CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 959919 GGD
Mr. Henry Seamon
A & L Seamon, Inc.
375 Greenleaf Street
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18102
RE: Modification of New York Ruling Letter A87570; Tariff
Classification of a Wallet; Descriptions as to Composition
of Leather Products; 15 U.S.C. 1125; 16 CFR Part 24
Dear Mr. Seamon:
This is in response to your letter dated October 29, 1996,
requesting the modification of New York Ruling Letter (NY)
A87570, dated October 10, 1996, issued on your behalf to Barthco
Trade Consultants, Inc., regarding the tariff classification of a
small handbag or wallet under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). A sample was submitted to
this office for examination. We have determined that NY A87570
should be modified with respect to style number LP 1500. The
classification of style numbers LP 50, LP 1600, and 4270 remain
unchanged. Therefore, this ruling modifies NY A87570.
Pursuant to section 625(c)(1), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
1625(c)(1)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs
Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement
Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2186 (1993),
notice of the proposed modification of NY A87570, was published
on December 10, 1997, in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 31, Number
50.
FACTS:
Style number LP 1500 resembles a small handbag or wallet
having an outer surface of an expanded vinyl with a thin coat of
polyurethane and foam with a cotton fabric backing. The article
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has two folds with a leather flap and a snap closure. The
exterior surface of the polyurethane coat is calendered to give
it the appearance of a pebble grain. The exterior front of the
item has one open slot pocket and a zippered change pocket. The
edging appears to be composed of a very thin, plastic-coated
leather material.
The interior of the article is constructed of both thin
gauge leather and fabric components, but is embossed with a mark
which reads "GENUINE LEATHER," a statement tending to represent
that the entire article is composed of leather when, actually, it
is not. The interior of the item also features seven credit card
slots, a billfold slot, a utility slot, and a slot for a
checkbook. There is a separate checkbook cover with a textile
fabric interior and an outer surface matching the calendered
plastics material of the article's exterior surface.
ISSUES:
1) Whether the article is classified in subheading 4202.22,
HTSUS, which provides for handbags; or in subheading 4202.32,
HTSUS, which provides for articles of a kind normally carried in
the pocket or in the handbag.
2) Whether the article is properly marked as to the extent
of its leather composition.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with
the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that
the classification of goods shall be determined 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 may then
be applied. 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 GRI.
In NY A87570, Customs classified the article in subheading
4202.22.1500, HTSUSA which provides for "Handbags, whether or not
with shoulder strap, including those without handle: With outer
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surface of sheeting of plastic or of textile materials: With
outer surface of sheeting of plastic." You claim that the
subject merchandise is properly classified in subheading
4202.32.1000, HTSUSA, which provides for "Articles of a kind
normally carried in the pocket or in the handbag: With outer
surface of sheeting of plastic or of textile materials: With
outer surface of sheeting of plastic: Of reinforced or laminated
plastics."
The term "wallet" is not defined in the HTSUS, nor in the
applicable EN to heading 4202. However, we note the following
definitions of the term "wallet" from lexicographic sources:
Essential Terms of Fashion: A Collection of Definitions,
Charlotte M. Calasibetts, Fairchild Publications, 1986: an
item used to carry paper money, credit cards, photographs
and sometimes with a change purse or space for a check book
or pad.
The Fashion Dictionary, Mary Brooks Picken, Funk & Wagnalls,
1973: 1. Flat purse or pocketbook, for carrying either paper
money or coins.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Meriam Co.,
1977: 1. A bag for carrying miscellaneous articles while
traveling; 2A. billfold B. a pocketbook with compartments
for change, photographs, cards, and keys.
Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Simon
& Schuster, Inc., 1988: 1. [Archaic] a knapsack; 2. A flat
pocketbook, as of leather, with compartments for paper
money, cards, etc.; billfold.
The term "handbag" has been defined as follows:
Essential Terms of Fashion: A Collection of Definitions:
Accessory carried primarily by women and girls to hold such
items as money, credit cards, and cosmetics.
The Fashion Dictionary: Soft or rigid bag carried in hand or
on arm. Size, shape, handle, etc., depend on fashion. Used
by women as container for money and pocket-sized
accessories.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary: 1. Traveling bag; 2. A
woman's bag held in the hand or hung from a shoulder strap
and used for carrying small personal articles and money.
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Webster's New World Dictionary: A bag, usually of leather or
cloth, held in the hand or hung by a strap from the arm or
shoulder and used, by women, to carry money, keys, and
personal effects.
A review of the above-cited definitions of "handbag" reveals
that each lexicographic source describes a bag used by women
which is designed to carry money, credit cards, keys, and small
or pocket-sized personal effects (e.g., a hairbrush, cosmetics,
etc.). In HQ 957632, dated March 24, 1995, this office noted
that "the determinative feature of a handbag is its ability to
hold several objects not associated with a wallet." In this
case, the subject article is fitted to hold objects associated
with a wallet. The item is flat and possesses slots and pockets
to hold credit cards, identification cards, paper currency and
coins. In addition, the article is of a size suitable for
carrying within a handbag. The interior slots, the open slit
exterior pocket, and the zippered exterior pocket do not possess
sufficient capacity to hold small personal effects that are
typically carried in a handbag. Therefore, the merchandise at
issue meets the various descriptions of a wallet set forth above,
and is classified in subheading 4202.32.1000, HTSUSA.
While mindful that the article examined by this office is a
sample, we note with respect to the wallet's interior mark which
reads "GENUINE LEATHER" that false descriptions of goods are
forbidden by 15 U.S.C. 1125(a)(1)(B), which in pertinent part
states:
(a)(1) Any person who, on or in connection with any goods...
uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or
any combination thereof, or any...false or misleading
description of fact, or false or misleading representation
of fact, which--
(B) in commercial advertising or promotion,
misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities...
of his or her or another person's goods...
shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes
that he or she is or is likely to be damaged by such act.
We also note that the United States Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) has published "Guides for Select Leather and Imitation
Leather Products," 16 CFR Part 24, in the Federal Register,
Volume 61, Number 193, dated October 3, 1996. The "Guides" are
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applicable to the manufacture, sale, distribution, marketing, or
advertising of all kinds or types of leather or simulated-leather
articles (including, but not limited to, wallets, billfolds, key
cases, handbags, shoulder bags, purses, pocketbooks, etc.), and
represent interpretations of laws administered by the FTC for the
guidance of the public in conducting its affairs legally.
Regarding deception as to an article's composition, 16 CFR Part
24.2 states, in pertinent part:
It is unfair or deceptive to misrepresent...the composition
of any industry product or part thereof. It is unfair or
deceptive to use the unqualified term "leather" or other
unqualified terms suggestive of leather to describe industry
products unless the industry product so described is
composed in all substantial parts of leather....
(e) A misrepresentation should not be made...that an
industry product is made wholly of a particular composition.
A representation as to the composition of a particular part
of a product should clearly indicate the part to which the
representation applies....
In light of the above, we suggest that the subject article
be marked along the following lines: "INTERIOR OF LEATHER,
BALANCE OF MAN-MADE MATERIALS" if, indeed, the interior is
composed of 100 percent leather.
HOLDING:
Style number LP 1500 is properly classified in subheading
4202.32.1000, HTSUSA, as an article of a kind normally carried in
the pocket or in the handbag with outer surface of sheeting of
plastic: of reinforced or laminated plastics. The general column
one rate of duty is 12.1 cents/kilogram plus 4.6 percent ad
valorem.
NY A87570, issued October 10, 1996, is hereby modified.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division