CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 961209 RH
Mr. Rick E. Moore
Director Sales and Marketing, International
Paper Products Marketing
806 S.W. Broadway, Suite 300
Portland, Oregon 97205
RE: Classification of computer forms paper; subheading
4810.52.1000; writing paper
Dear Mr. Moore:
This is in reply to your letter of October 1, 1997, requesting a
ruling on the classification of computer forms paper.
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue is plain white computer forms paper
imported from Thailand in rolls ranging in width from 24" to 50"
and from 40" to 50" in diameter. You state that the paper is
made of approximately 89% chemical wood pulp fiber and 11%
ash/filler. The paper will be further manufactured after
importation, i.e., cut, print, perforated, etc., into fan-folded
computer printout paper with a green/white banded appearance.
ISSUE:
What is the classification of the computer forms paper?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of goods under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) is governed by the General
Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that
classification shall be determined according to the terms of the
headings and any relative section or chapter notes.
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Heading 4802 encompasses "Uncoated paper and paperboard, of a
kind used for writing, printing or other graphic purposes, and
punch card stock and punch tape paper, in rolls or sheets, other
than paper of heading 4801 or 4803; handmade paper and
paperboard: Weighing 40 g/mý or more but not more than 150 g/mý.
Note 4 (c) to Chapter 48, reads:
In addition to hand-made paper and paperboard, heading 4802
covers only paper and paperboard made mainly from bleached
pulp or from pulp obtained by a mechanical process and
satisfying any of the following criteria:
* * *
(c) Containing more than 3 percent ash and having a
brightness of 60 percent
or more;
A Customs laboratory analyzed the paper at issue and found that
it had 7.8 percent ash and a brightness of 87.1 percent on one
side and 87.9 percent on the other side. Thus, the paper
satisfies Note 4(c), Chapter 48, for classification within
heading 4802.
Customs has classified computer paper under subheading
4802.52.1000, HTSUSA, as writing paper. See, New York Ruling
Letter (NY) 808208, dated March 24, 1995, and NY 835943, dated
April 5, 1989. See also, HQ 076583, dated February 6, 1986,
which, although decided under the Tariff Schedule of the United
States (TSUS), sets forth the rationale for classifying computer
paper as writing paper. In that ruling, we stated that:
[W]riting papers have been defined, for tariff purposes, as
paper "for the recordation of data by pen, pencil,
typewriter or similar device as means of communication by
one or a limited number of copies to one or a limited number
of receivers" . . . Customs has held that paper chiefly used
in or with such machines, for such purposes, is writing
paper.
The American Paper Institute, in its May 1984 Supplement to the
Dictionary of Paper, Fourth Edition (1980), states that "Writing
papers consist of a wide variety of papers suitable for pen and
ink writing or for use with the typewriter, automatic accounting
equipment, copiers, computers, etc." Emphasis added. The
Supplement specifically notes that end use products include, but
are not limited to, "writings, letters, notes, mimeographing,
spirit duplicating, electrostatic copying, convenience copying
papers, writing tablets, envelopes, bank checks, currency, ledger
sheets, business and accounting forms, including computer print-out forms and deposit slips." Emphasis added.
Based on the foregoing, we find that the computer forms paper is
classifiable as writing paper under subheading 4802.52.1000,
HTSUSA.
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HOLDING:
The computer forms paper at issue is classifiable as writing
paper under subheading 4802.52.1000, HTSUSA. It is dutiable at
the general one column rate at 1.4 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division