CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 951262 CRS
Area Director of Customs
New York Seaport
6 World Trade Center
New York, NY 10048
RE: Cigarette filter rods made of textile wadding and activated
charcoal; HRL 086978; NYRL 836602.
Dear Sir:
This is in reply to a memorandum dated March 2, 1992, from
the Chief, National Import Specialist Branch 3, New York Seaport,
concerning a difference of opinion filed on Customs Form (CF)
6431. The difference originated at the port of Charleston, South
Carolina, and seeks to reconcile the decision in Headquarters
Ruling Letter (HRL) 086978 of July 9, 1990, with that in New York
Ruling Letter (NYRL) 836602 of February 17, 1989. Our decision
follows below.
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue consists of cigarette filter rods.
At issue in NYRL 836602 was the classification of cigarette
filter rods made from segments of white cellulose acetate fibers,
and segments of black cellulose acetate fibers interspersed with
activated charcoal particles, wrapped in lightweight plain white
paper. The rods measured approximately 3 1/2 inches in length
and 5/16 of an inch in diameter. The white segments measured
approximately 5/8 of an inch in length, while the black segments
were approximately 1/2 an inch in length. The individual rods
were made up of three black and two white segments, with the
black segments forming the outer and center portions of the rods.
The filter rods were classified as other made up textile articles
of subheading 6307.90.9030, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated (HTSUSA).
In contrast, in HRL 086978, cigarette filter rods made from
a wadding of man-made fibers, wrapped in plain paper, and
measuring approximately 0.75 cm in diameter and from between 9.0
cm and 10.0 cm in length, were classified as articles of wadding
of subheading 5601.22.0090, HTSUSA. These filter rods did not
contain any charcoal. This office has been asked to resolve the
difference in the classification of the cigarette filter rods
described above.
A sample filter rod imported under NYRL 836602 was submitted
for laboratory examination. As the result of this examination,
it has been confirmed that the principal constituent material of
the cigarette filter rods, identified in NYRL 836602 as
"cellulose acetate," is a textile material of man-made fibers.
In addition, laboratory examination has established that the
instant filter rod consists of a textile portion composed solely
of man-made fibers, and a textile and charcoal portion composed
of man-made fibers interspersed throughout with activated
charcoal.
ISSUE:
The issue presented is whether cigarette filter rods made of
man-made tow fiber, activated charcoal and plug wrap paper are
classifiable as articles of wadding, as other made up articles of
textiles, or as articles of other mineral substances.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The cigarette filter rods at issue are made from wadding of
man-made fibers or wadding and activated charcoal. Heading 5601,
HTSUSA, provides, inter alia, for articles of wadding. According
to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes (EN), which although not legally binding,
constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System
at the international level, the scope of the heading includes:
[W]adding in the piece or cut to length, and articles
of wadding other than those covered more specifically
by other headings of the Nomenclature....
On this basis we held in HRL 086978 that cigarette filter rods
wrapped in paper but otherwise made entirely from a wadding of
man-made fibers were classifiable as an article of wadding of
heading 5601.
This view was also based on a 1987 decision of the Interim
Harmonized System Committee which examined the classification of
cigarette filter rods. The Committee agreed by a large majority
that filter rods were classifiable in heading 5601 rather than in
heading 6307. NC/58/May 87; IHSC/8/May 87. However, while the
Committee reached its decision on the grounds of GRI 4 (kinship),
the U.S. Administration is of the opinion that classification in
heading 5601 is sustainable purely by virtue of the terms of the
headings, i.e., by GRI 1. We continue to adhere to this view.
The cigarette filter rods of NYRL 836602 differ from those
at issue in HRL 086978, however, in that activated charcoal and
man-made fiber wadding are combined in the former. Pursuant to
General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 2(b), goods consisting of
more than one material or substance, if prima facie classifiable
under two or more headings, are to be classified according to the
principles of GRI 3.
GRI 3(a) states that when goods are prima facie classifiable
under two or more headings, the heading that provides the most
specific description is to be preferred over those headings
offering a more general description. However, when two or more
prima facie applicable headings refer only to part of the
materials contained in a composite good, they are regarded as
equally specific under GRI 3(a).
In addition to heading 5601, several other headings are
therefore potentially relevant with regard to the classification
of filter rods made from wadding of man-made fiber and activated
charcoal: heading 3802, HTSUSA, which provides, inter alia, for
activated carbon; heading 6815, HTSUSA, which provides for
articles of stone or of other mineral substances...not elsewhere
specified or included; and heading 6307, HTSUSA, which provides
for other made up (textile) articles, including dress patterns.
The cigarette filter rods of NYRL 836602 are composite
articles consisting of paper, activated charcoal and man-made
fibers. Heading 3802 covers activated carbon, including
charcoal. EN 38.02(II)(a), 520. However, Customs does not
consider the cigarette filter rod in question to be prima facie
classifiable in heading 3802, since this provision does not cover
articles of activated carbon, but merely the substance itself.
Heading 5601 provides for wadding of textile materials and
articles thereof. The NYRL 836602 (composite) cigarette filter
rods were made in part from wadding of man-made fibers. Heading
5601 is therefore prima facie applicable to the merchandise in
question, since it refers to one of the constituent materials
contained in the article.
Heading 6307 is a residual provision covering made up
articles of textile material not more specifically included in
other headings of Section XI or elsewhere in the nomenclature.
(EN) 63.07, 867. The textile component of the instant cigarette
filter rods is provided for in heading 5601. Accordingly, heading
6307 does not merit further consideration.
Heading 6815 is a residual provision that covers articles of
mineral substances, including carbon, that are not covered by the
other headings of Chapter 68, or elsewhere in the nomenclature.
EN 68.15, 909. The filter rods at issue in NYRL 836602 contained
activated charcoal, a mineral substance. Since heading 6815 also
refers to one of the materials contained in the composite filter
rods, it is prima facie applicable under GRI 2(b).
Thus of the headings under consideration, two, heading 5601
and heading 6815, are prima facie applicable to the composite
cigarette filter rods. However, under GRI 3(a), both are equally
specific since they refer only to part of the materials contained
in the composite article.
Composite goods consisting of different materials are to be
classified as if they consisted of the material which gives them
their essential character. In the ruling request dated February
2, 1989, which resulted in NYRL 836602, it was stated that the
activated charcoal, as well as the paper used in the manufacture
of the instant composite cigarette filter rods, was secondary in
content and value to the value and content of the man-made
fibers. Accordingly, Customs considers that wadding comprises
the essential character of the composite cigarette filter rods at
issue, and that consequently, the filter rods are classifiable
under the provision for articles of wadding of heading 5601.
HOLDING:
Cigarette filter rods made either from wadding of man-made
textile fibers or from wadding of man-made textile fibers
combined with activated charcoal, are classifiable in subheading
5601.22.0090, HTSUSA, under the provision for wadding; other
articles of wadding: of man-made fibers: other. They are
dutiable at the rate of 12.5 percent ad valorem.
NYRL 836602 dated February 17, 1989, will be revoked under
separate cover.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director