7003 — Cast glass and rolled glass, in sheets or profiles, whether or not having an absorbent, reflecting or non-reflecting layer, but not otherwise worked

7003 Glass cast and rolled, sheet or profiled, having or not having an absorbent, reflective or non-reflective layer, but not treated in any other way: – sheets unreinforced: 7003 12 – – painted in mass (tinted in volume), muffled, overhead or having an absorbent, reflective or non-reflective layer 7003 19 – – – other 7003 20 – sheets reinforced 7003 30 – profiles

This heading covers all cast glass and rolled glass, provided it is presented in sheets (of any thickness, whether or not cut to shape) or in profiles, whether or not having an absorbent, reflecting or non-reflecting layer, but not otherwise worked. It includes: (A) Unworked sheet glass. This is usually not transparent because of its granular or rough surface. It may also be artificially coloured throughout the mass by means of metallic oxides or other salts. Sheet glass with a ground or polished surface is excluded from this heading (heading 7005). (B) Opaque glass, more or less opacified throughout the mass and sometimes wholly matt. It is often made to resemble marble, porcelain or alabaster in appearance. This type of glass is made in white, black or other colours, with or without veining, and is used for wall facings, for making tops of wash-basins, counters, writing desks, dining tables, operating tables, etc., plaques for tombstones, advertising plates, signs, etc. This type of glass may be intended for subsequent mechanical polishing of one or both faces, but after such working it is excluded from this heading (heading 7005). In the unworked state the glass shows traces of the rollers or of sand left after rolling or melting. Certain matt glass also has one ribbed or uneven face to facilitate fixing the glass to the surface for which it is intended. (C) Certain types of non-transparent glass which acquire an uneven surface during manufacture. This group includes unworked cast glass, cathedral glass, cathedral glass with a "hammered" surface and the like; figured rolled glass, on one face of which various patterns are impressed (stripes, diamond facets, bosses, etc.); ripple glass and cast so-called "antique" glass (i.e., glass containing air bubbles, or surface cracks, or other deliberately created "defects"). Glass of these types, which may also be coloured throughout the mass, is used in the windows of factories, warehouses, offices, bathrooms and generally of all premises into which light must penetrate but which at the same time must be screened to a greater or lesser extent. Owing to the nature of their manufacturing processes, the types of glass falling in this category are obtained flat without undergoing further working. As already noted, this heading covers only cast and rolled glass.

In the casting process (which is replaced, except for the manufacture of glass with a large surface, for rolling), the molten glass is poured onto the fixed table. At the edges of the table are fixed two metal ridges to adjust the thickness of the glass sheet. The crucible is overturned in front of a heavy metal roller, which moves along the ridges and rolls a viscous mass of glass to a ton of thickness equal to the height of the ridges. Once the glass has reached the desired consistency, it slowly passes through an annealing tunnel or a ler (a tunnel furnace for annealing glass), where the temperature gradually decreases in the direction of the exhaust hole, which is completely cold. In the casting process, profiles (e.g., U-shaped) can also be obtained by bending glass tapes in the longitudinal direction, which are still in the semi-melted state. During rolling, the molten glass passes between rollers, from under which it comes out either as a continuous tape, or as sheets or profiles. Then it is mechanically transferred to the annealing oven. In the process of casting or rolling, the surface of patterned, "forged" glass, etc. is printed. When casting, the pattern is created in semi-melted glass or on an engraved molding table, or an engraved roller. When rolling, the desired result is obtained by using an engraved roller at the end of the process. The above-described types of glass may have holes obtained in the manufacturing process, or may be reinforced. Sheet, patterned, cathedral glass and similar types of glass are sometimes reinforced when it is necessary to protect the glass from cracks or other damage, making it suitable for construction work. Reinforced glass is almost always obtained by immersing a mesh of steel wire into softened glass when rolled. The glass of this heading may, in the process of manufacture, be obtained by way of an overhead, usually with glass of a different color, or may be with an absorbent, reflective or non-reflective layer, but without further processing. This heading does not include not only cast and rolling glass which, after further processing, is classified in other headings (e.g. heading 7005, 7006, 7008 or 7009), but also safety glass (heading 7007) which may be rolled.

Notes

Machine translation. The original is the Russian text of the EAEU tariff, and customs goes by it; this translation is for understanding only and has no legal force.

1. This group does not include:

(a) the goods of heading 3207 (e.g. vitreous enamels and glazes, vitreous fritta, other glass in powder, granules or flakes);

(b) articles of Chapter 71 (for example, jewelry);

(c) fiber optic cables of heading 8544, electrical insulators (heading 8546) or fittings of insulating materials of heading 8547;

(d) front windshields, rear windows and other framed windows for vehicles of Chapters 86 to 88;

(e) front windshields, rear windows and other windows, whether or not framed, containing heating or other electrical or electronic devices for vehicles of Chapters 86 to 88;

(f) optical fibers, optically processed optical elements, subcutaneous injection syringes, artificial eyes, thermometers, barometers, hydrometers or other articles of Chapter 90;

(g) luminaires and lighting fixtures, light signs, light plates bearing a name or address or similar articles having an integrated light source or parts thereof of heading 9405;

(h) toys, games, sports equipment, Christmas tree decorations or other articles of Chapter 95 (except glass eyes without doll machinery or other articles of Chapter 95); or

(ij) buttons, assembled vacuum receptacles, sprayers or similar sprayers or other articles of Chapter 96.

2. For headings 7003, 7004 and 7005:

(a) the glass is not considered to be “treated” by whatever processes it undergoes prior to annealing;

(b) the cutting of the glass in its shape does not change its classification as sheet glass;

(c) the term “absorbing, reflective or non-reflective layer” means a microscopically thin coating with a metal or chemical compound (e.g., a metal oxide) that absorbs, for example, infrared radiation or improves the reflectivity of the glass while maintaining its degree of transparency or transmittance; or that prevents light from reflecting from the surface of the glass.

3. Articles falling within heading 7006 are also included where they have the character of finished articles.

4. For the purposes of heading 7019, the term “glass” means:

(a) mineral wool with a content of silica (SiO2) not less than 60 wt.%;

(b) mineral wool with a content of silica (SiO2) less than 60 wt.%, alkali metal oxide (K2O or Na2O) more than 5 wt.% or boron oxide (B2O3) more than 2 wt.%.

Other types of mineral wool are classified in heading 6806.

5. Throughout the Nomenclature, the term “glass” means fused quartz and other fused silica.

Subheading notes

Machine translation. The original is the Russian text of the EAEU tariff, and customs goes by it; this translation is for understanding only and has no legal force.

1. For the purposes of subheadings 7013 22, 7013 33, 7013 41 and 7013 91, the term “lead crystal” means only glass having a lead monoxide (PbO) content of at least 24 % by weight.