OT:RR:CTF:FTM H341768 TSM
Ms. Laura Oliver A.N.
Deringer, Inc.
173 West Service Road
Champlain, NY 12919
RE: Tariff Classification of Frozen Shrimp Dumplings
Dear Ms. Oliver,
This letter is in response to your request, on behalf of T&T Supermarkets (“T&T or
“Requestor”), dated August 15, 2024, for a binding ruling regarding the tariff classification of
certain shrimp dumplings under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(“HTSUS”).
In your request, you asked that the specific ingredient combinations and percentages
contained in the shrimp dumplings be treated as confidential. Inasmuch as this request conforms
to the requirements of 19 C.F.R. § 177.2(b)(7), the request for confidentiality is approved. The
specified items will not be released to the public and will be withheld from the published
decision.
FACTS:
The shrimp dumplings at issue are featured in three varieties that each contain greater
than 20 percent by weight of shrimp, other ingredients such as bamboo shoot and egg powder, as
well as a variety of seasonings. The dough jacket that comprises the outer shell of each dumpling
variety is derived from wheat starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, water, and refined soybean oil.
The dumplings will be imported for retail sale and will be shipped frozen and ready to cook.
ISSUE:
What is the tariff classification of the shrimp dumplings at issue?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of
Interpretation (“GRIs”). 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 GRIs 2 through 6 may then be
applied in order.
The 2025 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
1605 Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or preserved
* * *
1902 Pasta, whether or not cooked or stuffed (with meat or other substances) or otherwise
prepared, such as spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli, cannelloni;
couscous, whether or not prepared
* * *
Note 2 to Chapter 16 provides as follows:
Food preparations fall in this chapter provided that they contain more than 20
percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or crustaceans, molluscs
or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof. In cases where the
preparation contains two or more of the products mentioned above, it is classified
in the heading of chapter 16 corresponding to the component or components which
predominate by weight. These provisions do not apply to the stuffed products of
heading 1902 or to the preparations of heading 2103 or 2104 (emphasis added).
* * *
Note 1(a) to Chapter 19 provides as follows:
This chapter does not cover:
(a) Except in the case of stuffed products of heading 1902, food preparations containing
more than 20 percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or
2
crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof
(chapter 16)
* * *
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes
(“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally
binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the
Harmonized System at the international level and are generally indicative of the proper
interpretation of these headings. See Treas. Dec. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23,
1989).
EN 19.02 states that:
The pasta of this heading are unfermented products made from semolinas or
flours of wheat, maize, rice, potatoes, etc.
These semolinas or flours (or intermixtures thereof) are first mixed with water and
kneaded into a dough which may also incorporate other ingredients (e.g., very
finely chopped vegetables, vegetable juice or purées, eggs, milk, gluten, diastases,
vitamins, colouring matter, flavouring).
The doughs are then formed (e.g., by extrusion and cutting, by rolling and cutting,
by pressing, by moulding or by agglomeration in rotating drums) into specific
predetermined shapes (such as tubes, strips, filaments, cockleshells, beads,
granules, stars, elbow-bends, letters). In this process a small quantity of oil is
sometimes added. These forms often give rise to the names of the finished
products (e.g., macaroni, tagliatelle, spaghetti, noodles).
The products are usually dried before marketing to facilitate transport, storage and
conservation; in this dried form, they are brittle. The heading also covers undried
(i.e., moist or fresh) and frozen products, for example, fresh gnocchi and frozen
ravioli.
The pasta of this heading may be cooked, stuffed with meat, fish, cheese or other
substances in any proportion or otherwise prepared (e.g., as prepared dishes
containing other ingredients such as vegetables, sauce, meat). Cooking serves to
soften the pasta without changing its basic original form.
Stuffed pasta may be fully closed (for example, ravioli), open at the ends (for
example, cannelloni) or layered, such as lasagne.
* * *
3
Note 2 to Chapter 16 and Note 1(a) to Chapter 19 provide that products which contain
more than twenty percent by weight of meat are classified in Chapter 16. However, consistent
with the referenced Notes, stuffed pasta is classified in heading 1902, HTSUS, regardless of the
meat’s weight. As such, we must first determine whether the shrimp dumplings at issue are
stuffed pasta.
In HQ H180095, dated September 3, 2013, we proffered several definitions of the term
“pasta.” 1 We cited to Webster’s College Dictionary, which defines “pasta” as “a flour paste or
dough made of semolina and dried, as for spaghetti and macaroni, or used fresh, as for ravioli.”
See Webster’s College Dictionary 1053 (4th Ed. 2007). We also cited The American Heritage
Dictionary, which defines “pasta” as “1. Unleavened dough, made of wheat flour, water, and
sometimes eggs, that is molded into any of a variety of shapes and boiled.” These definitions are
consistent with EN 19.02, which defines pasta as being comprised of semolina or flour which is
mixed with water and then kneaded into dough. EN 19.02 further provides that pasta may be
cooked and stuffed with meat, fish or other substances, and may be moist or fresh (e.g. fresh
gnocchi), or frozen (e.g. frozen ravioli).
In HQ H199095, dated December 5, 2019, CBP classified frozen Asian dumplings
consisting of a dough jacket derived from wheat flour and water, and stuffed with turkey,
chicken, shrimp and/or fish, in heading 1902, HTSUS. In that ruling, CBP concluded that the
Asian dumplings are classifiable as stuffed pasta of heading 1902, HTSUS, because Note 2 to
Chapter 16 excludes them from classification in Chapter 16.
