Chapter 90: Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof

Section XVIII — Optical, photographic, medical instruments; clocks; musical instruments

31 headings · 312 total HS codes

Classification Notes for Chapter 90
Notes 1. 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 (4016), of leather or of composition leather (4205) or of textile material (5911); 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 6903; ceramic wares for laboratory, chemical or other technical uses, of 6909; d. Glass mirrors, not optically worked, of 7009, or mirrors of base metal or of precious metal, not being optical elements (8306 or Chapter 71); e. Goods of 7007, 7008.00.00, 7011, 7014, 7015 or 7017; 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); however, articles specially designed for use exclusively in implants in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences are to be classified in 9021; g. Pumps incorporating measuring devices, of 8413; weight-operated counting or checking machinery, or separately presented weights for balances (8423); lifting or handling machinery (8425 to 8428); paper or paperboard cutting machines of all kinds (8441); fittings for adjusting work or tools on machine-tools or water jet-cutting machines, of 8466, 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 (8470); valves or other appliances of 8481; machines and apparatus (including apparatus for the projection or drawing of circuit patterns on sensitised semiconductor materials) of 8486; h. Searchlights or spotlights of a kind used for cycles or motor vehicles (8512); portable electric lamps of 8513; cinematographic sound recording, reproducing or re-recording apparatus (8519); sound-heads (8522); television cameras, digital cameras and video camera recorders (8525); radar apparatus, radio navigational aid apparatus or radio remote control apparatus (8526); connectors for optical fibres, optical fibre bundles or cables (8536); numerical control apparatus of 8537; sealed beam lamp units of 8539; optical fibre cables of 8544; i. ij.  Searchlights or spotlights of 9405; j. Articles of Chapter 95; k. Monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles, of 9620; 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 3923 or Section XV). 2. 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: a. Parts and accessories which are goods included in any of the headings of this Chapter or of Chapter 84, Chapter 85 or Chapter 91 (other than 8487, 8548 or 9033.00.00) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings; b. 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 9010, 9013 or 9031) are to be classified with the machines, instruments or apparatus of that kind; c. All other parts and accessories are to be classified in 9033.00.00. 3. The provisions of Notes 3 and 4 to Section XVI apply also to this Chapter. 4. 9005 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 9013. 5. Measuring or checking optical instruments, appliances or machines which, but for this Note, could be classified both in 9013 and in 9031 are to be classified in 9031. 6. For the purposes of 9021, “orthopaedic appliances” means appliances for: - Preventing or correcting bodily deformities; or- Supporting or holding parts of the body following an illness, operation or injury.Orthopaedic appliances include footwear and special insoles designed to correct orthopaedic conditions, provided that they are either (1) made to measure or (2) mass-produced, presented singly and not in pairs and designed to fit either foot equally. 7. 9032 applies only to: a. 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, which are designed to bring this factor to, and maintain it at, a desired value, stabilised against disturbances, by constantly or periodically measuring its actual value; and b. 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, which are designed to bring this factor to, and maintain it at, a desired value, stabilised against disturbances, by constantly or periodically measuring its actual value. Additional Notes 1. This Chapter does not cover gas pressure regulators (so called) of the piston or diaphragm type, of a kind used with compressed gas cylinders or reticulated gas pipeline systems, incorporating a pressure reducing valve or the like, whether or not combined with a pressure gauge (8481). 2. For the purposes of 9021.10.42 and 9021.10.49, parts does not include pegs, protectors, eyelets, hooks, buckles, ornaments, braid, laces, pompons or other trimmings (which are to be classified in their appropriate headings) or buttons or other goods of 9606.
HeadingDescriptionGeneral RateSub-codesFTAs
9001Optical fibres and optical fibre bundles; optical fibre cables other than those of heading 85.44; sheets and plates of polarising material; lenses (including contact lenses), prisms, mirrors and other optical elements, of any material, unmounted, other than such elements of glass not optically worked0%1515 FTAs
9002Lenses, prisms, mirrors and other optical elements, of any material, mounted, being parts of or fittings for instruments or apparatus, other than such elements of glass not optically worked0%517 FTAs
9003Frames and mountings for spectacles, goggles or the like, and parts thereof0%716 FTAs
9004Spectacles, goggles and the like, corrective, protective or other5%416 FTAs
9005Binoculars, monoculars, other optical telescopes, and mountings therefor; other astronomical instruments and mountings therefor, but not including instruments for radio-astronomy0%517 FTAs
