CBP Procurement Ruling on Hand Held Computers
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final determination (HQ H089762) that Canada is the country of origin for GTX Mobile+ hand held computers1 for purposes of U.S. government procurement.
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The final determination was issued at the request of Psion Teklogix, Inc.
(CBP issues country of origin advisory rulings and final determinations on whether an article is or would be a product of a designated country or instrumentality for the purpose of granting waivers of certain ‘‘Buy American’’ restrictions in U.S. law or practice for products offered for sale to the U.S. government.)
Assembled in Canada Using Canadian/Foreign Parts, Canadian Software
The GTX Mobile+ hand held computer is assembled in Canada from components of Canadian and foreign origin, including China, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S.
After certain subassembly occurs, product software applications developed in Canada are used to allow functionality of the main board, imager and radio. After further assembly takes place, Canadian-developed software is loaded along with any added devices requested by customers such as RFID. Final functional testing also occurs in Canada.
CBP Finds Substantial Transformation Occurs in Canada
CBP states that the total assembly process in Canada requires a number of discrete steps that permit the individual components to function together as a single unit. In addition, the configuration operations performed in Canada, which require the installation of Canadian origin software, substantially transform the components of non-Canadian origin into a product with a new name, character, and use.
Therefore, CBP finds that the non-Canadian component parts and subassemblies are substantially transformed in Canada, and the country of origin of the GTX Mobile+ for government procurement purposes is Canada.
Any Party-at-Interest May Request Judicial Review by July 9, 2010
CBP states that any party-at-interest, as defined in 19 CFR 177.22(d), may seek judicial review of this final determination by July 9, 2010. In addition, under 19 CFR 177.31, any party-at-interest other than the party which requested this final determination may request that CBP reexamine the matter anew and issue a new final determination.
1The product at issue is the base model of the computer GTX Mobile. It is used to collect mobile data in the field, conduct emulation testing on site, and/or transmit data/test information to the user’s home facilities. The GTX Mobile is used in mobile-intensive applications such as asset tracking, meter reading and mobile ticketing across a variety of industries.
CBP contact -- Robert Dinerstein (202) 325-0132
(FR Pub 06/09/10)