Game of Thrones, the HTSUS Edition

Heading 9817 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States includes a subheading covering the following:

Articles specially designed or adapted for the use or benefit of the blind or other physically or mentally handicapped persons; parts and accessories (except parts and accessories of braces and artificial limb prosthetics) that are specially designed or adapted for use in the foregoing articles: 

The question presented to the U.S. Court of International Trade in Danze, Inc. v. United States is whether certain toilets and toilet tanks fall within this subheading and are, therefore, entitled to duty-free entry to the United States.

The basis for the plaintiff's argument is that the merchandise complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The toilets include the Orrington High-Efficiency One-Piece model shown here and the Cirtangular Two-Piece. The tank involved is the Orrington tank. Note that none of these products have any obvious adaptations for the disabled such as grab bars. Nevertheless, the toilets meet the ADA requirements for accessibility. According to Danze literature, the ergonomics of the toilets make sitting and standing more comfortable for users.

Tariff item 9817.00.96 implements the Nairobi Protocol to the Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials. Part of the intent of the protocol is to provide “duty free treatment to articles for the use or benefit of the physically or mentally handicapped persons, in addition to articles for the blind."

There are two question that relate to the application of this provision to imported goods. First, is the item specially designed in some way to accommodate the user? Second, is that accommodation related to a physical or mental handicap? According to the legal notes to Chapter 98, "'physically or mentally handicapped persons’ includes any person suffering from a permanent or chronic physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, or working.”  U.S. Note 4(a), Subchapter XVII, Chapter 98, HTSUS. 

"Specially designed" is not defined in the HTSUS. However, Courts have previously construed this term and the legislative history provides guidance. In the end, the Court held that  “articles specially designed for handicapped persons must be made with the specific purpose and intent to be used by or benefit handicapped persons rather than the general public.” Moreover, "[a]ny adaptation or modification to an article to render it for use or benefit by handicapped persons must be significant."

There is no debate that these products comply with the ADA and associated federal guidelines. The question is whether that is enough to meet the classification requirement. According to the Government in this case, mere compliance with the ADA is not sufficient to show a significant adaption.

According to the Court, the ergonomic design of these toilets (and the associated tank) is primarily the seat height, which makes them comfortable. This toilet height has become a popular option for general consumers, not just (or predominantly) the disabled. This is also true of the flush controls and the elongated bowl design.

Without more evidence of specific and significant adaptation to disabled users, Danze was unable to show that these toilets were specially designed or adapted for the use or benefit of the disabled. Rather, it appears that they are consumer-oriented products that also satisfy the requirements of the ADA. Accordingly, the Court of International granted summary judgment in favor of the United States.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ruling of the Week 2015.8: Old Jersey and Pitcairn Island

Image
For today's ROTW, I set out looking for a ruling dealing with some far off and preferably warm location. Turns out that, with the exception of coastwise transit issues, there are no Customs and Border Protection rulings involving Pitcairn Island or any of several Pacific Ocean microstates including Tuvalu , Niue , and Kiribati . Pitcairn Island What I did find is an interesting question about the country of origin marking for products of the Bailiwick of Jersey Island, Channel Islands. The ruling is HQ 561938 (Mar. 18, 2002). For those of you who may not know, Jersey is an island off the coast of Normandy, France. It is an independent international actor and not part of the U.K. although the U.K. is responsible for its defense and external relations. Also, the Queen is the Head of State in her capacity as "the Crown in Right of Jersey." It is, according to the U.S. Department of State, a " Crown Dependency " along with the Isle of Man and the Bailiwick o...
Read more

CAFC Decision in Double Invoicing Case

The Federal Circuit has issued a decision on the merits in United States v. Inn Foods, Inc.  There had been a previous decision on jurisdiction, which was followed by a trial at the Court of International Trade and then this appeal on the substance. The initial issue is whether Inn Foods' invoicing practice amounts to fraud.  Inn Foods had been receiving an invoice from growers in Mexico that had a relatively low sales prices on it.  Subsequent to entry, Inn Foods created a second invoice at something more similar to market value, retaining the original invoice number, and paid at that higher amount.   Superficially, this looks like a standard-issue double-invoicing scheme.  But, in the age of reconciliation, is it really more like a provisional pricing mechanism?  It might have been possible to make that argument had Inn Foods adjusted its entries accordingly.  It didn't and the loss of revenue was approximately $624,000.  Based on testimony and evidence indicating both knowl...
Read more

Ninestar and UFLPA Exhaustion

Image
Exhaustion is a key doctrine in administrative law. When applicable, it requires that a party unhappy with an agency’s determination complete the administrative appeal process before turning to the courts for judicial review. Requiring exhaustion typically promotes judicial efficiency by ensuring that disputes are resolved at the agency and, if they are not, that there is a complete record of the agency process. Exhaustion also ensures that the judiciary respects the executive agencies and their expertise.  There are, on the other hand, times when the courts will find that exhaustion is not necessary or appropriate. Such is the case in  Ninestar Corporation et al. v. United States  et al., a decision of the U.S. Court of International Trade.  Ninestar is also interesting because it is one of the first cases in the CIT involving the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, known as UFLPA. In my hiatus from active blogging, I missed the rise of UFLPA as a major compliance t...
Read more