CLA-2 CO:R:C:F 950740 LPF
Ms. Evy Jordan
Vice Counsul
Royal Danish Embassy
3200 Whitehaven Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008-3683
RE: Cat food; Preparations used in animal feeding; Heading 2309
Dear Ms. Jordan:
This is in response to your letter of November 22, 1991,
submitted on behalf of Loven Petfood A/S of Denmark. Your
inquiry requests the proper classification of cat food under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA). Along with your request for a binding ruling, you
submitted copies of the labels which will appear on the product.
FACTS:
The product at issue is cat food, imported from Denmark. It
is put up for retail sale in airtight containers, including
aluminum trays, with a net weight of 100 grams (3.5 ounces). The
cat food comes in four different varieties, with the following
ingredients:
1) Turkey, liver, meat by-products, beef by-products,
water (sufficient for processing), calcium carbonate,
sodium tripolyphosphate, vegetable gums, sodium
chloride, choline chloride, ascorbic acid, sodium
nitrite (preservative), vitamin A palmitate, d-activated
animal sterol, alpha-tocopherol acetate, thiamine
mononitrate, pyridoxine, hydrochloride, d-pantothenic
acid, niacin, cyanocobalamin, ferrous sulfate, zinc
sulfate, manganous sulfate.
2) Poultry, liver, meat by-products, water (sufficient for
processing), calcium carbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate,
vegetable gums, sodium chloride, choline chloride,
ascorbic acid, sodium nitrite (preservative), vitamin A
palmitate, d-activated animal sterol, alpha-tocopherol
acetate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride,
d-pantothenic acid, niacin, cyanocobalamin, ferrous
sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganous sulfate.
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3) Beef, meat by-products, beef by-products, water
(sufficient for processing) calcium carbonate, sodium
tripolyphosphate, vegetable gums, sodium chloride,
choline chloride, ascorbic acid, sodium nitrite
(preservative), vitamin A palmitate, d-activated animal
sterol, alpha-tocopherol acetate, thiamine mononitrate,
pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-pantothenic acid, niacin,
cyanocobalamin, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganous
sulfate.
4) Salmon, liver, meat by-products, beef by-products, water
(sufficient for processing), calcium carbonate, sodium
tripolyphosphate, vegetable gums, sodium chloride,
choline chloride, ascorbic acid, sodium nitrite
(preservative), vitamin A palmitate, d-activated animal
sterol, alpha-tocopherol acetate, thiamine mononitrate,
pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-pantothenic acid, niacin,
cyanocobalamin, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganous
sulfate.
ISSUE:
Whether the cat food is classifiable in heading 2309,
HTSUSA, as a preparation of a kind used in animal feeding,
including the appropriate subheading.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) taken in their
appropriate order provide a framework for classification of
merchandise under the HTSUSA. The majority of imported goods are
classified by application of GRI 1, that is, according to the
terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative
section or chapter notes. The Explanatory Notes (EN's) to the
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which
represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the
international level, facilitate classification under the HTSUSA
by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the headings
and GRI's.
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Heading 2309 provides for preparations of a kind used in
animal feeding. Note 1 to Chapter 23 explains:
Heading 2309 includes products of a kind used in animal
feeding, not elsewhere specified or included, obtained
by processing vegetable or animal materials to such an
extent that they have lost the essential
characteristics of the original material, other than
vegetable waste, vegetable residues and byproducts of
such processing.
In addition, the EN's to 2309 explain that the heading covers
animal feeding preparations that either serve as "complete feed"
which provide the animal with a balanced daily diet, or as
"supplementary feed" which enhance farm-produced feed to balance
an animal's diet.
Accordingly, the cat food is classifiable in heading 2309.
The applicable subheading, 2309.10.00, refers to subheading
9903.23.35. The latter indicates that pet food packaged for
retail sale, of byproducts obtained from the milling of grains,
mixed feeds and mixed-feed ingredients, which are the product of
the European Community, are subject to a 100 percent duty rate.
It has been Customs position that the terms "mixed feeds and
mixed-feed ingredients" connote products which are admixtures of
grains or are obtained by milling grains. As the list of the cat
food ingredients provides, the product does not include grains or
mixed feeds. Thus, subheading 9903.23.35 does not apply. Since
the cat food is packed in airtight containers, the applicable
subheading is 2309.10.0010.
HOLDING:
The cat food is classifiable in subheading 2309.10.0010,
HTSUSA, as "[p]reparations of a kind used in animal feeding: Dog
or cat food, put up for retail sale, In airtight containers."
The general column one rate of duty provides that the product is
duty free.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division