CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 083437 SER
Mr. David E. Jones
A.H. Robins Company
1405 Cummings Drive
P.O. Box 26609
Richmond, VA 23261-6609
RE: Salinomycin mycelial cake
Dear Mr. Jones:
This is in reference to your request of January 19, 1989,
for clarification of the classification of salinomycin from West
Germany, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA).
FACTS:
The product at issue is a salinomycin mycelial cake which is
a dried complete mycelium containing 20-30 percent salinomycin
(an antibiotic). After importation this product is standardized
to a 6.7 percent strength with additives, such as calcium
carbonate, silicates and silicon dioxide. The standardized
product is packaged for sale to the animal feed industry as
"Biocox", a medicated premix product that is added to chicken
feed for the control of coccidiosis and improved feed efficiency
and weight gain.
ISSUE:
Whether the product is an antibiotic or an animal feed
preparation.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of goods under the HTSUSA is governed by the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), taken in order. The
Harmonized System is a complete product classification system,
and the goal of the Harmonized System is to place all goods that
are imported into the specific classifications. In this context
the word "goods" is used in its broadest sense to include all
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merchandise. The systematic detail is such that virtually all
goods are classifiable by application of GRI 1, that is,
according to the terms of the headings and any relative section
or chapter notes.
The primary function of this product is the prevention of
coccidiosis, a disease that primarily effects fowl. One
possible subheading in which the product at issue, on its face,
can be classified is heading 2941, HTSUS, which provides for
antibiotics. The Explanatory Notes to heading 2941, HTSUSA,
provide guidance for classification in this Heading. The
Explanatory Notes preclude classification of products of
"antibiotic preparations of a kind used in animal feeding (i.e.
dried and standardized complete mycelium [Heading 2309])." The
product at issue, as indicated in the literature provided with
the classification request, is solely to be utilized in a chicken
feed preparation and, thus, would be precluded from
classification in Heading 2941, HTSUS.
Examination of Heading 2309, HTSUS, which provides for
preparations of a kind used in animal feeds, would indicate that
this is where the product at issue should be properly classified.
The Explanatory Notes under the provision for "other animal feed
preparations" indicate that these preparations, known in the
trade as "premixes", are, generally speaking, compound
compositions consisting of a number of substances (sometimes
called additives) the nature and proportions of which vary
according to the animal production required. These substances
are of three types:
1 - Those which improve digestion and, more generally,
ensure that the animal makes good use of the feeds and
safeguard its health: vitamins or provitamins, amino-
acids, antibiotics, coccidiostats, trace elements,
etc.
2 - Those designed to preserve the feeding stuffs . . .
3 - Those which serve as carriers . . . .
The concentration of the substances described in
the above and the nature of the carrier are determined
so as to ensure, in particular, homogeneous dispersion
and mixing of these substances in the compound feeds to
which the preparations are added:
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Provided they are of a kind used in animal
feeding, this group also includes:
(a) preparations consisting of several mineral substances.
(b) products of the antibiotics manufacturing process
obtained by simply drying the mass, i.e. the entire
contents of the fermentation vessel (essentially
mycelium, the culture medium and the antibiotic). The
resulting dry substance, whether or not standardized by
adding organic or inorganic substances, has an
antibiotic content ranging generally between 8 percent
and 16 percent and is used as basic material in
preparing, in particular, "premixes".
This Heading provides the most specific description of the
product at issue. Though the Explanatory Notes dictate a range
of 8-16 percent on the antibiotic content of goods which are to
be classified in this Heading, and the product at issue has a
20-30 percent level; the range stated is qualified by the use of
the word "generally", which allows for some flexibility.
"Generally", as used in this section, is descriptive rather than
a limitation. Taking into consideration the fact that the
product is most specifically provided for in Heading 2309, HTSUS,
this is where the product is properly classified.
HOLDING:
The product at issue salinomycin mycelial cake, an
antibiotic used in animal feed, from West Germany, is properly
classified in subheading 2309.90.1020, HTSUSA, which provides for
preparations of a kind used in animal feeding: other: poultry
feeds, prepared. The rate of duty is free.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division