CLA-2-8:OT:RR:NC:2:228
Mr. Michael McCullough
Vandegrift Forwarding Company, Inc.
9317 Cheshire Road
Sunbury, OH 43074
RE: The tariff classification and country of origin of strawberry products from China and France
Dear Mr. McCullough:
In your letter dated April 6, 2009, on behalf of Chaucer Foods Inc. Syosset, NY, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Your letter described three products: freeze-dried strawberry fines with achenes, 5 mm to 50 mesh, freeze-dried strawberry fines milled to 80 mesh, and freeze-dried strawberry achenes. All three are described as by-products of the production of the freeze-dried, sliced, and/or diced strawberries. Samples of the freeze-dried strawberry achenes, and the freeze-dried strawberries with achenes 5 mm to 50 mesh, were submitted separately, received by this office on July 28, 2009. The sample of the achenes, small dry grain-like particles, was examined and disposed of. The sample of strawberries with achenes was forwarded to the Customs and Border Protection laboratory. Laboratory analysis of the sample of the strawberries with achenes, found 89.70 percent, by weight, of the product passed through a sieve with a 1.25 mm aperture. Your letter states strawberries, grown and harvested in various countries, will be freeze-dried, sliced, and diced in China or France. The by-products of that operation, the fines and achenes, are sieved to 5mm to 50 mesh in size, or milled to 80 mesh in size.
The applicable subheading for the freeze-dried strawberry fines with achenes will be 0813.40.2060, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for fruit, dried, other than that of headings 0801 to 0806…other fruit…berries… other…other. The rate of duty will be 1.4 cents per kilogram.
The applicable subheading for the freeze-dried strawberry achenes will be 1212.99.9100, HTSUS, which provides for fruit stones and kernels and other vegetable products (including unroasted chicory roots of the variety Cichorium intybus sativum) of a kind used primarily for human consumption, not elsewhere specified or included…other…other…other. The rate of duty will be 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 on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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.
Your inquiry does not provide enough information for us to issue a classification ruling on the freeze-dried strawberry fines milled to 80 mesh in size. Your request for a classification ruling should include a sample for laboratory analysis.
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.
Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and the exceptions of 19 U.S.C. §1304. Section 134.1(b), Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. §134.1(b)), defines "country of origin" 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 the marking laws and regulations. An article used in manufacture which results in an article having a name, character, or use differing from that of the constituent article will be considered substantially transformed. United States v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 C.C.P.A. 267 (C.A.D. 98)(1940).
In this case, the imported freeze dried strawberry fines with achenes and the strawberry achenes are not substantially transformed as a result of the processing in China or France. They will remain goods of their respective country or countries of origin. The products must be marked to state they are a “product of” their particular country or, if a blend, the multiple countries of origin.
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