CLA-2-04:S:N:N7:228-885020
Ms. Patricia Compres
Customized Brokers
P.O. Box 163021
Miami, FL 33116
RE: The tariff classification of MANTIQUILLA CREMA from Honduras.
Dear Ms. Compres:
In your letter dated March 22, 1993, you requested a tariff
classification ruling on behalf of Herrera Tortillas Corporation of
Miami, Florida.
The product in question, MANTIQUILLA CREMA, is a cream colored
liquid which is used as a dressing on vegetables (e.g., on baked
potatoes), on meats and for similar applications. The product is
said to contain 75.95 percent moisture, 17.16 percent fat, 3.92
percent protein and 1 percent salt and to be made up, by weight, of
67.6 percent vegetable cream (at 18.65 percent fat), 30 percent
dairy cream (at 18 percent fat), stabilizer, salt, lactic cultures
and natural coloring. A sample, submitted with your request,
consisted of a retail plastic bag, containing eight ounces, by
weight, of product and packed under the "SULA" brand name. An
analysis by the Customs Laboratory at New York found the sample to
consist of 77.9 percent moisture, 17 percent fat (76.7 percent on
a dry basis), 3.6 percent protein and 0.9 percent salt, with a pH
of 3.7. Of the 17 percent fat, approximately 9 percent was found
to be butterfat. MANTIQUILLA CREMA will be imported vacuum packed
in one pound packages for retail sale.
Classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTS) is governed by the General
Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 requires that classification
be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the
tariff and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless
otherwise required, then according to the remaining GRIs, taken in
order. The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System, which represent the official
interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate
classification under the Harmonized Tariff by offering guidance in
understanding the scope of the headings and the General Rules.
The Explanatory Notes to heading 19.01 of the Harmonized
Tariff state that
"The preparations of this heading may be distinguished from the
products of headings 04.01 to 04.04, in that they contain, in
addition to natural milk constituents, other ingredients not
permitted in the products of those earlier headings. Thus
heading 19.01 includes, for example:
...
(2) Milk preparations obtained by replacing one or more con-
stituents or milk (e.g., butyric fats) by another substance
(e.g., oleic fats)."
Accordingly, based on the foregoing, the instant product, which is
an imitation dairy cream, containing natural milk constituents
(cream) and other ingredients not permitted in the products of
headings 04.01 to 04.04 (that is, the oleic fats in the product),
is properly classifiable in heading 19.01, HTS.
The applicable subheading for MANTIQUILLA CREMA will be
1901.90.3030, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTS), which provides for food preparations of goods of headings
0401 to 0404, not containing cocoa powder or containing cocoa
powder in a proportion by weight of less than 10 percent, not
elsewhere specified or included:...Other:...Malted milk; articles
of milk or cream not specially provided for...Other:...Provided for
in subheading 9904.10.60. The rate of duty will be 17.5 percent
ad valorem.
Articles classifiable in HTS subheading 1901.90.3030 are
subject to quota quantity restrictions listed in subchapter IV of
Chapter 99 in HTS subheading 9904.10.60, which limits the amount of
such goods which may be imported into the United States to an
annual quota quantity of 2,721 kilograms. Additionally, 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.
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