CLA-2 CO:R:C:F 089931 LPF
Mr. Richard G. Seley
Rudolph Miles & Sons, Inc.
Customhouse Brokers
4950 Gateway East
P.O. Box 144
El Paso, TX 79942
RE: Raw Hide Dog Chew; Paring and Waste of Similar Raw Hides or
Skins under subheading 0511.99.2000, HTSUSA
Dear Mr. Seley:
This is in response to your letter of June 17, 1991
submitted on behalf of your client, The Reward Company, Inc. of
Chamberino, New Mexico, a division of Alpo Petfoods, Inc., of
Allentown, Pennsylvania. Your inquiry requests the proper
classification of a raw hide dog chew under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). You submitted
a sample with your request for a binding ruling.
FACTS:
The dog chew is composed of cow corium, the layer of cow
hide beneath the epidermis, which is cut, in South America, into
approximately two inch by six inch rectangular strips. The
inquirer identifies the inter-dermal layer of cow hide as
parings, a waste product of the tanning process and maintains
that only the epidermis of a cow hide is tanned to make leather.
Thus, when preparing a hide to be tanned, the hair on the outer
side and the skin beneath the epidermis is removed.
After this process occurs, the item is then shipped to
Mexico where it is coated with a beef flavoring, dried and
packaged. The inquirer provides no information regarding the
processing or application of preservatives to these strips.
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ISSUE:
Whether the raw hide dog chew is classified as an article of
leather in subheading 4205.00.8000, HTSUSA, a hide or skin of a
bovine animal in subheading 4101.30.0090, HTSUSA, a paring or
other waste of leather in subheading 4110.00.0000, HTSUSA, or as
a paring or similar waste of a raw hide or skin in subheading
0511.99.2000, HTSUSA.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) taken in their
appropriate order provide a framework for classification of
merchandise under the HTSUSA. The majority of imported goods are
classified by application of GRI 1, that is, according to the
terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative
Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be
classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and
legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI's may
then be applied. Pursuant to GRI 6, the GRI's, Section Notes and
Chapter Notes pertain to subheadings in the same fashion.
Subheading 4205.00.8000, HTSUSA, pertains in part, to "other
articles of leather." A cow hide does not become leather unless
it is tanned. The verb "tan" is defined as, "to convert (hide)
into leather by treatment with an infusion of tannin-rich bark or
other agent of similar effect." See Webster's Ninth New
Collegiate Dictionary 1205 (1990). As provided above, the skin
beneath the cow's epidermis is removed since the epidermis is the
only part of the cow hide tanned to make leather. Thus, the item
has not been tanned, and will not qualify as leather.
Consequently, the dog chew is not classifiable in subheading
4205.00.8000, HTSUSA, and we must classify the dog chew
elsewhere.
Subheading 4110.00.0000, HTSUSA, pertains, in part, to
"parings and other waste of leather or of composition
leather...", while subheading 4101.30.0090, HTSUSA, provides for
"other hides or skins of bovine animals, otherwise preserved."
However, Note 1(a) to Chapter 41, Raw Hides and Skins (Other than
Furskins) and Leather, provides that, "[t]his chapter does not
cover: [p]arings or similar waste, of raw hides or skins (heading
0511)." Subheading 0511.99.2000, HTSUSA, does, in fact, provide
for, "parings and similar waste of raw hides or skins." Thus,
our focus turns to whether the cow corium component of the dog
chew is a paring of the tanning process, as asserted by the
inquirer.
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The reference materials consulted, J.H. Sharphouse, Leather
Technician's Handbook (1971), J. Arnold, Hides and Skins (1925)
and T. Thorstensen, Practical Leather Technology (1975), do not
disprove the inquirer's claim that the cow corium is a paring.
Since the cow corium is a paring and is not tanned, the item is
classifiable in subheading 0511.99.2000, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
The raw hide dog chew is properly classified in subheading
0511.99.2000, HTSUSA, which provides for animal products not
elsewhere specified or included; dead animals of chapter 1 or 3,
unfit for human consumption: other: other: parings and similar
waste of raw hides or skins; glue stock not elsewhere specified
or included. The general column one rate of duty provides that
the item is duty free.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division