In HQ H316296, dated August 3, 2021, CBP classified gluten-free pasta made from
soybean flour and water in heading 1902, HTSUS. In that ruling, the manufacturing process
consisting of “processing the beans into flour,” “processing the flour into dough,” “and further
processing the dough into pasta” by means of extrusion, drying, cooling, and cutting, was found
to be identical to the process described in the ENs to heading 1902, HTSUS, pertaining to the
manufacture of pasta. Moreover, the gluten-free pasta was found to exhibit the same general
physical characteristics of traditionally made pasta, in turn imparting an expectation on the part
of the ultimate purchaser that the gluten-free pasta should be utilized as if it were traditionally
made pasta.
Consistent with the foregoing, stuffed pasta of heading 1902, HTSUS, typically consists
of a semolina or flour dough jacket stuffed with meat, fish, or other substances. Moreover,
stuffed pasta consisting of a vegetable flour dough jacket and stuffed with meat, fish, or other
substances, is also classified in heading 1902, HTSUS, as long as it exhibits the same general
physical characteristics and undergoes the same manufacturing process as pasta made of
1
When, as in this case, a tariff term is not defined by the HTSUS or its legislative history, “the term’s correct
meaning is its common meaning.” Mita Copystar Am. v. United States, 21 F.3d 1079, 1082 (Fed. Cir. 1994). The
common meaning of a term used in commerce is presumed to be the same as its commercial meaning. Simod Am.
Corp. v. United States, 872 F.2d 1572, 1576 (Fed. Cir. 1989). To ascertain the common meaning of a term, a court
may consult “dictionaries, scientific authorities, and other reliable information sources” and “lexicographic and
other materials.” C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 673 F.2d 1268, 1271 (CCPA 1982); Simod, 872 F.2d at 1576. 2
Flour, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/flour (last visited April 3, 2025).
4
semolina or flour dough. Turning to the shrimp dumplings under consideration, we note that
their outer shells are made of wheat starch, potato starch, and tapioca starch. Upon review, we
find that the manufacturing process and physical characteristics of starch are not the same as
those of semolina or flour discussed above as it relates to pasta. While flour manufacturing
consists of grinding the grains in a series of rollermills and sifting, 2 starch manufacturing consists
crushing of starch-containing tubers or seeds, mixing of the resulting pulp with water
and freeing of the resulting paste of impurities, and subsequent drying. 2 Moreover, starch is only
one of the components found in flour, which also contains protein, polysaccharides, and lipids. 4
Therefore, because of the different manufacturing process of semolina or flour compared to
starch, which is included in the subject product, we conclude that the shrimp dumplings at issue
are not classified as stuffed pasta in heading 1902, HTSUS.
Since the subject shrimp dumplings fall outside of the scope of heading 1902, HTSUS,
we now examine Chapter 16, HTSUS. Note 2 to Chapter 16, HTSUS, provides that “[f]ood
preparations fall in this chapter provided that they contain more than 20 percent by weight of . . .
fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof.”
With regard to the term “food preparation,” in HQ H270926, dated October 25, 2016,
CBP stated the following:
“[I]n BASF Corp. v. United States, [29 C.I.T. 681 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2005),] the
Court of International Trade considered the following definitions of the
terms “mixture” and “preparation”: (a) according to the General Rules of
Interpretation, a “mixture” is a “composite [good] consisting of different
materials or made up of different components”; (b) in United States v.
Hanrahan, 45 C.C.P.A. 120, 122 (1958), a “preparation” is defined as:
“where the imported merchandise is a distinct and recognized article of
commerce, having an individual name, and which is produced from a raw
material by a definite series of steps, such merchandise is a preparation”;
(c) in Orlando Food Corp. v. United States, 140 F.3d 1437, 1441 (Fed. Cir.
1998), the court stated: “Inherent in the term ‘preparation’ is the notion that
the object involved is destined for a specific use. The relevant definition
from The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘preparation’ as ‘a substance
specially prepared, or made up for its appropriate use or application, e.g. as
food or medicine, or in the arts or sciences.’ The Oxford English Dictionary
374 (2d. ed. 1989).”
2
Starch, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/science/starch (last visited April 3, 2025). 4 Bulk and
Surface Chemical Composition of Wheat Flour Particles of Different Sizes, Wiley Online Library,
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2019/5101684#:~:text=The%20major%20components%20of%20wheat,
approximately%202%25)%20%5B1%5D (last visited April 3, 2025).
5
Upon review and consistent with the above definitions, we find that the shrimp dumplings
at issue qualify as a distinct article of commerce produced from raw materials by a definite series
of steps, or a substance specifically prepared for use as a food. As such, the subject shrimp
dumplings are a food preparation. Additionally, because the shrimp dumplings contain greater
than 20% by weight of shrimp, which are crustaceans, the dumplings are also a food preparation
within the meaning of Note 2 to Chapter 16. As such, they are classified in heading 1605,
HTSUS, which provides for “Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or
preserved.” More specifically, the shrimp dumplings are classified in subheading 1605.21.05,
HTSUS, which provides for “Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic
invertebrates, prepared or preserved: Shrimps and prawns: Not in airtight containers: Products
containing fish meat; prepared meals.”
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the shrimp dumplings at issue are classified in heading
1605, HTSUS, and specifically in subheading 1605.21.05, HTSUS, which provides for
“Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or preserved: Shrimps and
prawns: Not in airtight containers: Products containing fish meat; prepared meals.” The 2025
column one, general rate of duty is 5% ad valorem.
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.
Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the
assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and
incorporated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and
complete in every material respect. The application of a ruling letter by a Customs Service field
office to the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts
incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual
transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.”
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time the
goods are entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought
to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Sarah Kafka, Chief
Food, Textiles, and Marking Branch
6