Independent classification of computer equipment under Heading 84.71 upheld where no inseparable functional combination was shown.

Imported automatic data processing systems were treated as independently classifiable under Heading 84.71 rather than as parts of a vacuum emission spectrometer or an engine development system. The relevant Note 4 to Section XVI did not apply because the materials did not show an inseparable functional combination: each computer operated independently, and there was no evidence that either machine could not function without it or that the computer performed an integral specific function within the other equipment. On that basis, the departmental classification under Heading 84.71 was upheld and the challenge to it failed.

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Issues: Whether the imported automatic data processing systems, imported along with a vacuum emission spectrometer and an engine development system respectively, were classifiable under Heading 84.71 as units of an automatic data processing system or under the headings applicable to the spectrometer and engine development system.

Analysis: The imported computer in each case was used independently of the other item. No material showed that the spectrometer or engine development system could not function without the computer, or that the computer was integral to the specific function of the other machine. In such circumstances, Note 4 to Section XVI, which applies the specific-function principle to combinations of machines, did not assist the appellant because the items were not shown to form an inseparable functional combination. The classification adopted by the lower authorities under Heading 84.71 was therefore not displaced.

Conclusion: The classification under Heading 84.71 as an automatic data processing system was upheld and the challenge to the departmental classification failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were rejected because the imported computer equipment was treated as independently classifiable as an automatic data processing system and not as part of the other imported machines.

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