CLA-2-48:RR:NC:2:234 M86916
Ms. Eleanore Kelly-Kobayashi
Rode & Qualey, Attorneys at Law
55 West 39th Street
New York, N.Y. 10018
RE: The tariff classification of BD Visidrape ™ (Product No. 581720); Country of Origin determination of same.
Dear Ms. Kelly-Kobayashi:
In your letters dated June 19, 2006 and September 26, 2006, on behalf of your client, Becton Dickinson, you requested a tariff classification ruling and country of origin determination for the referenced article. A sample was submitted, which will be returned, per your instruction. Certain specifications now provided by you, for which confidential treatment is requested, will not be disclosed herein, as such disclosure is not required, although the data was necessary in forming the classification decision.
The product and the circumstances of its production are described by you as “a full body aperture drape for use during eye surgery. The drape measures 65 inches by 100 inches with an opening which measures 2 ¼ inches by 1 ½ inches. The surgical drape has a three-sided bag made of plastic that is designed for fluid collection during an operation. “
“The material for the drape is manufactured in France and the plastic bags or pockets are manufactured in Belgium. The drape material in industrial rolls and the pockets are shipped to China where the drape material is cut to size and shape, the opening for the eye is created, the pockets are attached and the drapes are folded. The finished drapes are then shipped to Scotland where they are put into pouches/bags, and sterilized.”
“The drape material is a single layer and is composed (preponderantly of) natural pulp and (to a relatively small degree) of polyester. (Synthetic binders comprising a minute percentage of the total weight of the material, are also present.) The manufacturing process for the surgical drape involves a dilute slurry of water and fibers, both natural pulp and polyester man made fibers which are randomly deposited on a moving wire screen and then drained to form a web. This web is further dewatered, consolidated by pressing, and dried on steam heated cylinders. The web is then impregnated with synthetic binders and creped.”
The drape material thus produced, of these constituent fibers, in a process which parallels paper-making in all respects, is considered for the purpose of this ruling to be paper. The product under consideration, “BD Visidrape”, etc., is, as you propose, a composite article, the two principal components of which are plastic goods of chapter 39, HTS, and paper of chapter 48. Further, we concur that, under these circumstances, whether GRI 3(b) applies, or whether GRI 3(c) must be resorted to, classification will be governed by the paper component.
Accordingly, following established precedent, the applicable subheading for the BD Visidrape™, Product No. 581720, will be 4818.90.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for: Other (than certain specified) sanitary or hospital articles, of paper. The rate of duty will be Free.
With respect to country of origin, we are persuaded by your proposal, at page 6 of your letter of September 26, 2006, that the rolls of (paper) material manufactured in France and the plastic pockets made in Belgium are substantially transformed into the BD Visidrape™ in China, and that the packaging and sterilization operations performed in Scotland do not effect a further substantial transformation. The country of origin of the imported BD Visidrape™ product is China.
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 on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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 Carl Abramowitz at 646-733-3037.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division