the operation of instruments and 
apparatus such as paper, cards, tapes, ink, recording materials, 
expendable laboratory materials, apparatus that loses identity or is 
consumed by usage or other materials or supplies.
    (2) Ordinary equipment for use in building construction or 
maintenance; or equipment for use in supporting activities of the 
institution, such as its administrative offices, machine shops, 
libraries, centralized computer facilities, eating facilities, or 
religious facilities; or support equipment such as copying machines, 
glass working apparatus and film processors.

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    (3) General purpose equipment such as air conditioners, electric 
typewriters, electric drills, refrigerators.
    (4) General-purpose computers. Accessories to computers which are 
not eligible for duty-free treatment are also ineligible. Scientific 
instruments containing embedded computers which are to be used in a 
dedicated process or in instrument control, as opposed to general data 
processing or computation, are, however, eligible for duty-free 
consideration.
    (5) Instruments initially imported solely for testing or review 
purposes which were entered under bond under subheading 9813.00.30, 
HTSUS, subject to the provisions of U.S. Note 1(a), Subchapter XIII, 
Chapter 98, HTSUS, and must be exported or destroyed within the time 
period specified in that U.S. Note.
    (g) Domestic instrument means an instrument which is manufactured in 
the United States. A domestic instrument need not be made exclusively of 
domestic components or accessories.
    (h) Accessory has the meaning which it has under normal commercial 
usage. An accessory, whether part of an instrument or an attachment to 
an instrument, adds to the capability of an instrument. An accessory for 
which duty-free entry is sought under subheading 9810.00.60, HTSUS shall 
be the subject of a separate application when it is not an accompanying 
accessory. The existing instrument, for which the accessory is being 
purchased, may be domestic or, if foreign, it need not have entered duty 
free under subheading 9810.00.60, HTSUS.
    (i) Accompanying accessory means an accessory for an instrument that 
is listed as an item in the same purchase order and that is necessary 
for accomplishment of the purposes for which the instrument is intended 
to be used.
    (j) Ancillary equipment means an instrument which may be 
functionally related to the foreign instrument but is not operationally 
linked to it. Examples of ancillary equipment are vacuum evaporators or 
ultramicrotomes, which can be used to prepare specimens for electron 
microscopy. Further, equipment which is compatible with the foreign 
instrument, but is also clearly compatible with similar domestic 
instruments, such as automatic sampling equipment sold for use with a 
variety of mass spectrometers, will be treated as ancillary equipment. A 
separate application will be required for ancillary equipment even if 
ordered with the basic instrument.
    (k) Components of an instrument means parts or assemblies of parts 
which are substantially less than the instrument to which they relate. A 
component enables an instrument to function at a specified minimum 
level, while an accessory adds to the capability of an instrument. 
Applications shall not be accepted for components of instruments that 
did not enter duty-free under subheading 9810.00.60, HTSUS or for 
components of instruments being manufactured or assembled by a 
commercial firm or entity in the U.S. In determining whether an item is 
a component ineligible for duty-free consideration or an accessory 
eligible for such consideration, Customs shall take into account such 
factors as the item's complexity, novelty, degree of integration and 
pertinency to the research purposes to be performed by the instrument as 
a whole. The above notwithstanding, separable components of some 
instruments may be eligible for duty-free treatment. See paragraph (f) 
of this section.
    (l) Produced for stock means an instrument which is manufactured, on 
sale and available from a stock.
    (m) Produced on order means an instrument which a manufacturer lists 
in current catalog literature and is able and willing to produce and 
have available without unreasonable delay to the applicant.
    (n) Custom-made means an instrument which a manufacturer is willing 
and able to make to purchaser's specifications. Instruments resulting 
from a development effort are treated as custom-made for the purposes of 
these regulations. Also, a special-order variant of a produced on order 
instrument, with significant modifications specified by the applicant, 
may be treated as custom-made.
    (o) Same general category means the category in which an instrument 
is customarily classified in trade directories and product-source lists, 
e.g., scanning electron microscope, mass

[[Page 10]]

spectrometer, light microscope, x-ray spectrometer.
    (p) Comparable domestic instrument means a domestic instrument 
capable or potentially capable of fulfilling the applicant's technical 
requirements or intended uses, whether or not in the same general 
category as the foreign instrument.
    (q) Specifications means the particulars of the structural, 
operational and performance characteristics or capabilities of a 
scientific instrument.
    (r) Guaranteed specifications are those specifications which are an 
explicit part of the contractual agreement between the buyer and the 
seller (or which would become part of the agreement if the buyer 
accepted the seller's offer), and refer only to the minimum and 
routinely achievable performance levels of the instrument under 
specified conditions. If a capability is listed or quoted as a range 
(e.g., ``5 to 10 nanometers'') or as a minimum that may be exceeded 
(e.g., ``5 angstroms or better''), only the inferior capability may be 
considered the guaranteed specification. Evidence that specifications 
are ``guaranteed'' will normally consist of their being printed in a 
brochure or other descriptive literature of the manufacturer; being 
listed in a purchase agreement upon which the purchase is conditioned; 
or appearing in a manufacturer's formal response to a request for quote. 
If, however, no opportunity to submit a bid was afforded the domestic 
manufacturer or if, for any other reason, comparable guaranteed 
specifications of the foreign and domestic instruments do not appear on 
the record, other evidence relating to a manufacturer's ability to 
provide an instrument with comparable specifications may, at the 
discretion of the Director, be considered in the comparison of the 
foreign and domestic instruments' capabilities. Performance results on a 
test sample run at the applicant's request may be cited as evidence for 
or against a guaranteed specification.
    (s) Pertinent specifications are those specifications necessary for 
the accomplishment of the specific scientific research or science-
related educational purposes described by the applicant. Specifications 
of features (even if guaranteed) which afford greater convenience, 
satisfy personal preferences, accommodate institutional commitments or 
limitations, or assure lower costs of acquisition, installation, 
operation, servicing or maintenance are not pertinent. For example, a 
design feature, such as a small number of knobs or controls on an 
instrument primarily designed for research purposes, would be a 
convenience. The ability to fit an instrument into a small room, when 
the required operations could be performed in a larger room, would be 
either a cost consideration or a matter of convenience and not a 
pertinent specification. In addition, mere difference in design (which 
would, for example, broaden the educational experience of students but 
not provide superior scientific capability) would not be pertinent. 
Also, characteristics such as size, weight, appearance, durability, 
reliability, complexity (or simplicity), ease of operation, ease of 
maintenance, productivity, versatility, ``state of the art'' design, 
specific design and compatibility with currently owned or ordered 
equipment are not pertinent unless the applicant demonstrates that the 
characteristic is necessary for the accomplishment of its scientific 
purposes.

[47 FR 32517, July 28, 1982; 47 FR 34368, Aug. 9, 1982, as amended at 66 
FR 28832, May 25, 2001]