CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 088411 KWM
Ms. Marcia Beiley
Beiley & Greenberg
Suite 125
7600 Southwest 57th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33143
RE: Reconsideration of NYRL 855591 and NYRL 838361;
Revocation or modification denied; Textile bags; Liquor
bottle bags; Shoe bags; Specially shaped or fitted;
Travel bag; Other made up textile articles.
Dear Ms. Beiley:
We have received your correspondence dated December 20,
1990 and January 4, 1991, requesting a revocation or
modification of New York Ruling Letters 855591 and 838361.
After consideration of the issues raised in your letter, we
decline to revoke or modify the rulings as you requested.
FACTS:
The articles at issue are bags made of textile material.
The samples vary in size, but are uniform in design. They are
closed on the sides and bottom and open on the top. The
opening closes by means of a drawstring sewn into the lip of
the bag. The bags are intended to hold merchandise such as a
liquor bottle, a pair of shoes, or a shoe tree.
The piece goods, drawstring, eyelets and thread are
manufactured/assembled in the United States and consolidated
in Miami. They are assembled in Port Au Prince, Haiti, and
embroidered with the name and/or logo of the customer. They
are returned to the United States via San Juan, Puerto Rico,
or Miami, Florida.
Your letter of December 20, 1990, asserts that the bags
are not the "primary packaging" for their contents. Instead,
they are a marketing device used to attract consumers. For
shipping and sales purposes, the bag and its contents are
packed in other, more substantial, containers.
Your letter of December 20, 1990, also includes a history
of previous ruling letters issued to your client, Newhit
Industries, Ltd. Of the three ruling letters you have
identified, one was issued under the auspices of the Tariff
Schedules of the United States (TSUS), a superseded tariff
nomenclature. The remaining two were issued by our New York
office; New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 838361 issued on March
15, 1989, and NYRL 855591 issued August 29, 1990. Neither the
samples nor original submission letters were available to us
for consideration in this case. Both NYRL's classified the
products at issue in heading 4202, HTSUSA, as travel, sports
and similar bags. You ask that we reconsider that
classification.
ISSUE:
Are the textile bags at issue travel or similar bags of
heading 4202, HTSUSA, or are they other made up textile
articles of heading 6307, HTSUSA?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Because no samples were available for reconsideration of
the New York Ruling Letters issued to you, we will not
consider their revocation or modification. The descriptions
provided in each of those rulings is so vague that we cannot,
in hindsight, accurately determine whether the merchandise at
issue was correctly classified. Therefore, it is our decision
that such classification should not be subject to second-
guessing.
However, we note that the Customs Regulations provide
that binding rulings are applicable only to the merchandise
and transaction(s) for which the ruling is issued. Therefore,
we consider your most recent request to be a new binding
ruling request in anticipation of prospective transactions in
this merchandise.
Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) is made in accordance
with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). The
systematic detail of the harmonized system is such that
virtually all goods are classified by application of GRI 1,
that is, according to the terms of the headings of the tariff
schedule and any relevant Section or Chapter Notes.
Heading 4202, HTSUSA, provides for a number of distinct
but related items. Among, them is a provision for "travel,
sports and similar bags." Additional U.S. Note 1 states that:
. . . the expression "travel, sports and similar bags"
means goods . . . of a kind designed for carrying
clothing and other personal effects during travel,
including backpacks and shopping bags . . . [but not]
bottle cases and similar containers.
(Emphasis in the original). We do not consider the instant
merchandise to be "travel sports and similar bags" or any
other type of article similar to those of heading 4202,
HTSUSA. That heading is not considered a "use" provision, nor
is it strictly an eo nomine provision. In classifying goods
as "similar" we look to certain factors which identify the
merchandise as being ejusdem generis to the exemplars given.
Travel, sports and similar bags may reasonably encompass any
article which has the potential to carry "clothing and
personal effects" during travel. However, we also consider
other factors to narrow the scope of the subheading. In
Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 086852, we said that the
"textile drawstring pouches" did not "possess the
substantiality required of heading 4202, HTSUSA." HRL 086852
also found that the textile drawstring pouches, similar to
those at issue here, were not "specially shaped or fitted"
similar to other articles of heading 4202, HTSUSA. Those
factors (or absence thereof) indicate an exclusion from
classification in heading 4202, HTSUSA. Coupled with your
assertions that the bags are not designed for use while
traveling, we find that, legally, the terms of heading 4202,
HTSUSA, do not include this merchandise.
Heading 6307, HTSUSA, provides for other made up textile
articles. Customs has classified other bags such as these in
heading 6307, HTSUSA; for example, certain shoe bags and
textile pouches for purses. In most cases, bags such as these
are imported with the article they will contain and are
classified with that article. However, when imported
separately, we believe that they are properly classified as
other made up textile articles. The Explanatory Notes to
heading 6307, HTSUSA, substantiate that belief:
This heading covers made up articles of any textile
material which are not included more specifically in
other headings of Section XI or elsewhere in the
Nomenclature.
It includes, in particular:
. . .
(5) Domestic laundry or shoe bags, stocking,
handkerchief or slipper sachets, pyjama or
nightdress cases and similar articles.
Shoe bags and similar articles are domestic items designed to
store and protect the articles they contain. Their character
is not that of a bag designed to transport personal belongings
while traveling.
HOLDING:
We decline to revoke or modify New York Ruling Letters
838361 or 855591. However, those ruling letters are, by
regulation, limited to the goods described therein. We cannot
determine from the descriptions given that the findings of the
rulings are incorrect, and therefore will not revoke or modify
them.
The merchandise presented with your request, described as
textile drawstring bags, are classified for purposes of future
transactions in subheading 6307.90.9490, HTSUSA, as other
made up textile articles, other. The applicable rate of duty
is 7 percent ad valorem. There is no textile visa category
associated with this classification. Please note that the
U.S. subheadings (the eight- and ten-digit breakouts) under
heading 6307, HTSUSA, were amended pursuant to Presidential
Proclamation 6245, dated February 6, 1991.
Sincerely,
John A. Durant
Director
Commercial Rulings Division