OT:RR:CTF:CPMM H297801 APP
Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising
Center of Excellence and Expertise
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
1699 Phoenix Parkway, Suite 400
College Park, Georgia 30349
Attn.: Brooke McCoy, Import Specialist
RE: Protest and Application for Further Review Number 1401-18-100002; Tariff classification of a paperboard photo album
Dear Ms. McCoy:
The following is our decision regarding the Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest Number 1401-18-100002, timely filed on January 3, 2018, on behalf of Target General Merchandise, Inc. (“protestant”). The AFR concerns U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (“CBP”) tariff classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), of a paperboard photo album.
FACTS:
The instant item is a photo album with a faux leather paper cover. It contains 40 permanently bound paperboard pages (80-page capacity when counting front and back). Each page within the album is coated on both sides with a tacky substance and covered by a protective clear plastic overlay that can temporarily be peeled back to insert photos for storage and display. The overall dimensions of the album are 13 inches (L) x 10.4 inches (W). The page size is
8 inches x 10 inches.
The Protest and AFR cover two entries of the subject photo album made on August 23
and 26, 2016, under subheading 3926.90.48, HTSUS, which provides for “Other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings 3901 to 3914: Other: Photo albums.” On July 7, 2017, the entries were liquidated as entered. This Protest and AFR, filed on January 3, 2018, request reliquidation under subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar articles, exercise books, blotting pads, binders (looseleaf or other), folders, file covers, manifold business forms, interleaved carbon sets and other articles of stationery, of paper or paperboard; albums for samples or for collections and book covers (including cover boards and book jackets) of paper or paperboard: Albums for samples or for collections.”
ISSUE:
Whether the subject photo album is classifiable as a paperboard album of heading 4820, HTSUS, or as other article of plastics of heading 3926, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
CBP first notes that the matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2), as a matter on classification. The AFR was timely filed within 180 days of liquidation of the entries. See Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-429, § 2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)).
Further review of Protest Number 1401-18-100002 is properly accorded to protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed involves questions of law or fact, which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of Customs or his designee, or by the courts.
Merchandise imported into the United States is classified under the HTSUS, in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”). GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRIs taken in order. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the heading and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. Pursuant to GRI 6, classification at the subheading level uses the same rules, mutatis mutandis, as classification at the heading level.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
3926 Other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings 3901 to 3914:
4820 Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar articles, exercise books, blotting pads, binders (looseleaf or other), folders, file covers, manifold business forms, interleaved carbon sets and other articles of stationery, of paper or paperboard; albums for samples or for collections and book covers (including cover boards and book jackets) of paper or paperboard:
In interpreting the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) may be utilized. The ENs, though not dispositive or legally binding, provide commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS, and are the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed.
Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
EN 39.26 states, in relevant part:
This heading covers articles, not elsewhere specified or included, of plastics (as defined in Note 1 to the Chapter) or of other materials of headings 39.01 to 39.14.
They include: … (4) … file covers, document jackets, book covers and reading jackets, and similar protective goods made by sewing or glueing together sheets of plastics ….
EN 48.20 states, in relevant part:
This heading covers various articles of stationery, other than correspondence goods of heading 48.17 and the goods referred to in Note 10 to this Chapter. It includes:
(1) … note books of all kinds, … diaries ….
(6) Albums for samples or for collections (e.g., stamp, photograph) ….
Protestant asserts that the album is classifiable in heading 4820, HTSUS, because this heading covers albums for samples or for collections, and book covers of paper or paperboard, and the paperboard pages provide the album with its essential character under GRI 3(b). Protestant argues that the paperboard pages allow the photo album to hold, protect or store photographs, and contribute to the greatest weight, bulk, and quantity to the entire good.
We will first determine whether the subject merchandise is a paperboard album of
heading 4820, HTSUS. If the merchandise can be classified in heading 4820, HTSUS, via GRI 1, then there is no need to resort to heading 3926, HTSUS, which is the residual provision for plastics and covers articles of plastics not elsewhere specified or included.
The term “album” is not defined in the HTSUS or its legislative history. For guidance on the common meaning of “album,” we consulted a dictionary. The online Oxford dictionary defines an “album” as “[a] blank book for the insertion of photographs, stamps, or pictures.” Heading 4820, HTSUS covers albums for samples or for collections and book covers (including cover boards and book jackets) of paper or paperboard. EN 48.20 explains that this heading covers “Albums for samples or for collections (e.g., stamp, photograph)” and that the goods of this heading “may be bound with materials other than paper (e.g., leather, plastics or textile material)” as in the instant matter.
In Global Sourcing Group, 33 CIT at 395-405, 611 F. Supp. 2d at 1373-81, the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) held that the ENs to heading 4820 made it clear that an outer covering of plastic and vinyl materials did not disqualify albums from classification under heading 4820, HTSUS; that classification of a good under heading 4820 depended on whether it was comprised of paper or paperboard; and that merchandise specifically provided for in
chapter 48 was not covered by heading 3926 and there was no need to go beyond GRI 1.
CBP has previously classified albums of paper or paperboard in heading 4820, HTSUS. In NY N106615, dated June 14, 2010, CBP classified photo albums consisting of paper pages permanently bound between stiff paperboard covers, with plastic pockets to hold photos, in
heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS. In NY H85751, dated December 3, 2001, CBP classified a photo album consisting of paper or paperboard pages permanently bound (sewn) between hard covers covered with cloth in heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS. Each paper or paperboard page was partially wrapped with a clear plastic film and had four pockets designed to hold a single photograph in each pocket. In NY N174022, dated August 1, 2011, CBP classified a photo album binder consisting of paperboard pages coated with a tacky substance and a protective clear plastic overlay in
heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS.
In NY F89953, dated August 4, 2000, CBP classified a photo album consisting of numerous paperboard pages bound between metal covers and coated with a tacky substance covered by a protective, clear plastic overlay in heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS. In NY E89782, dated November 22, 1999, CBP classified an album consisting of 20 “magnetic” pages of stiff paper, coated on both sides with a tacky substance covered by a protective, clear plastic overlay that could be temporarily peeled back to insert photographs in heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS. In NY E88267, dated October 19, 1999, CBP classified a photo album consisting of stiff paper pages permanently bound between design-printed paperboard covers, each partially covered by a thin, clear plastic overlay under which photographs could be inserted, in heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically in
subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS.
In the instant matter, the album is similar to the albums in the above-listed NY rulings in that it is made from paperboard and is designed to hold photographs. The album contains 40 stiff paperboard pages coated on both sides with a tacky substance and covered by a protective clear plastic overlay that can be peeled back to insert photographs. Consistent with CIT’s holding in Global Sourcing Group, supra, the plastic overlay does not disqualify the paperboard album from being classified in heading 4820, HTSUS, and merchandise specifically provided for in chapter 48, is not covered by heading 3926, HTSUS.
Therefore, via GRI 1, the instant paperboard album is covered by heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically under subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the instant album is classified in heading 4820, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 4820.50.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar articles, exercise books, blotting pads, binders (looseleaf or other), folders, file covers, manifold business forms, interleaved carbon sets and other articles of stationery, of paper or paperboard; albums for samples or for collections and book covers (including cover boards and book jackets) of paper or paperboard: Albums for samples or for collections.” The 2016 column one, general rate of duty is free.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
Since reclassification of the merchandise as indicated above would result in the same rate of duty as claimed, you are instructed to allow the protest in full. A copy of this decision should be attached to the Form 19 Notice of Action.
Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to CBP personnel and to the public on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (“CROSS”), at https://rulings.cbp.gov/, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division