Sección: XIX ARMS AND AMMUNITION; PARTS AND ACCESSORIES THEREOF
Capítulo: 93 Arms and ammunition; Parts and accessories thereof

Chapter 93

Arms and ammunition; Parts and accessories thereof


Notes.

1.- This Chapter does not cover: (a) Goods of Chapter 36 (for example, percussion caps, detonators, signalling flares);

(b) Partsof general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);

(c) Armoured fighting vehicles (heading 87.10);

(d) Telescopic sights and other optical devices suitable for use with arms, unless mounted on a firearm or presented with the firearm on which they are designed to be mounted (Chapter 90);

(e) Bows, arrows, fencing foils or toys (Chapter 95); or

(f) Collectors’ pieces or antiques (heading 97.05 or 97.06).

2.- In heading 93.06, the reference to “parts thereof” does not include radio or radar apparatus of heading 85.26.

GENERAL

This Chapter covers:

(1) Arms of all descriptions designed for ground, sea or air warfare, for use by military armed forces or by the police or other organised services (customs, frontier guards, etc.).

(2) Arms for use by private persons for defence, hunting, target shooting (e.g., in miniature ranges, shooting galleries or fairground stands), etc.

(3) Other devices which operate by the firing of an explosive charge (e.g., line-throwing guns and Very pistols).

(4) Ammunition and missiles (other than articles of Chapter 36).

Subject to a few exceptions (see the Explanatory Notes to headings 93.05 and 93.06), the Chapter also includes parts and accessories of arms and parts of ammunition.

Telescopic sights and other optical devices suitable for use with arms and mounted thereon, or presented with the firearms on which they are designed to be mounted, are classified with the arm. Otherwise presented, such optical devices are excluded (Chapter 90).

Vehicles are excluded from this Chapter even if they are designed solely for military use, and whether or not they are fitted with weapons. The Chapter therefore excludes, for example, armoured railway vehicles (Chapter 86), tanks and armoured cars (heading 87.10), military aircraft (heading 88.01 or 88.02), and warships (heading 89.06). However, separately presented arms for these vehicles, etc. (guns, machine-guns, etc.), fall in this Chapter (see the Explanatory Note to heading 93.01 with regard to certain arms mounted on railway or road vehicles).

The following are also excluded from this Chapter:

(a) Steel helmets and other military headgear (Chapter 65).

(b) Personal protective armour, e.g., cuirasses, coats of mail, bullet-proof jackets, etc. (classified according to their constituent materials).

(c) Cross-bows, bows and arrows for archery, and arms having the character of toys (Chapter 95).

(d) Collectors’ pieces and antiques (heading 97.05 or 97.06).

The arms and parts thereof of this Chapter may contain precious metal, metal clad with precious metal, natural or cultured pearls, precious and semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed), tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, ivory and similar materials.

93.01 Military weapons, other than revolvers, pistols and the arms of heading 93.07.



This heading covers all military weapons other than the revolvers and pistols of heading 93.02 and the arms of heading 93.07. The heading includes separately presented weapons and firearms designed to form part of the armament of vessels, armoured trains, aircraft, tanks or armoured cars.

The heading includes:

(1) Artillery weapons and infantry support weapons, i.e., all types of cannon and ordnance (fixed or on wheels, tracks, etc.), such as field, medium, heavy and super-heavy artillery, long-range guns, anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank guns, howitzers and mortars.

Long-range guns mounted on railway wagons also fall in this heading (and not in Chapter 86). Mobile and self-propelled guns, which should be distinguished from tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles of heading 87.10, are also classified here.

(2) Arms capable of continuous and very rapid fire; some are suitable for handling by one man.

This group includes machine-guns, sub-machine-guns (machine-pistols) and other continuous-fire weapons.

(3) Military firearms such as rifles and carbines.

(4) Other specialised military projectors, for example, military rocket projectors and launchers, other than those of heading 93.03; apparatus for the discharge of depth-charges; torpedo tubes; flame-throwers (apparatus for projecting an ignited volatile liquid at an enemy) other than flame guns specialised for destroying weeds (heading 84.24).

93.02 Revolvers and pistols, other than those of heading 93.03 or 93.04.



This heading covers revolvers and pistols, whatever the calibre, which are capable of discharging any missile (other than signal flares) by firing an explosive charge, and which are designed to be held in and fired from the hand.

Revolvers are single barrelled firearms incorporating a revolving cylinder.

Pistols have one or more barrels. They may also have interchangeable barrels. Semi-automatic pistols have a magazine which can be loaded with several rounds of ammunition, but the trigger must be operated for each round fired.

