Chapter Note
1.- This Chapter does not cover :
(a) Electrically warmed blankets, bed pads, foot-muffs or the like; electrically warmed clothing,
footwear or ear pads or other electrically warmed articles worn on or about the person;
(b) Articles of glass of heading 70.11;
(c) Machines and apparatus of heading 84.86;
(d) Vacuum apparatus of a kind used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences
(heading 90.18); or
(e) Electrically heated furniture of Chapter 94.
2.- Headings 85.01 to 85.04 do not apply to goods described in heading 85.11, 85.12, 85.40, 85.41 or
85.42.
However, metal tank mercury arc rectifiers remain classified in heading 85.04.
3.- For the purposes of heading 85.07, the expression “electric accumulators” includes those presented
with ancillary components which contribute to the accumulator’s function of storing and supplying
energy or protect it from damage, such as electrical connectors, temperature control devices (for
example, thermistors) and circuit protection devices. They may also include a portion of the
protective housing of the goods in which they are to be used.
4.- Heading 85.09 covers only the following electro-mechanical machines of the kind commonly used for
domestic purposes :
(a) Floor polishers, food grinders and mixers, and fruit or vegetable juice extractors, of any weight;
(b) Other machines provided the weight of such machines does not exceed 20 kg.
The heading does not, however, apply to fans or ventilating or recycling hoods incorporating a fan,
whether or not fitted with filters (heading 84.14), centrifugal clothes-dryers (heading 84.21), dish
washing machines (heading 84.22), household washing machines (heading 84.50), roller or other
ironing machines (heading 84.20 or 84.51), sewing machines (heading 84.52), electric scissors
(heading 84.67) or to electro-thermic appliances (heading 85.16).
5.- For the purposes of heading 85.17, the term "smartphones” means telephones for cellular networks,
equipped with a mobile operating system designed to perform the functions of an automatic data
processing machine such as downloading and running multiple applications simultaneously, including
third-party applications, and whether or not integrating other features such as digital cameras and
navigational aid systems.
6.- For the purposes of heading 85.23 :
(a) “Solid-state non-volatile storage devices” (for example, “flash memory cards” or “flash electronic
storage cards”) are storage devices with a connecting socket, comprising in the same housing one
or more flash memories (for example, “FLASH E2PROM”) in the form of integrated circuits
mounted on a printed circuit board. They may include a controller in the form of an integrated
circuit and discrete passive components, such as capacitors and resistors;
(b) The term “smart cards” means cards which have embedded in them one or more electronic
integrated circuits (a microprocessor, random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory
(ROM)) in the form of chips. These cards may contain contacts, a magnetic stripe or an
embedded antenna but do not contain any other active or passive circuit elements.7.- For the purposes of heading 85.24, “flat panel display modules” refer to devices or apparatus for the
display of information, equipped at a minimum with a display screen, which are designed to be
incorporated into articles of other headings prior to use. Display screens for flat panel display modules
include, but are not limited to, those which are flat, curved, flexible, foldable or stretchable in form.
Flat panel display modules may incorporate additional elements, including those necessary for
receiving video signals and the allocation of those signals to pixels on the display. However, heading
85.24 does not include display modules which are equipped with components for converting video
signals (e.g., a scaler IC, decoder IC or application processer) or have otherwise assumed the character
of goods of other headings.
For the classification of flat panel display modules defined in this Note, heading 85.24 shall take
precedence over any other heading in the Nomenclature.
8.- For the purposes of heading 85.34 “printed circuits” are circuits obtained by forming on an insulating
base, by any printing process (for example, embossing, plating-up, etching) or by the “film circuit”
technique, conductor elements, contacts or other printed components (for example, inductances,
resistors, capacitors) alone or interconnected according to a pre-established pattern, other than
elements which can produce, rectify, modulate or amplify an electrical signal (for example,
semiconductor elements).
The expression “printed circuits” does not cover circuits combined with elements other than those
obtained during the printing process, nor does it cover individual, discrete resistors, capacitors or
inductances. Printed circuits may, however, be fitted with non-printed connecting elements.
Thin- or thick-film circuits comprising passive and active elements obtained during the same
technological process are to be classified in heading 85.42.
9.- For the purpose of heading 85.36, “connectors for optical fibres, optical fibre bundles or cables”
means connectors that simply mechanically align optical fibres end to end in a digital line system.
They perform no other function, such as the amplification, regeneration or modification of a signal.
10.-Heading 85.37 does not include cordless infrared devices for the remote control of television
receivers or other electrical equipment (heading 85.43).
11.-For the purposes of heading 85.39, the expression “light-emitting diode (LED) light sources” covers :
(a) “Light-emitting diode (LED) modules” which are electrical light sources based on light-emitting
diodes (LED) arranged in electrical circuits and containing further elements like electrical,
mechanical, thermal or optical elements. They also contain discrete active elements, discrete
passive elements, or articles of heading 85.36 or 85.42 for the purposes of providing power supply
or power control. Light-emitting diode (LED) modules do not have a cap designed to allow easy
installation or replacement in a luminaire and ensure mechanical and electrical contact.
(b) “Light-emitting diode (LED) lamps” which are electrical light sources containing one or more
LED modules containing further elements like electrical, mechanical, thermal or optical elements.
The distinction between light-emitting diode (LED) modules and light-emitting diode (LED)
lamps is that lamps have a cap designed to allow easy installation or replacement in a luminaire
and ensure mechanical and electrical contact.
12.-For the purposes of headings 85.41 and 85.42 :
(a) (i) “Semiconductor devices” are semiconductor devices the operation of which depends on
variations in resistivity on the application of an electric field or semiconductor-based
transducers.
Semiconductor devices may also include assembly of plural elements, whether or not equipped
with active and passive device ancillary functions.
