MAR 2-05 CO:R:C:V 735292 LR
Mary Jo Muoio, Vice President
Wolf D. Barth Co. Inc.
90 West Street
New York, N.Y. 10006
RE: Country of origin marking of gold jewelry; tags; marking
after importation; 19 CFR 134.34
Dear Ms. Muoio:
This is in response to your letter dated July 14, 1993,
requesting a ruling on behalf of A Touch of Class, Ltd. regarding
the country of origin marking of imported gold jewelry.
FACTS:
A Touch of Class, Ltd. imports fine gold jewelry manufactured
in Italy. All items are engraved with the word "ITALY" at the time
of importation. Based on previous Customs rulings, the importer
believes that the indelible marking on the jewelry may be
deficient. The importer intends to attach a hang tag with the
country of origin and requests permission to do so after
importation but prior to distribution. The procedures following
importation are set forth in your submission as follows:
each piece of imported gold jewelry is brought into the
importer's facility. There, under extremely tight security
and inventory control, each piece is inspected, weighed and
tagged prior to distribution. If the jewelry was imported
with tags attached, these tags would necessarily be removed.
The removal would be necessary to effectively inspect and
accurately weigh. As the majority of the jewelry is fine,
the additional handling of removing the tags would threaten
the quality of the pieces. As the product is purchased and
paid for by the gram, and as the values are quite high, the
weighing of the product is a very detailed process. Any non-
gold materials must be removed in order to determine the
accurate costs. Each piece of jewelry is tagged with customer
specific information prior to distribution. Each tag contains
the statement MADE IN ITALY.
ISSUE:
Whether hang tags with country of origin marking may be
affixed by the importer after importation if the jewelry is
indelibly marked "MADE IN ITALY" at the time of importation, but
perhaps not in a manner which is sufficiently legible and/or
conspicuous.
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. The ultimate
purchaser in the United States must be able to find the marking
easily and read it without strain. 19 CFR 134.41(b).
In Headquarters Ruling Letter 734481 (August 19, 1992),
Customs ruled that certain jewelry marked by means of engraving
the origin of the jewelry near the clasp did not satisfy the
requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134. The importer
was instructed to mark the chains by some other method which was
easy to read, such as hang tags. In reaching this conclusion,
Customs looked to C.S.D.s 79-47 (August 7, 1978) and 79-379 (April
9, 1979) where Customs required corrective marking (string tags)
on gold jewelry because the existing indelible marking failed to
meet the standard of legibility and/or conspicuousness. The result
in all three of these decisions would have been different had the
indelible markings been sufficiently legible and conspicuous. See
HRL 735225, August 17, 1993 (tag marking was not required because
the quality of the indelible marking resulted in well-defined
lettering that could be read without difficulty).
In this case, no samples were submitted of the jewelry in
question. Assuming that the indelible marking is not sufficient
by itself to inform the ultimate purchaser of the country of
origin, an additional method of marking, such as tags, would be
required. In this case, based on the practical problems with
affixing the tag prior to importation outlined above, along with
the fact that each item is indelibly marked with its country of
origin at the time of importation, we have no objection if the
country of origin tags are affixed after importation provided the
district director at the port of entry is satisfied that tags will
be affixed by the importer as described above and approves the use
of such procedures. The requirements set forth in 19 CFR 134.34
should be followed.
19 CFR 134.34 provides that an exception under 19 CFR
134.32(d) may be authorized in the discretion of the district
director for imported articles which are to be repacked after
release from Customs custody under the following conditions:
(1) The containers in which the articles are repacked will
indicate the origin of the articles to an ultimate purchaser
in the United States.
(2) The importer arranges for supervision of the marking of
the containers by Customs officers at the importer's expense
or secures such verification, as may be necessary, by
certification and the submission of a sample or otherwise, of
the marking prior to the liquidation of the entry. (emphasis
added).
Although the above provision sets forth the procedures to be
followed when unmarked imported articles are to be repacked into
marked containers after importation, we believe these procedures
are also appropriate in the present situation. The purpose of
these procedures is to ensure that articles which are not
adequately marked at the time of importation due to practical
problems are properly marked after importation. The importer's
proposal to affix the country of origin tag after importation falls
into this category.
HOLDING:
The importer's proposal to attach hang tags with the country
of origin after importation is acceptable if approved by the
district director and the procedures set in 19 CFR 134.34 are
followed.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division