Biometric device classification under tariff law favours heading 8543 over accessory treatment as data-processing equipment.

An imported fingerprint reader was treated as a biometric device with an independent specific function of identifying the user and transmitting data for further processing. Applying the tariff scheme and Chapter Note 5(E) to Chapter 84, the device was held not to be a document scanner and not a part or accessory of an automatic data processing machine under heading 8471. It was classified according to its own function under heading 8543, consistent with earlier Tribunal views on similar fingerprint and attendance-related devices. The ruling confirms that equipment performing a distinct function outside data processing falls under the heading appropriate to that function rather than heading 8471.

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Issues: Whether the imported fingerprint reader was classifiable under heading 8471 as a part or accessory of automatic data processing machines, or under heading 8543 as an electrical machine having an individual function.

Analysis: The product was found to function as a fingerprint reader/biometric device and not as a document scanner or as a part or accessory of a computer. Applying the tariff scheme and Chapter Note 5(E) to Chapter 84, machines performing a specific function other than data processing and those working in conjunction with an automatic data processing machine are to be classified according to their respective functions or in the residual heading. The device's specific function was to identify the user and transmit data for further processing, which placed it outside heading 8471. The earlier Tribunal view on similar fingerprint readers and attendance-related data collection devices was followed, and the specific classification under heading 8543 was preferred over the claimed heading 8471.

Conclusion: The imported product was correctly classifiable under heading 8543 and not under heading 8471, and the Revenue's appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A device with an independent specific function that is not itself a data-processing machine or a true part or accessory of one must be classified under the heading appropriate to that function, and if necessary under the residual tariff heading rather than under heading 8471.

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