9006Photographic (other than cinematographic) cameras; photographic flashlight apparatus and flashbulbs other than discharge lamps of heading 85.390%1317 FTAs
9007Cinematographic cameras and projectors, whether or not incorporating sound recording or reproducing apparatus0%517 FTAs
9008Image projectors, other than cinematographic; photographic (other than cinematographic) enlargers and reducers0%417 FTAs
9010Apparatus and equipment for photographic (including cinematographic) laboratories, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; negatoscopes; projection screens0%1116 FTAs
9011Compound optical microscopes, including those for photomicrography, cinephotomicrography or microprojection0%416 FTAs
9012Microscopes other than optical microscopes; diffraction apparatus0%216 FTAs
9013Lasers, other than laser diodes; other optical appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter0%815 FTAs
9014Direction finding compasses; other navigational instruments and appliances0%1017 FTAs
9015Surveying (including photogrammetrical surveying), hydrographic, oceanographic, hydrological, meteorological or geophysical instruments and appliances, excluding compasses; rangefinders0%1016 FTAs
9016BALANCES OF A SENSITIVITY OF 5 cg OR BETTER, WITH OR WITHOUT WEIGHTS0%116 FTAs
9017Drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments (for example, drafting machines, pantographs, protractors, drawing sets, slide rules, disc calculators); instruments for measuring length, for use in the hand (for example, measuring rods and tapes, micrometers, callipers), not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter0%916 FTAs
9018Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences, including scintigraphic apparatus, other electro-medical apparatus and sight-testing instruments0%3117 FTAs
9019Mechano-therapy appliances; massage apparatus; psychological aptitude-testing apparatus; ozone therapy, oxygen therapy, aerosol therapy, artificial respiration or other therapeutic respiration apparatus0%417 FTAs
9020Other breathing appliances and gas masks, excluding protective masks having neither mechanical parts nor replaceable filters0%316 FTAs
9021Orthopaedic appliances, including crutches, surgical belts and trusses; splints and other fracture appliances; artificial parts of the body; hearing aids and other appliances which are worn or carried, or implanted in the body, to compensate for a defect or disability0%2315 FTAs
9022Apparatus based on the use of x-rays or of alpha, beta, gamma or other ionising radiations, whether or not for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary uses, including radiography or radiotherapy apparatus, x-ray tubes and other x-ray generators, high tension generators, control panels and desks, screens, examination or treatment tables, chairs and the like0%1017 FTAs
9023Instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for example, in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses0%116 FTAs
9024Machines and appliances for testing the hardness, strength, compressibility, elasticity or other mechanical properties of materials (for example, metals, wood, textiles, paper, plastics)0%316 FTAs
9025Hydrometers and similar floating instruments, thermometers, pyrometers, barometers, hygrometers and psychrometers, recording or not, and any combination of these instruments0%515 FTAs
9026Instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking the flow, level, pressure or other variables of liquids or gases (for example, flow meters, level gauges, manometers, heat meters), excluding instruments and apparatus of heading 90.14, 90.15, 90.28 or 90.320%1516 FTAs
9027Instruments and apparatus for physical or chemical analysis (for example, polarimeters, refractometers, spectrometers, gas or smoke analysis apparatus); instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking viscosity, porosity, expansion, surface tension or the like; instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking quantities of heat, sound or light (including exposure meters); microtomes0%1514 FTAs
9028Gas, liquid or electricity supply or production meters, including calibrating meters therefor0%1017 FTAs
9029Revolution counters, production counters, taximeters, mileometers, pedometers and the like; speed indicators and tachometers, other than those of heading 90.14 or 90.15; stroboscopes0%916 FTAs
9030Oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers and other instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking electrical quantities, excluding meters of heading 90.28; instruments and apparatus for measuring or detecting alpha, beta, gamma, X-ray, cosmic or other ionising radiations0%1517 FTAs
9031Measuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors0%1316 FTAs
9032Automatic regulating or controlling instruments and apparatus0%1417 FTAs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the import duty on optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof in Australia?

Chapter 90 of the Australian Tariff covers optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof. Duty rates vary by product — there are 31 headings in this chapter. Use the table below to find specific rates, or try our free calculator for an instant estimate.

Are there FTA concessions for Chapter 90 goods?

Yes, Australia has 17 Free Trade Agreements that may reduce duty on Chapter 90 products. Click on any heading below to see which FTAs offer preferential rates.

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