The heading also covers miniature pistols and revolvers; it also includes such weapons made in the form of other objects, for example, pencils, pocket knives or cigarette cases, provided they are, in fact, firearms.

The heading excludes continuous fire weapons (i.e., those which use pistol ammunition and which, once pressure has been applied to the trigger, continue to fire until either the magazine is exhausted or pressure is released from the trigger); these are classified in heading 93.01 as sub-machine-guns (machine-pistols). They may be capable of being fired from the hand, but usually have extended stocks.

The heading also excludes:

(a) Captive-bolt type humane killers, Very pistols for the discharge of signal flares, pistols or revolvers for the firing of blank cartridges (with solid or blocked barrels, or with tapered cylinders) for race-starting, theatrical property pistols, “black powder” muzzle-loading pistols neither designed for nor capable of firing a cartridge (heading 93.03).

(b) Spring, air or gas pistols (heading 93.04).

93.03 Other firearms and similar devices which operate by the firing of an explosive charge (for example, sporting shotguns and rifles, muzzle-loading firearms, Very pistols and other devices designed to project only signal flares, pistols and revolvers for firing blank ammunition, captive-bolt humane killers, line-throwing guns).



This heading includes all firearms not covered by headings 93.01 and 93.02; it includes some devices which are not weapons but which operate by the firing of an explosive charge.

The heading includes: (1) Sporting, hunting and target shooting guns, rifles and carbines of all calibres, smooth-bored or rifled. Sporting and hunting guns frequently have more than one barrel and sometimes have one smooth-bore barrel and one rifled barrel and may have interchangeable barrels (smooth-bore and rifled). They often have decorative chasing on metal parts and carved butts. Target shooting guns usually have only one barrel.

These guns may fire only one round at a time and be required to be reloaded manually after each shot, or they may be fitted with a magazine and capable of repetition firing, or they may have a mechanism for rapid semi-automatic fire.

Sporting guns made to resemble walking-sticks are included in this group.

(2) Duck cannon (punt-guns), specially designed for shooting waterfowl. They are usually mounted on a stand or support designed to be fixed to a boat.

(3) Muzzle-loading (“black powder”) firearms neither designed for nor capable of firing a cartridge.

(4) Very pistols and other devices designed to project only signal flares.

(5) Dummy, imitation or safety pistols and revolvers capable of firing only blank cartridges. They may have solid or blocked barrels with a vent for the escape of gases. Certain revolvers may have the chambers in the cylinder tapered, while some starters’ or stage property pistols have no barrel. When used for starting races, these pistols may be fitted with electrical devices which actuate chronometer equipment.

(6) Captive-bolt humane killers. These resemble pistols for firing blank cartridges. The explosion drives forward a bolt sliding within the barrel in order to kill or stun the animal. The bolt does not leave the pistol but is drawn back for further use.

The heading excludes bullet-type pistols (usually of large calibre), occasionally used for slaughtering animals (heading 93.02).

(7) Line-throwing guns, used mainly on board ship or at lifeboat stations for life-saving and establishing communication.

(8) Harpoon guns, used for propelling a harpoon attached to a line to catch fish, marine mammals, turtles, etc.

(9) Warning guns, mortars and similar apparatus, firing blank ammunition, used to raise an alarm (e.g., at lifeboat stations), to celebrate an event or to give warning of the presence of poachers, etc.

(10) “Hail cannon”, a kind of cannon consisting of a truncated sheet-iron cone, for firing at hail clouds to cause rain.

The heading excludes riveting tools, wall-plugging tools, etc., operated by means of an explosive charge (heading 82.05).

93.04 Other arms (for example, spring, air or gas guns and pistols, truncheons), excluding those of heading 93.07.



The heading covers arms other than firearms of headings 93.01 to 93.03 and arms of heading 93.07.

It includes the following:

(1) Truncheons, life-preservers, weighted canes and the like for police, etc., and loaded walking-sticks.

(2) Knuckledusters, i.e., pieces of metal shaped to fit a clenched fist and with which blows are delivered.

(3) Catapults designed for shooting at birds or pests. They may be in the form of a walking-stick.

Toy catapults are excluded (heading 95.03).

(4) Air guns, rifles and pistols. These resemble normal rifles, pistols, etc., but they have provision for compressing a column of air which is released into the barrel of the weapon when the trigger is pulled, thus ejecting the ammunition.

Guns, rifles and pistols operating on the same principle, but with gases other than air, are also included.

(5) Similar weapons operated by the release of a heavy spring mechanism.

(6) Guns and pistols, operated by compressed carbon dioxide gas, for remote projection of an automatic syringe, containing an anaesthetic or a medicament (antiserum, vaccine, etc.) at free-roaming animals.

