CLA-2 CO:R:C:V 555072 DBI
Mr. William J. LeClair
Trans-Border Customs Services
One Trans-Border Drive
P.O. Box 800
Champlain, New York 12919
RE: Applicability of duty exemption under item 800.00,
TSUS, to rapeseed and soybean oils packaged in
Canada
Dear Mr. LeClair:
This is in response to your letters of April 25 and May 26,
1988, on behalf of your client, Pro-Mar Ltee, Quebec, Canada,
to the Area Director of Customs, New York Seaport, in which you
request a ruling concerning the applicability of item 800.00,
Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), to rapeseed and
soybean oils exported to Canada to be packaged and imported
into the U.S. Your letter has been referred to this office for
review and the preparation of a ruling.
FACTS:
You advise that rapeseed and soybean oils of U.S. origin,
fit for human consumption, will be exported to Canada via tank
truck. No processing will be performed on either product prior
to exportation to Canada. The tanks will be insulated to keep
the oils in liquid form for ease of flow upon arrival at the
packaging facility in Canada.
Packaging will be the only process that will be performed
in Canada. The package size will be for institutional use and
not the size normally sold at the retail level. The oils will
be packaged in either five-gallon plastic containers or plastic
bags held in corrugated cardboard containers weighing about
twenty pounds each. You estimate the cost of "packaging,
labor, and the container" to be about five cents per pound.
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ISSUE:
Whether the described packaged rapeseed and soybean oils,
when returned to the U.S., will be eligible for the exemption
from duty in item 800.00, TSUS (9801.00.10, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)).
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Item 800.00, TSUS, provides for the free entry of articles
of U.S. origin which are exported and returned without having
been advanced in value or improved in condition while abroad.
We have previously held that U.S. articles shipped in bulk to
another country merely for packaging are entitled to
classification under item 800.00, TSUS. In a ruling dated
July 7, 1987 (HQ 554643), Customs Headquarters held that bulk
wines exported by tank car in a finished condition to Canada to
be placed in labelled bottles without any additions could be
returned to the U.S. free of duty under item 800.00, TSUS. We
have also held in a ruling dated June 28, 1988 (HQ 731425),
that U.S. spring water exported in a finished condition to
Canada to be bottled, without any additions, was not advanced
in value or improved in condition while abroad. The bottled
water qualified for item 800.00, TSUS, treatment upon return to
the U.S.
In the present case, rapeseed and soybean oils will be
exported in a finished condition to Canada to be packaged
without any additions. The oils will not be advanced in value
or improved in condition while abroad. Accordingly, the oils
would qualify for treatment as American goods returned under
item 800.00, TSUS.
H0LDING:
On the basis of the information submitted and in accordance
with our previous administrative rulings, we are of the opinion
that the packaging performed abroad does not advance the value
or improve the condition of the product abroad and, therefore,
the rapeseed and soybean oils may be entitled to free entry as
American goods returned under item 800.00, TSUS.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division