Surgical Camera Differs from Still-Image Camera Due to 'Real Time' Transmission

CBP affirmed its classification of a camera used during surgeries that allows for remote viewing and storage as a "television-type camera" due to its ability to capture images in "real time," said the agency in a July 9 ruling. Stryker Communications entered the cameras during 2011 in one of 11 entries that make up "a pendant lighting system used in medical clinics or surgical suites." The ruling (here), HQ H237590, was a further review of a protest that included a consideration of a 2013 Court of International Trade case involving the classification of a camera (see 13122326).

The cameras were imported through the Port of Dallas-Fort Worth and classified under subheading 8525.80.30. CBP allowed for a further review of protest because it involved questions of fact that weren't previously ruled on, said CBP. Specifically, CBP looked at "the proper classification of the subject surgical cameras and related apparatus in view" of the CIT's 2013 decision. In that case, CIT found that a Sony handheld camera that recorded and stored both still and moving images was best classified under subheading 8525.80.40 as a “digital still image video camera.” Similarly, the surgical cameras capture video images, which are used during a surgery.

Unlike the Sony cameras in the CIT case, the surgical cameras are unable to store any of the images, said CBP. The camera instead "captures images in 'real time' and transmits the images (e.g. those of a surgical procedure) to a location outside the camera for viewing or remote recording," CBP said. "CBP has consistently classified cameras that capture video images in real time, which are transmitted to locations outside the camera for viewing, as television-type cameras of subheading 8525.80.30."

While the importer also argued that the "cameras may be classified as a part of the surgical lighting system under heading 9018," Chapter 90 excludes cameras of heading 8525 from classification there, said CBP. The Port of Dallas-Fort Worth was therefore correct in the classification as liquidated, said CBP.