CLA-2 CO:R:C:F 088707 STB
Area Director of Customs
Room 425
6 World Trade Center
New York, New York 10048-0945
RE: Internal Advice No. 79/90
Dear Area Director:
This is a decision in response to your memorandum of
December 24, 1990, (file: CLA-2-S:C:TOB:212/20), in which you
forwarded a request for internal advice. Our decision concerning
Internal Advice No. 79/90 is as follows:
FACTS:
The item at issue, which is imported from Korea, is
described by the importer, Hartz Mountain Corporation, as "Cat
Litter Scoop", Code 81574." It is marketed as the "Cat Litter
Super Spoon." The item is constructed completely of plastic and
is approximately 11-1/2 inches in length; it is clearly designed
for use as a cat litter scoop.
The counsel for the importer is requesting that the scoop be
classified under subheading 3924.90.5000, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), the provision
for tableware, kitchenware, other household articles and toilet
articles of plastics, other, other, dutiable at a rate of 3.4% ad
valorem. In your memorandum of December 24, 1990, you stated
that you disagree with that position; you believe that the scoop
should be classified under subheading 3926.90.9000, HTSUSA, the
provision for other articles of plastic, other, dutiable at a
rate of 5.3% ad valorem.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject cat litter scoop should be classified as
a household article, of plastic, or as an other article of
plastic?
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LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) set forth the
legal framework in which merchandise is to be classified under
the HTSUSA. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined
first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff and
any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise
required, according to the remaining GRI's taken in order.
In this instance, the competing provisions are as follows:
3924 Tableware, kitchenware, other household
articles and toilet articles, of plastics,
3926 Other articles of plastics and articles of
other materials of headings 3901 to 3914.
The primary determination to be made in this case concerns the
question of whether the cat litter scoop qualifies as a household
article. If the scoop does qualify as a household article under
heading 3924, HTSUSA, then it will be classified under this
heading since it is the more specific of the competing
provisions.
First, we refer to Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 086069,
dated March 6, 1990. In that letter we determined that various
pet toys were not classifiable as household articles and thus
classified them as other articles of plastics. We noted that the
principal use of pet toys is not similar to the uses of the
exemplars listed in the relevant Explanatory Notes (ENs). We
also noted that the nomenclature provisions for rubber articles
include a provision for rubber pet toys that is separate from the
provision for rubber household articles; this separation
demonstrates that pet toys were not intended to be included in
the HTSUSA provisions for household articles. HRL 086069 states
the current Customs position concerning pet toys.
The instant item, however, is not a pet toy. It is an
altogether different type of article that is used to clean cat
litter boxes. We note that the Explanatory Notes to heading
3924, HTSUSA, provide for the application to that chapter mutatis
mutandis of the ENs to headings 6911 and 6912, HTSUSA. It is our
determination that the principal use of the instant item is
similar to that of the exemplars provided in the ENs to heading
3924 HTSUSA and 6911 and 6912, HTSUSA. These Explanatory Notes
include, among other things, such items as dustbins, buckets,
sanitary pails, bed pans, urinals, spittoons, and douche cans.
Like the instant cat litter scoop, these are all items which are
commonly employed around the house to dispose
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of various types of waste products and to generally promote clean
and sanitary conditions.
The proper classification of other types of pet supplies
will be based on the principal use of the goods at the time of
importation and the material of construction of the items.
HOLDING:
The subject cat litter scoop is properly classifiable under
subheading 3924.90.5000, HTSUSA, the provision for tableware,
kitchenware, other household articles and toilet articles, of
plastics, other, other. The applicable duty rate is 3.4% ad
valorem. You should notify the internal advice applicant of this
decision and furnish him with a copy.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division