CLA-2-04:S:N:N7:231 813709

Mr. Louis Marino
Schratter Foods Incorporated
72 Summit Avenue
Montvale, NJ 07645

RE: The tariff classification of butter from Belgium.

Dear Mr. Marino:

In your letter, dated August 4, 1995, you have requested a tariff classification ruling. The product is called, "Trex 832 Puff Pastry Butter." It will be sold to manufacturers of bakery and confectionary goods as butter for use in their products. In your correspondance you state that the ingredients will be butterfat (82 percent minimum), water (16 percent maximum), and non-fat milk solids (2 percent maximum).

The manufacturing process is comprised of the following steps: First, cream is churned into butter. The butter undergoes AMF, dry fractionation, fat phase composition, emulsion, pasteurization, texturization/crystalliza- tion, and packing. It is packed in food grade, poly-lined cartons, each weighing 10 kilograms, net.

The applicable subheading for "Trex 832 Puff Pastry Butter," if imported in quantities that fall within the limits described in additional U.S. note 6 to chapter 4, will be 0405.00.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for butter and other fats and oils derived from milk, butter, described in additional U.S. note 6 to chapter 4 and entered pursuant to its provisions. The rate of duty will be 12.3 cents per kilogram. If the quantitative limits of additional U.S. note 6 to chapter 4 have been reached, the product will be classified in subheading 0405.00.4000, HTS, and will be dutiable at US $1.768 per kilogram. In addition, products classified in subheading 0405.00.4000, HTS, will be subject to additional duties based on their value, as described in subheadings 9904.04.09 - 9904.04.21, HTS. An import license, issued to the importer by the United States Department of Agriculture, will be required at the time such merchandise is entered for consumption into the United States.

Questions regarding licensing procedures and applications for licenses to import butter subject to quota should be addressed to:

U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service Import Policies and Trade Analysis Division Att: Dairy Import Group, Rm. 5531, So. Bldg. Washington, DC 20250-1000

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177.

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.


Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport