CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 089246 CRS
J.W. Hendricks
Traffic Manager
Special Papers, Inc.
600 West Putnam Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830
RE: Addition of melamine to paper pulp at the furnish does not
constitute an impregnation; application of animal glue is not a
coating.
Dear Mr. Hendricks:
This is in reply to your letter dated February 27, 1991, to
our New York office, concerning the classification of currency
paper under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA). A sample was provided.
FACTS:
The merchandise in question is a white, cotton pulp paper,
approximately 90.4 g/m in weight and 0.015 mm thick. The paper,
which is used to make currency, is watermarked and contains bands
of metallic security threads and colored fluorescent fibers. The
pulp is treated with melamine during the furnishing stage, i.e.,
at the point when various materials, including pulp, are blended
in a stock suspension from which the finished paper is made.
The finished paper is treated with a moisture resistant glue.
The paper will be imported in rectangular sheets, all of which
will exceed 15 cm by 36 cm in size, and will contain a small
notch on one side which serves to indicate the front of the paper
from the back. The sample paper measures 66 x 80 cm.
ISSUE:
Whether the paper in question is coated or impregnated for
tariff purposes.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 4811, HTSUSA, provides for, inter alia, paper,
coated, impregnated or covered, in rolls or sheets. Subheading
4811.31 provides for paper and paperboard coated, impregnated or
covered with plastics. Melamine, a plastics substance, has been
added to the instant paper at the pulp as part of the furnish
before the formation of the paper web. The term "impregnation"
refers to the process of treating a sheet or web of paper with a
liquid. The Dictionary of Paper 223 (4th ed. 1980). Melamine is
added to the instant paper at the furnish, that is, to the stock
suspension before the web is formed. Id. at 194. Consequently,
it is Customs' opinion that the instant paper is not impregnated
for the purposes of heading 4811, HTSUSA.
The paper has also been treated with a water resistant glue.
However, according to the Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System, Explanatory Notes, glue is used in the finishing
process, e.g., as a surface sizing, or as a binding agent for a
coating material such as barium sulphate or zinc oxide, rather
than as a coating. General Explanatory Note (EN), Chapter 48, at
666. Thus Customs does not consider the paper in question to be
coated for tariff purposes.
Heading 4802, HTSUSA, provides for, inter alia, uncoated
paper and paperboard, of a kind used for writing, printing and
other graphic purposes. Certain security paper used for cheques,
stamps, banknotes and the like is included within the heading.
EN 48.02(B)(9), 670. In order to be classified in this heading,
however, paper weighing not more than 150 g/m must meet the
requirements of Note 4(a)-(e), Chapter 48, HTSUSA. The instant
paper weighs 92 g/m; nevertheless, because it has an ash content
of 3 percent, a brightness of 80.2 percent, and a burst index of
5.8 kPa/g/m, it fails to meet any of the criteria set forth in
the Note. Accordingly, the currency paper at issue is not
classifiable in heading 4802.
Heading 4805, HTSUSA, provides for other uncoated paper and
paperboard, in rolls or sheets.
This heading covers machine-made uncoated papers
and paperboards as manufactured in the form of rolls or
sheets...other than those included in headings 48.01 to
48.02. It excludes, however, certain special papers
and paperboards or special products (headings 48.06 to
48.08 and headings 48.12 to 48.16) and paper and
paperboard which have been subjected to processes other
than those permitted in Note 2, for example, coated or
impregnated paper or paperboard (headings 48.09 to
48.11).
The paper at issue is an uncoated paper imported in sheets and is
not covered by headings 4801 or 4802. Since it is not otherwise
excluded, it is prima facie classifiable in heading 4805.
Note 7, Chapter 48, HTSUSA, limits the scope of certain
headings, including heading 4805, to paper in strips or rolls of
a width exceeding 15 cm; or in rectangular (including square)
sheets with one side exceeding 36 cm and the other side exceeding
15 cm in its unfolded state. The paper at issue will be imported
in rectangular sheets, all of which will exceed 15 cm x 36 cm in
size. Although the paper has a small notch on one side and is
therefore not perfectly rectangular, Customs regards the notch as
de minimis. Consequently, Note 7 does not exclude the instant
paper from heading 4805.
HOLDING:
The currency paper at issue is classifiable in subheading
4805.60.9040, HTSUSA, under the provision for other uncoated
paper and paperboard, in rolls or sheets; other paper and
paperboard, weighing 150 g/m or less; other; weighing over 30
g/m; other. The paper is dutiable at the rate of 4 percent ad
valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division