CLA-2 CO:R:C:F 952820 LPF
Area Director
U.S. Customs Service
Room 425
6 World Trade Center
New York, NY 10048
RE: Internal Advice Request No. 68/91; Surimi imitation crabmeat
(chunk and flake style); Subheading 1604.20.60, other
prepared or preserved fish, other, other; HRL 086271; NYRL
861474
Dear Director:
This is in response to Internal Advice Request No. 68/91,
initiated by a letter dated September 9, 1991, submitted by Mr.
Peter Doukas, Vice President, Mutual Interest Transactions, Inc.,
P.O. Box 185, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey 07417-0185. The request
regards the classification of surimi imitation crabmeat under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA).
FACTS:
The product at issue is a crabmeat analog manufactured to
resemble natural crab body meat (chunk and flake style), as
extracted from the crab in non-uniform chunks, flakes, and
shreds. The product, generally, is packaged in plastic bags and
is imported in a frozen condition. Mr. Peter Doukas, of Mutual
Interest Transactions, Inc., explained telephonically to our
office, on February 23, 1993, that the product is created by
placing the cooked batter through a shredding machine which can
be adjusted to produce different types of pieces, such as chunks,
flakes, or shreds.
ISSUE:
Whether the chunk and flake style surimi imitation crabmeat
is classifiable in subheading 1604.20.2000 as other prepared or
preserved fish, other, balls, cakes and puddings or in subheading
1604.20.6090 as other prepared or preserved fish, other, other,
other.
-2-
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. Most 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. In the event that the goods cannot be classified
solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes
do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI's may then be
applied. 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.
Customs and the inquirer agree that the product is
classifiable within heading 1604 as prepared or preserved fish
and, at the six digit subheading level, within 1604.20 as other
prepared or preserved fish. However, at the eight digit
subheading level, 1604.20.20 provides for balls, cakes and
puddings of other prepared or preserved fish, while 1604.20.60
provides for other prepared or preserved fish. Pursuant to GRI
6, the GRI's, section notes, and chapter notes pertain to
subheadings and headings in the same fashion.
The inquirer submits that because surimi manufactured to
resemble legs, claws, or scallops has been classified as "balls
or cakes," while surimi resembling body meat has been classified
as "other," two different classifications for the same product
have been created, one for surimi of a uniform shape and size,
and another for those of a non-uniform shape and size. Because
subheading 1604.20 includes various provisions providing for
"pastes," "balls, cakes and puddings," "fish sticks," and
"other," it appears that the framers of the HTSUSA intended to
create several provisions wherein the various forms of surimi or
other fish products could be classified.
The terms "balls, cakes and puddings," as included in
subheading 1604.20 are not defined within the HTSUSA nor within
the applicable EN's. However, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate
Dictionary 126, 952 (1990) defines "ball" as "1: a round or
roundish body or mass..." and the term "paste" as "1a: a dough
that contains a considerable proportion of fat and is used for
pastry crust or fancy rolls...c: a smooth food product made by
evaporation or grinding." Surimi, in the form of chunks or
flakes, does not fit either definition.
-3-
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 086271, issued February
7, 1990, Customs, in citing The Random House Dictionary of the
English Language 208 (Unabridged ed., 1983), defined "cake" as:
1) A sweet baked food in loaf or layer form, made with or
without shortening, usually with baking powder or soda,
and liquid....
4) A shaped or molded mass of other food: a fish cake.
Because the surimi is shredded in order to create chunks and
flakes resembling crab body meat, and is imported in this
condition, it is not a "cake" (e.g., a shaped or molded mass of
food). See The Carrington Co., United Geophysical Corp. v. The
United States, 61 CCPA 77, C.A.D. 1126, 496 F. 2d 902 (1974)
stating that the classification of an imported article must rest
upon its condition as imported.
This position is in accord with prior Customs rulings. In
New York Ruling Letter 861474, issued April 10, 1991, salad cut
and fancy flake imitation crabmeat were classified in
1604.20.6090, and in HRL 086271, supra, individual and uniform
pieces of surimi, roughly cylindrical in shape, and formed from a
mixture including minced pollack, were classified in
1604.20.3000.
HOLDING:
The chunk and flake style surimi imitation crabmeat is
classifiable in subheading 1604.20.6090, as "Prepared or
preserved fish...: Other prepared or preserved fish: Other:
Other, Other." The general column one rate of duty is 6 percent
ad valorem.
You should advise the internal advice applicant of this
decision and forward them a copy.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director