MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 734681 KR
Mr. Tim McMillen
Ansell Edmont Industrial Inc.
1300 Walnut Street
Box 6000
Coshocton, OH 43812-6000
RE: Country of origin marking of gloves
Dear Mr. McMillen:
This is in response to your letter dated June 4, 1992,
requesting a ruling regarding country of origin marking
requirements applicable to industrial work gloves. Samples of
the gloves were submitted for examination.
FACTS:
You state that Ansell Edmont Industrial Inc. intends to
import gloves from Malaysia. The gloves are currently imported
with "Malaysia" stamped in ink on each glove. You state that the
ink often bleeds onto the adjoining gloves. Therefore, you wish
to import the gloves without the individual marking. Instead you
wish to mark the gloves with the country of origin preprinted on
a paper band which wraps the gloves in a set of one dozen pairs
of gloves. Further, the gloves will be shipped in a carton which
will hold one dozen of the packs of one dozen pairs of gloves.
The carton will be marked with the country of origin.
The gloves are sold to distributors who then resell the
gloves to the industrial market. The gloves are given by the
industry to the employee free of charge. You state that the
standard unit of marketing for gloves and the smallest unit of
packaging, is the dozen pair.
ISSUE:
Whether the gloves must be marked individually, or may the
pairs of gloves be sold by the dozen wrapped in a paper band
which is preprinted with the country of origin?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C.
1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign
origin imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous
place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the
article (or container) will permit, in such a manner as to
indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name
of the country of origin of the article.
Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements
the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19
U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR
134.41(b), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must
be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain.
An article is excepted from marking under 19 U.S.C. 1304
(a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR 134.32(d), if the marking of a container of
such article will reasonably indicate the origin of such article.
This exception is applicable if Customs is satisfied that the
marked container in which the article is imported will reach the
ultimate purchaser in all reasonably foreseeable circumstances.
Section 134.1(d), Customs Regulations, (19 CFR 134.1(d)),
defines the ultimate purchaser as generally the last person in
the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was
imported. Customs has previously ruled that a plant or concern
which purchases gloves for use by its employees is considered the
ultimate purchaser, and that the gloves may be excepted from
individual country of origin marking pursuant to 19 U.S.C.
1304(a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR 134.32(d). See C.S.D. 89-89 (March 18,
1989); letter ruling 703319 (May 14, 1974); HQ 729800 (October
10, 1989). It is our opinion that the circumstances you describe
are substantially the same, and that the ultimate purchaser of
the gloves you import is the industrial concern which provides
them free of charge to its employees.
In HQ 731555, July 18, 1988, Customs ruled that metal straps
with plastic shrink wrap used to secure refractory bricks were
containers for purposes of 19 U.S.C. 1304(a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR
134.32(d). See also, HQ 734119, July 15, 1991. In HQ 732793
(December 20, 1989), Customs held that industrial gloves may be
excepted from individual marking. These gloves were also sold by
sets of one dozen pair and shipped to a distributor prior to sale
to the industrial consumer. The major difference between your
situation and that in HQ 732793 is that in the prior case the
importer sealed the gloves in a polybag with a paper insert
stating "TO BE SOLD BY THE DOZEN ONLY....MADE IN TAIWAN R.O.C."
In your case, you wish to mark the dozen gloves with only a
paper band with the marking "PRODUCT OF MALAYSIA". The gloves
are loose inside the 1 7/8 inch paper band. We find that the
band is not sufficiently permanent to mark the gloves. In HQ
732793 supra, the gloves were sealed inside a polybag. The
gloves you wish to import may slip out of the paper band, or the
paper band is easily ripped leaving the gloves totally loose.
Before granting an exception from individual marking, the
district director of Customs at the port of entry must be
satisfied that the ultimate purchaser will receive the gloves in
their original unopened marked container and that the gloves will
be used only as indicated. In this case, the paper band is not
sufficiently secure to be certain that the ultimate purchaser
will receive the gloves proprly marked. The gloves are too easily
removed, and the paper band is too fragile. Further, marking the
shipping carton is not sufficient, because although the minimum
selling unit may be one dozen, the shipping carton contains one
dozen of the dozen pairs. This can be broken down by the
distributor prior to reaching the ultimate purchaser. Therefore,
the marking on the shipping carton is not sufficient to fulfill
the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C.
1304(a)(3)(D); 19 CFR 134.32(d). If you alter the packaging of
the gloves in accordance with the Customs rulings cited supra,
i.e. by placing the gloves in a sealed plastic polybag with the
country of origin marked on the packaging or visible inside the
packaging, your marking would be acceptable.
HOLDING:
The ultimate purchasers of the industrial gloves are the
industrial companies which provide the gloves to their employees.
The industrial gloves may be excepted from individual marking if
the packaging is sufficient to meet the requirements of 19 U.S.C.
1304(a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR 134.32(d). The marked paper band on
the submitted sample is not sufficiently secure to assure that
the gloves will remain in the same packaging, properly marked,
until the gloves reach the employers who provide the gloves free
of charge to the employees. However, if the gloves are packaged
in plastic polybags, or in some other marked package which
satisfies the district director that it will reach the ultimate
purchaser intact, the gloves may be excepted from country of
origin marking on an individual basis.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division