CLA-2 RR:TC:FC 958588K
Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
2nd & Chestnut Streets
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106
RE: Application For Further Review of Protest No. 1101-95-100616;
Bone Glue
Dear Port Director:
The following is our response to the referral by your
office, dated November 1, 1995, of the request for further review
of the above-referenced protest.
FACTS:
The consumption entry covering the imported merchandise was
liquidated on August 25, 1995, under the provision for inedible
gelatin and animal glue, valued 88 cents per kg, in subheading
3503.00.4000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS), with duty at the 1995 general rate of 4.1 cent per kg,
plus 5.6 percent ad valorem. A timely protest under 19 U.S.C.
1514 was received on September 15, 1995. The protestant
requested reliquidation of the entry under the provision for
other animal products not elsewhere specified or included,
chiefly used as food for animals or as ingredients in such food,
in subheading 0511.99.3000, HTSUS, with a 1995 free rate of duty.
The entry documents, including the commercial invoice and
the Certificate of Origin of the People's Republic of China,
describe the imported merchandise as bone glue. A document was
submitted from the foreign supplier dated May 12, 1995,
describing the production process for the imported bone glue. A
Customs Laboratory Report dated June 23, 1995, states that a
submitted sample was animal glue (bone glue). We conclude that
the imported merchandise is bone glue.
However a further document was submitted dated May 10, 1995,
describing a processing method to produce "Protein-Plus" animal
feed pellet binder with the use of the imported bone glue to
substantiate the protestant's claim that the bone glue is chiefly
used as food for animals or as ingredients in such food, and
classified in subheading 0511.99.3000, HTSUS.
ISSUE:
The issue is whether bone glue (animal glue) is specifically
provided for in heading 3503.00, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 3503.00, HTSUS, provides for gelatin (including
gelatin in rectangular (including square) sheets, whether or not
surface-worked or colored) and gelatin derivatives; isinglass;
other glues of animal origin, excluding casein glues of heading
3501. (Emphasis added.) Subheading 3503.00.1000, HTSUS
specifically covers fish glue and subheadings 3503.00.2000 and
3503.00.4000, HTSUS, specifically cover inedible gelatin and
animal glue, based upon value. Animal glue, therefore, is
specifically provided for in heading 3503.00, HTSUS.
Heading 0511, HTSUS, provides for animal products not
elsewhere specified or included; dead animals of chapter 1 or 3,
unfit for human consumption. (Emphasis added.) Since glues of
animal origin are specified in heading 3503.00, HTSUS, it would
preclude coverage in a heading for animal products not elsewhere
specified.
Assuming that the merchandise may be classified in heading
0511, HTSUS (and we do not concede this question), no evidence
has been submitted that the products are chiefly (or principally)
used as food for animals or as ingredients in such food, as
required by subheading 0511.99.3000, HTSUS. The document
submitted with the protest dated May 12, 1995, describing the
bone glue production process, lists many uses of the bone glue
such as in the production of glue products, in printing and
dyeing, in the production of amino acid, as a binder in animal
feed, in wooden furniture, and in textiles.
The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System, which represent the official
interpretation of the tariff at the international level,
facilitate classification under the HTSUS by offering guidance in
understanding the scope of the headings and General Rules of
Interpretation of the HTSUS. The general note to Chapter 5, EN,
states that "This Chapter covers a variety of materials of animal
origin, unworked or having undergone a simple process of
preparation, which are not normally used as food (except certain
blood, guts, bladders and stomachs of animals) and which are not
dealt with in other Chapters of the Nomenclature." The EN for
heading 3503, states, in part, that "gelatin and the glues of
this heading are water-soluble protein substances obtained by
treating...cartilage, bones...or similar animal materials,
usually with warm water with or without additions of acids." The
production document of the foreign supplier, dated May 12, 1995,
describes a product that has been processed beyond crude raw
animal material.
HOLDING:
Bone glue, if valued 88 cents or more per kg, is classified
in subheading 3503.00.4000, HTSUS, as animal glue, with duty at
the 1995 general rate of 4.1 cent per kg, plus 5.6 percent ad
valorem.
You are directed to deny the protest in full.
In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive
099 3550-065, Revised Protest Directive, dated August 4, 1993, a
copy of this decision attached to Customs Form 19, Notice of
Action, should be provided by your office to the protestant no
later than 60 days from the date of this decision and any
reliquidations of entries in accordance with this decision must
be accomplished prior thereto. Sixty days from the date of this
decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will take steps to
make this decision available to Customs personnel via the Customs
Rulings Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette
Subscription Service, Freedom of Information Act and other public
access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification
Appeals Division