CLA-2-21:RR:NC:N2:228 L82489
Ms. Shirley Coffield
Coffieldlaw
666 Eleventh Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
RE: The tariff classification and country of origin marking of a sugar and gelatin blend from a foreign trade zone
Dear Ms. Coffield:
In your letters dated December 17, 2004 and February 7, 2005, on behalf of Streamline Foods, Inc., West Bloomfield, MI, you requested a tariff classification and country of origin marking ruling.
A sample, submitted with your February letter, was examined and disposed of. The product is a white material of fine granulation and uniform particle size, said to be composed of 95 percent sugar and 5 percent gelatin. The sugar and gelatin blend will be produced in a foreign trade zone in Toledo, OH, using sugar from Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, or other, unnamed countries, and gelatin powder from the United States, Brazil, or Argentina. The blend will be packed in tote bags containing from 1800 to 2700 pounds, and sold to food processors, who will use it as the principle ingredient in a gelatin dessert mix. The blend will be used as imported; the gelatin will not be separated from the sugar. The processors will add flavorings, colors, preservatives, salt, and sodium citrate. No additional gelatin, starch, vegetable gum, carrageenan or other food stabilizer will be added.
The applicable subheading for this sugar and gelatin blend will be 2106.90.5870, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for food preparations not elsewhere specified or included…other…other… of gelatin…other…containing sugar derived from sugar cane or sugar beets. The rate of duty will be 4.8 percent ad valorem.
The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.
The "country of origin" is defined in 19 CFR 134.1(b) as "the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States. Further work or material added to an article in another country must effect a substantial transformation in order to render such other country the 'country of origin' within the meaning of this part. For tariff purposes, the courts have held that a substantial transformation occurs if a new and different article emerges having a distinctive name, character or use. Anheuser Busch Brewing Association v. The United States, 207 U.S. 556 (1908) and Uniroyal Inc. v. United States, 542 F. Supp. 1026 (1982).
Applying the provisions of Part 134 of the facts of this case, we find that the imported sugar and gelatin blend is a good of the United States for marking purposes. Products of the United States are not subject to the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304.
This merchandise is subject to The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (The Bioterrorism Act), which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Information on the Bioterrorism Act can be obtained by calling FDA at 301-575-0156, or at the Web site www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Stanley Hopard at 646-733-3029.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division