CLA-2 CO:R:C:S 557071 MLR
Mr. Joseph B. Castellano
Rudolph Miles & Sons, Inc.
14100 Mines Road
P.O. Box 2489
Laredo, Texas 78044-2489
RE: Applicability of duty exemption under HTSUSA subheading
9801.00.10 to U.S.-origin plastic bottles; labeling; silk
screening; company name; identifying information; packaging.
Dear Mr. Castellano:
This is in reference to your letter of December 15, 1992, on
behalf of Circuit Components, Inc., requesting a ruling on the
applicability of subheading 9801.00.10, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), to certain
U.S.-origin plastic bottles. Your questions pertaining to
country of origin marking requirements will be addressed in a
separate letter. Samples of labeled and unlabeled bottles were
submitted with your request.
FACTS:
Circuit Components plans to export empty plastic disposable
bottles of various sizes, which have been manufactured in the
United States, to Mexico. In Mexico, the bottles will each be
labeled by a silk screening process with a company name,
identifying data of a product, instructions, and the bottle's
capacity. The empty bottles will be returned to the U.S. through
the port of Laredo, Texas, in U.S.-origin plastic bags, and
cardboard cartons with plastic foam, in amounts ranging from 100
to 1000 bottles per carton.
ISSUE:
Whether certain U.S.-origin plastic bottles exported to
Mexico for labeling, are entitled to duty-free treatment under
subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUSA, when returned to the U.S.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUSA, provides for the free entry
of products of the United States that have been exported and
returned without having been advanced in value or improved in
condition by any process of manufacture or other means while
abroad, provided the documentary requirements of section 10.1,
Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.1), are met. Some change in the
condition of the product while it is abroad is permissible.
However, operations which either advance the value or improve the
condition of the exported product render it ineligible for duty-
free entry upon return to the United States. Border Brokerage
Company, Inc. v. United States, 314 F. Supp. 788 (1970), appeal
dismissed, 58 CCPA 165 (1970).
We have held that foreign stamping or printing of a product
to identify the manufacturer and describe the product does not
advance its value or improve its condition so as to preclude
entry under 9801.00.10, HTSUSA. See Headquarters Ruling Letter
(HRL) 071449 dated October 17, 1983 (surgical drapes stamped in
ink with the name of the company, size, and model number, and
packaged in plastic bags were not precluded from item 800.00,
Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) (now 9801.00.10,
HTSUSA), treatment); see also, HRL 555183 dated February 15,
1989, (printing dental floss dispensers with the company name and
description of the floss type, flavor and length, and bulk-
packaged in cardboard boxes did not preclude subheading
9801.00.10, HTSUSA, treatment for the dispensers).
In the instant case, silk screening the plastic bottles with
a company's name, identifying data of a product, instructions,
and the bottle's capacity is analogous to the printing of the
dental floss dispensers. Therefore, silk screening the plastic
bottles will not preclude subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUSA,
treatment. Furthermore, the U.S.-origin packing materials are
entitled to duty-free treatment pursuant to General Rule of
Interpretation 5, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
On the basis of the information submitted, the U.S.-origin
plastic bottles exported to Mexico for labeling are eligible for
duty-free treatment under subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUSA, when
returned to the United States, provided the documentation
requirements of 19 CFR 10.1 are satisfied.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director