CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 950667 LTO
Mr. Randy Willette
A. N. Deringer, Inc.
30 West Service Road
Champlain, New York 12919-9703
RE: Further Clarification of PC 860144; Medicine Cabinets with
built-in mirrors; Over the Cabinet Lights; GRI 3(b) ["sets"]
Dear Mr. Willette:
This is in response to your letter of November 5, 1991,
requesting further clarification of PC 860144, dated February 11,
1991, which considered the classification of mirrored medicine
cabinets and over the cabinet lights under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). You stated that your sole
question is whether the medicine cabinets with built-in mirrors
and over the cabinet lights are "goods put up in sets for retail
sale" under the HTSUS.
FACTS:
The articles in question are medicine cabinets with built-in
mirrors and over the cabinet lights. The lights and the mirrored
cabinets are packed separately for importation. You claim that
packing the lights with the cabinets and transporting them in
this manner would subject the units to severe travel breakage,
and that to just band them together would make it impractical to
load the trailer due to the various box sizes.
You stated that the lights were developed as coordinates for
the cabinets but that many of the importer's customers prefer to
"mix and match." For example, a black cabinet is sometimes sold
with a white light--no particular light was made to match any
single cabinet. You further stated that each article--the
cabinet or the light--can be purchased separately, as each will
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likely have its own price.
ISSUE:
Whether the medicine cabinets with built-in mirrors and the
over the cabinet lights are "goods put up in sets for retail
sale" under the HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
In PC 860114, the mirrored cabinets and over the cabinet
lights were said to be classifiable both individually and as
"sets," depending on how the products were entered. You have
asked for a clarification of the following language used in PC
860114 regarding the "set" classification: "Where these products
are packed and invoiced in sets of a light fixture and cabinet."
More specifically, you have asked if there is any way, besides
packing the goods in the same box or banding the separate boxes
together, that the cabinets and lights can be classified as
"sets."
GRI 3(b) provides "[w]hen, by application of rule 2(b) or
for any other reason, goods are, prima facie, classifiable under
two or more headings, classification shall be effected as
follows:
Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different
materials or made up of different components, and
goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot
be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be
classified as if they consisted of the material or
component which gives them their essential
character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.
[emphasis added]."
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes constitute the Customs Co-operation Council's
official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not
legally binding, they provide a commentary on the scope of each
note and heading of the Harmonized System, and are thus useful in
ascertaining classification under the System. The Explanatory
Notes (EN) to GRI 3(b), pg. 4, state that "[f]or the purposes of
this Rule, the term 'goods put up in sets for retail sale' shall
be taken to mean goods which:
(a) consist of at least two different articles
which are, prima facie, classifiable in
different headings . . .;
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(b) consist of products or articles put up
together to meet a particular need or carry
out a specific activity; and
(c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale
directly to users without repacking (e.g.,
in boxes or cases or on boards)."
The articles in question meet part (a) of the above stated
test for "goods put up in sets for retail sale," as the cabinets
and the lights are classifiable in separate headings, but the
articles plainly fail the next two parts of the test. Part (b)
requires that the articles be "put up together." While the
merchandise may be put together to meet a particular need or
carry out a specific activity after importation, as imported, the
lights and the cabinets, which arrive in separate boxes, are not
"put up together." Similarly, the merchandise fails part (c), as
the lights and cabinets are not put up in a manner suitable for
sale directly to users without repacking. That the goods may be
sold as "sets" after importation is of no importance where those
same goods are not "packaged as sets" upon importation.
HOLDING:
The mirrored medicine cabinets and over the cabinet lights
must be articles put up together to meet a particular need, and
must be put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users
without repacking to be classified as "sets" under the HTSUS.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division