(7) Aerosol spray cans containing tear gas.

93.05 Parts and accessories of articles of headings 93.01 to 93.04.



The parts and accessories of this heading include:

(1) Parts for military weapons, e.g., liners (tubes for barrels), recoil mechanisms and breeches for guns of all kinds; turrets, carriages, tripods and other special mountings for guns, machine-guns, sub-machine-guns, etc., whether or not with aiming and loading mechanisms.

(2) Metal castings, stampings and forgings, for military small arms, sporting and target shooting guns, etc., revolvers and pistols, e.g., barrels, breeches, locks, trigger guards, tumblers, levers, percussion hammers, cocking pieces, triggers, sears, extractors, ejectors, frames (of pistols), plates, butt plates, safety catches, cylinders (for revolvers), front and back sights, magazines.

(3) Protective covers and protective cases, for butts, sights, barrels or breeches.

(4) Morris tubes, etc. (small bore tubes for insertion in heavier calibre guns and rifles for practice on miniature ranges).

(5) Butt stocks and other wooden parts for guns, rifles or carbines and butts and plates (of wood, metal, ebonite, etc.) for revolvers and pistols.

(6) Slings, band, piling or stacking and butt swivels and swivel bands for guns, rifles or carbines.

(7) Silencers (sound moderators).

(8) Removable recoil absorbers for sporting or target shooting guns.

The heading excludes:

(a) Parts of general use as defined in Note 2 to Section XV (e.g., screws, rivets and springs), of base metal (Section XV), and similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39).

(b) Gun cases (heading 42.02).

(c) Gun cameras for aircraft (heading 90.07).

(d) Telescopic sights and similar sights for arms (heading 90.13).

(e) Accessories more specifically covered by other headings of the Nomenclature, such as pull-throughs, cleaning rods and other cleaning tools for arms (headings 82.05, 96.03, etc.).

93.06 Bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof; cartridges and other ammunition and projectiles and parts thereof, including shot and cartridge wads.



This heading includes:

(A) Ammunition, e.g.:

(B) Ballistic missiles whose payload returns to the earth’s surface after reaching its apogee and which impart to the payload a terminal velocity not exceeding 7,000 m/s .

(C) Munitions of a type which contain their own means of propulsion after launching, for example, torpedoes, flying bombs (missiles resembling aircraft), guided air missiles and rocket type ammunition.

(D) Other munitions of war, for example, land and sea mines, depth charges, hand and rifle grenades, aerial bombs.

(E) Harpoons, whether or not with explosive heads, for harpoon guns, etc.

(F) Parts of ammunition and munitions of war, for example:
The heading excludes:

(a) Propellant powders and prepared explosives, even if put up in forms ready for incorporation in munitions (headings 36.01 and 36.02); safety fuses, detonating fuses, percussion and detonating caps, igniters and electric detonators, including primers for shells (heading 36.03).

(b) Signalling flares and rain rockets (heading 36.04).

(c) Charges for fire-extinguishers, and charged fire-extinguishing grenades (heading 38.13).

(d) Motors of heading 84.11 or 84.12, for rockets, torpedoes and similar missiles.

(e) Radio or radar apparatus of heading 85.26 (see Note 2 to this Chapter).

(f) Watch or clock movements and parts thereof, for munitions or for parts of munitions (e.g., for fuses) (headings 91.08 to 91.10 and 91.14).

93.07 Swords, cutlasses, bayonets, lances and similar arms and parts thereof and scabbards and sheaths thereof.



This heading covers weapons such as swords (including sword-sticks), cutlasses, bayonets, lances, spears, pikes, halberds, kukris commando knives, dirks, stilettos and daggers. Their blades usually consist of high quality steel, and in some cases a more or less elaborate shield or handguard is included.

The weapons remain classified in this heading even if used only for ceremonial or decorative purposes, or as theatrical properties.

Most of the weapons have a fixed blade, but some daggers and stilettos may have a movable blade normally housed within the handle. The blade may be opened and locked in position by hand or by a spring mechanism.

This heading also includes parts, for example, sword blades (including blanks therefor, even if only forged), hilts, guards and handles, and scabbards and sheaths for swords, bayonets, daggers, etc.

The heading does not cover:

(a) Belts and similar accoutrements, designed to support swords, bayonets, etc., of leather (heading 42.03) or of textile materials (heading 62.17); sword-knots (generally heading 42.05 or 63.07).

(b) Hunting, camping and other knives, being cutlery (heading 82.11) or sheaths for such knives (generally heading 42.02).

(c) Scabbards and sheaths of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal (heading 71.15).

(d) Fencing foils (heading 95.06).

ULTIMO CAMBIO D.O.F.