Section XVIII: Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof
Chapter 90: Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof
Notes.
- This Chapter does not cover:
a) Articles of a kind used in machines, appliances or for other technical uses, of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (heading No. 40.16), of leather or of composition leather (heading No. 42.04) or of textile material (heading No. 59.11);
b) Supporting belts or other support articles of textile material, whose intended effect on the organ to be supported or held derives solely from their elasticity (for example, maternity belts, thoracic support bandages, abdominal support bandages, supports for joints or muscles) (Section XI);
c) Refractory goods of heading No. 69.03; ceramic wares for laboratory, chemical or other technical uses, of heading No. 69.09;
d) Glass mirrors, not optically worked, of heading No. 70.09, or mirrors of base metal or of precious metal, not being optical elements (heading No. 83.06 or Chapter 71);
e) Goods of heading No. 70.07, 70.08, 70.11, 70.14, 70.15 or 70.17;
f) Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV) or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);
g) Pumps incorporating measuring devices, of heading No. 84.13; weight-operated counting or checking machinery, or separately presented weights for balances (heading No. 84.23); lifting or handling machinery (headings Nos. 84.25 to 84.28); paper or paperboard cutting machines of all kinds (heading No. 84.41); fittings for adjusting work or tools on machine-tools, of heading No. 84.66, including fittings with optical devices for reading the scale (for example, "optical" dividing heads) but not those which are in themselves essentially optical instruments (for example, alignment telescopes); calculating machines (heading No. 84.70); valves or other appliances of heading No. 84.81;
h) Searchlights or spotlights of a kind used for cycles or motor vehicles (heading No. 85.12); portable electric lamps of heading No. 85.13; cinematographic sound recording, reproducing or re-recording apparatus (heading No. 85.19 or 85.20); sound-heads (heading No. 85.22); still image video cameras and other video camera recorders (heading No. 85.25); radar apparatus, radio navigational aid apparatus or radio remote control apparatus (heading No. 85.26); sealed beam lamp units of heading 85.39; optical fibre cables of heading No. 85.44;
ij) Searchlights or spotlights of heading No. 94.05;
k) Articles of Chapter 95;
l) Capacity measures, which are to be classified according to their constituent material; or
m) Spools, reels or similar supports (which are to be classified according to their constituent material, for example, in heading No. 39.23 or Section XV).
- Subject to Note 1 above, parts and accessories for machines, apparatus, instruments or articles of this Chapter are to be classified according to the following rules:
- Parts and accessories which are goods included in any of the headings of this Chapter or of Chapter 84, 85 or 91 (other than heading No. 84.85, 85.48 or 90.33) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;
- Other parts and accessories, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, instrument or apparatus, or with a number of machines, instruments or apparatus of the same heading (including a machine, instrument or apparatus of heading No. 90.10, 90.13 or 90.31) are to be classified with the machines, instruments or apparatus of that kind;
- All other parts and accessories are to be classified in heading No. 90.33.
- The provisions of Note 4 to Section XVI apply also to this Chapter.
- Heading No. 90.05 does not apply to telescopic sights for fitting to arms, periscopic telescopes for fitting to submarines or tanks, or to telescopes for machines, appliances, instruments or apparatus of this Chapter or Section XVI; such telescopic sights and telescopes are to be classified in heading No. 90.13.
- Measuring or checking optical instruments, appliances or machines which, but for this Note, could be classified both in heading No. 90.13 and in heading No. 90.31 are to be classified in heading No. 90.31.
- Heading No. 90.32 applies only to:
- Instruments and apparatus for automatically controlling the flow, level, pressure or other variables of liquids or gases, or for automatically controlling temperature, whether or not their operation depends on an electrical phenomenon which varies according to the factor to be automatically controlled; and
- Automatic regulators of electrical quantities, and instruments or apparatus for automatically controlling non-electrical quantities the operation of which depends on an electrical phenomenon varying according to the factor to be controlled.
Chapter 91: Clocks and watches and parts thereof
Notes.
- This Chapter does not cover:
- Clock or watch glasses or weights (classified according to their constituent material);
- Watch chains (heading No. 71.13 or 71.17, as the case may be);
- Parts of general use defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39) or of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal (generally heading No. 71.15); clock or watch springs are, however, to be classified as clock or watch parts (heading No. 91.14);
- Bearing balls (heading No. 73.26 or 84.82, as the case may be);
- Articles of heading No. 84.12 constructed to work without an escapement;
- Ball bearings (heading No. 84.82); or
- Articles of Chapter 85, not yet assembled together or with other components into watch or clock movements or into articles suitable for use solely or principally as parts of such movements (Chapter 85).
- Heading No. 91.01 covers only watches with case wholly of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal, or of the same materials combined with natural or cultured pearls, or precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) of headings Nos. 71.01 to 71.04. Watches with case of base metal inlaid with precious metal fall in heading No. 91.02.
- For the purposes of this Chapter, the expression "watch movements" means devices regulated by a balance-wheel and hairspring, quartz crystal or any other system capable of determining intervals of time, with a display or a system to which a mechanical display can be incorporated. Such watch movements shall not exceed 12 mm in thickness and 50 mm in width, length or diameter.
- Except as provided in Note 1, movements and other parts suitable for use both in clocks or watches and in other articles (for example, precision instruments) are to be classified in this Chapter.
Chapter 92: Musical instruments; parts and accessories of such articles
Notes.
- This Chapter does not cover:
- Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);
- Microphones, amplifiers, loud-speakers, head-phones, switches, stroboscopes or other accessory instruments, apparatus or equipment of Chapter 85 or 90, for use with but not incorporated in or housed in the same cabinet as instruments of this Chapter;
- Toy instruments or apparatus (heading No. 95.03);
- Brushes for cleaning musical instruments (heading No. 96.03); or
- Collectors' pieces or antiques (heading No. 97.05 or 97.06).
- Bows and sticks and similar devices used in playing the musical instruments of heading No. 92.02 or 92.06 presented with such instruments in numbers normal thereto and clearly intended for use therewith, are to be classified in the same heading as the relative instruments.
Cards, discs and rolls of heading No. 92.09 presented with an instrument are to be treated as separate articles and not as forming a part of such instrument.