“Semiconductor-based transducers” are, for the purposes of this definition, semiconductorbased sensors, semiconductor-based actuators, semiconductor-based resonators and
semiconductor-based oscillators, which are types of discrete semiconductor-based devices,
which perform an intrinsic function, which are able to convert any kind of physical or chemical
phenomena or an action into an electrical signal or an electrical signal into any type of physical
phenomenon or an action.
All the elements in semiconductor-based transducers are indivisibly combined, and may also
include necessary materials indivisibly attached, that enable their construction or function.The following expressions mean :
(1) “Semiconductor-based” means built or manufactured on a semiconductor substrate or made
of semiconductor materials, manufactured by semiconductor technology, in which the
semiconductor substrate or material plays a critical and unreplaceable role of transducer
function and performance, and the operation of which is based on semiconductor properties
including physical, electrical, chemical and optical properties.
(2) “Physical or chemical phenomena” relate to phenomena, such as pressure, acoustic waves,
acceleration, vibration, movement, orientation, strain, magnetic field strength, electric field
strength, light, radioactivity, humidity, flow, chemicals concentration, etc.
(3) “Semiconductor-based sensor” is a type of semiconductor device, which consists of
microelectronic or mechanical structures that are created in the mass or on the surface of a
semiconductor and that have the function of detecting physical or chemical quantities and
converting these into electric signals caused by resulting variations in electric properties or
displacement of a mechanical structure.
(4) “Semiconductor-based actuator” is a type of semiconductor device, which consists of
microelectronic or mechanical structures that are created in the mass or on the surface of a
semiconductor and that have the function of converting electric signals into physical
movement.
(5) “Semiconductor-based resonator” is a type of semiconductor device, which consists of
microelectronic or mechanical structures that are created in the mass or on the surface of a
semiconductor and that have the function of generating a mechanical or electrical
oscillation of a predefined frequency that depends on the physical geometry of these
structures in response to an external input.
(6) “Semiconductor-based oscillator” is a type of semiconductor device, which consists of
microelectronic or mechanical structures that are created in the mass or on the surface of a
semiconductor and that have the function of generating a mechanical or electrical
oscillation of a predefined frequency that depends on the physical geometry of these
structures.
(ii) “Light-emitting diodes (LED)” are semiconductor devices based on semiconductor materials
which convert electrical energy into visible, infra-red or ultra-violet rays, whether or not
electrically connected among each other and whether or not combined with protective diodes.
Light-emitting diodes (LED) of heading 85.41 do not incorporate elements for the purposes of
providing power supply or power control;
(b) “Electronic integrated circuits” are :
(i) Monolithic integrated circuits in which the circuit elements (diodes, transistors, resistors,
capacitors, inductances, etc.) are created in the mass (essentially) and on the surface of a
semiconductor or compound semiconductor material (for example, doped silicon, gallium
arsenide, silicon germanium, indium phosphide) and are inseparably associated;
(ii) Hybrid integrated circuits in which passive elements (resistors, capacitors, inductances, etc.),
obtained by thin- or thick-film technology, and active elements (diodes, transistors,
monolithic integrated circuits, etc.), obtained by semiconductor technology, are combined to
all intents and purposes indivisibly, by interconnections or interconnecting cables, on a single
insulating substrate (glass, ceramic, etc.). These circuits may also include discrete
components;
(iii) Multichip integrated circuits consisting of two or more interconnected monolithic integrated
circuits combined to all intents and purposes indivisibly, whether or not on one or more
insulating substrates, with or without leadframes, but with no other active or passive circuit
elements.
(iv) Multi-component integrated circuits (MCOs) : a combination of one or more monolithic,
hybrid, or multi-chip integrated circuits with at least one of the following components :
silicon-based sensors, actuators, oscillators, resonators or combinations thereof, or
components performing the functions of articles classifiable under heading 85.32, 85.33,
85.41, or inductors classifiable under heading 85.04, formed to all intents and purposes
indivisibly into a single body like an integrated circuit, as a component of a kind used for
assembly onto a printed circuit board (PCB) or other carrier, through the connecting of pins,
leads, balls, lands, bumps, or pads.
For the purpose of this definition :
1. “Components” may be discrete, manufactured independently then assembled onto the
rest of the MCO, or integrated into other components.
2. “Silicon based” means built on a silicon substrate, or made of silicon materials, or
manufactured onto integrated circuit die.3. (a) “Silicon-based sensors” consist of microelectronic or mechanical structures that are
created in the mass or on the surface of a semiconductor and that have the function of
detecting physical or chemical phenomena and transducing these into electric signals,
caused by resulting variations in electric properties or displacement of a mechanical
structure. “Physical or chemical phenomena” relates to phenomena, such as pressure,
acoustic waves, acceleration, vibration, movement, orientation, strain, magnetic field
strength, electric field strength, light, radioactivity, humidity, flow, chemicals
concentration, etc.
(b)“Silicon based actuators” consist of microelectronic and mechanical structures that are
created in the mass or on the surface of a semiconductor and that have the function of
converting electrical signals into physical movement.
(c) “Silicon based resonators” are components that consist of microelectronic or
mechanical structures that are created in the mass or on the surface of a semiconductor
and have the function of generating a mechanical or electrical oscillation of a
predefined frequency that depends on the physical geometry of these structures in
response to an external input.
(d)“Silicon based oscillators” are active components that consist of microelectronic or
mechanical structures that are created in the mass or on the surface of a semiconductor
and that have the function of generating a mechanical or electrical oscillation of a
predefined frequency that depends on the physical geometry of these structures.
For the classification of the articles defined in this Note, headings 85.41 and 85.42 shall take
precedence over any other heading in the Nomenclature, except in the case of heading 85.23, which
might cover them by reference to, in particular, their function.