CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 955028 jb
District Director
U.S. Customs Service
P.O. Box 610
Pembina, ND, 58271-0610
RE: Decision on Application for Further Review of Protest No.
3401-93-100017; wool
clippings are not yarn waste; clippings are more specifically
described as used or new rags; waste is a by-product of a
fiber yarn process; rags are a by-product of a fabric process
Dear Sir:
This is a decision on application for further review of a
protest timely filed on behalf of George Litchman & Son Inc. and
Standard Knitting Co. Ltd., on July 28, 1993, against your decision
regarding the classification of wool fabric cuttings. All entries
were liquidated on April 30, 1993. Samples were provided to this
office for examination.
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue consists of small new cuttings of
100 percent wool. The cuttings are small pieces that remain after
patterns are cut from the larger pieces. You classified the
material in subheading 6310.10.1000, HTSUSA, which provides for,
among other things, used or new rags. The protestant disagrees and
requests classification in subheading 5103.20.0000, HTSUSA, which
provides for, among other things, waste of wool or fine animal
hair.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), taken
in order. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined
according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or
chapter notes, taken in order. Where goods cannot be classified
solely on the basis of GRI 1, the remaining GRI will be applied,
in the order of their appearance.
Heading 5103, HTSUSA, provides for waste of wool or fine or
coarse animal hair, including yarn waste but excluding garnetted
stock. The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (EN) to heading 5103, HTSUSA, state,
in pertinent part:
In general this heading covers all waste (other than garnetted
stock) of wool or of fine or coarse animal hair, i.e., the
waste recovered during the successive treatments converting
the raw wool or hair into washed, carded, combed, spun, woven,
knitted, etc., products.
The principal wastes included here are:
(1) Wastes from combing, carding or other processes
preparatory to spinning, such as: noils, the most
important waste, composed of short fibres removed during
combing; lap and sliver ends, small waste pieces of the
combed lap; burr waste and carded shoddy, wastes collected during
carding; fibres recovered on cleaning the rollers of carding
machines and known as strippings.
(2) Yarn waste such as broken, knotted or tangled yarns
collected as waste during spinning, doubling, reeling,
weaving, knitting, etc., operations.
Heading 6310, HTSUSA, provides for, among other things, used
or new rags. The EN to heading 6310, HTSUSA, state in pertinent
part:
Rags of textile fabrics (including knitted or crocheted
fabrics, felt on nonwovens). Rags may consist of articles of
furnishing or clothing or of other old textile articles so worn
out, soiled or torn as to be beyond cleaning or repair, or of small
new cuttings (e.g., dressmakers' or tailors' snippings).
* * *
To fall in the heading, these products must be worn, dirty or
torn, or in small pieces. They are generally fit only for the
recovery (e.g., by pulling) of the fibres (which are usually re-
spun), for the manufacture of paper or plastics, for the
manufacture of polishing materials (e.g., polishing wheels),
or for use as industrial wipers (e.g., machine wipers).
All other textile waste and scrap, however, is excluded from
this heading. This exclusion applies particularly to tangled
yarn obtained during the process of manufacturing knitted and
crocheted fabrics, or by unravelling worn out knitted or
crocheted articles; any other waste or scrap textile yarns or
fibres (including those obtained from the padding of old
mattresses, cushions, bed-spreads, etc); garnetted stock.
These products are classified in Chapters 50 to 55 in the relevant
headings relating to "waste" or "garnetted stock".
Close reading of heading 5103, HTSUSA, reveals that the
heading addresses itself to yarn waste. Yarn waste can be defined
as a by-product of the fiber or yarn process. As such, what is
intended as "waste" includes fibers and yarns up to the point at
which they become fabric, but stopping at the fabric. The subject
wool cuttings are, from a processing perspective, beyond the point
of mere fibers or yarns. At the time they are considered waste
they are already cut pieces of fabric. The wool cuttings are a by-
product of making the garment or article itself and are thus
precluded from classification in heading 5103, HTSUSA.
Heading 6310, HTSUSA, includes within its provision, used or
new rags of textile fabrics. Among the definitions for "rags", the
EN to heading 6310, HTSUSA, state small new cuttings (e.g.,
dressmakers' or tailors' snippings). The instant wool cuttings
are obtained from the process of cutting the pattern for the
garment; at that time they are considered small new cuttings, i.e.,
snippings of fabric and not just fibers or yarns. Consequently,
the submitted wool cuttings are akin to the articles specifically
described in heading 6310, HTSUSA. Customs has, in the past,
issued many rulings on similar types of materials. In Headquarters
Ruling Letter (HQ) 951216, dated March 31, 1992 and HQ 083704,
dated June 14, 1989, new scrap carpeting and shredded Nomex
material produced from defective rolls or from trimmings,
respectively, were both classified in heading 6310, HTSUSA (See
also, HQ 952757, dated March 9, 1993, New York Ruling Letter (NY)
889026, dated August 13, 1993, NY 866226, dated August 26, 1991,
and HQ 082518, dated May 1, 1989).
HOLDING:
The submitted wool cuttings were correctly classified in
subheading 6310.10.1000, HTSUSA, which provides for, among other
things, used or new rags.
The protest should be denied in full. A copy of this ruling
should be appended to the Form 19 Notice of Action and furnished
to the Protestant.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division