CLA-2-02:S:N:N7:229-886277
Mr. Martin A. Bell, President
Bellboy Corporation
2220 Florida Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55426
RE: The tariff classification of frozen BONELESS BEEF from Canada.
Dear Mr. Bell:
In your letter dated May 11, 1993, you requested a tariff
classification ruling.
The product in question will be produced from beef cattle
slaughtered in various countries,--namely, in Australia, Canada,
Ireland, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Scotland or the United States.
After slaughter, carcass beef will be deboned and the primal cuts
and/or trimmings derived from primal cuts will be pack and frozen
and, then, (if not of Canadian origin), exported to Canada. In
Canada, the meat will be thawed to a temperature of 26 to 28
degrees Fahrenheit, prior to chopping in a guillotine or
centrifugal cutting machine. The cutting machine is set to cut
pieces of approximately one inch in thickness. However, due to
muscle strata, each slice may vary in height, breadth and weight.
Individual piece sizes will vary from finger sizes to sizes of up
to a few pounds,--you indicate a weight range from two ounces to
two and a half pounds. After cutting, you state that the meat will
be salted with two percent minimum salt, dispersed evenly on the
meat pieces. The salt will be applied by shaking salt over a
conveyor packing area, while turning the meat to salt all sides and
edges.
The meat is maintained at a temperature of 26 to 28 degrees
throughout the cutting and salting processes. After salting, it is
immediately packed into shipping containers and shipped at either
0 degrees Fahrenheit or 26 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit, as directed by
the U.S. customer. The balance of the weight of the salt will be
added to the packing carton. Meat shipped frozen is stored in cold
storage long enough to reduce the temperature to 0 degrees
Fahrenheit. Meat shipped at 26 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit is shipped
immediately. All product will be shipped in paperboard poly lined
combo bins weighing approximately in excess of a thousand pounds or
packed in 50 pound poly lined cartons.
You request a ruling classifying this BONELESS BEEF with added
salt as a product of Chapter 16. We do not believe such
classification would be appro- priate.
The classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) is governed by the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). The first General Rule
requires that the classification of goods be determined according
to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter
notes. The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System, which represent the official
interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate
classification under the HTSUSA by offering guidance in
understanding the scope of the headings and the General Rules.
The General Notes to Chapter 2, in the Explanatory Notes on
that Chapter, distinguishes the products included in this chapter
from those of Chapter 16, noting on page 14 that
"This Chapter covers meat and meat offal in the following states
only, whether or not they have been previously scalded or
similarly treated but not cooked:
(1) Fresh (including meat and meat offal, packed with salt as
a temporary preservative during transport).
(2) Chilled, that is, reduced in temperature generally to
around 0o C, without being frozen.
(3) Frozen, that is, cooled to below the product's freezing
point until it is frozen throughout.
(4) Salted, in brine, dried or smoked."
Based on this Note, it would appear that meat which has been
salted, whether lightly or heavily, is classifiable in Chapter 2.
For example, fresh meat, packed with salt as a temporary
preservative during transport, is not a heavily salted product but
is included by the Explanatory Notes as a product of Chapter 2.
Accordingly, the instant product, sprinkled and packed with salt in
a chilled or frozen condition, would also be classified in Chapter
2.
Heading 02.10 of the Harmonized Tariff provides, inter alia,
for
"Meat and edible meat offal, salted, in brine, dried or smoked".
The Explanatory Notes to the Combined Nomenclature of the European
Communities, published as a guide to classification in the
subheadings of the European Community's Harmonized Tariff,
interprets the term "salted," as used in heading 02.10, to include
product preserved by salting. These Notes state, with regard to
the period of preservation, that, "[a]lthough this method of
preservation is normally used as a temporary measure, the period of
such preservation must considerably exceed the time required for
transportation. Meat merely sprinkled with salt in order to ensure
its preservation while being transported remains classified as
fresh meat." Accordingly, the instant product, which is similar to
fresh beef sprinkled and packed in salt, is classifiable as frozen
beef.
The applicable subheading for frozen BONELESS BEEF, sprinkled
with 2 percent salt, will be 0202.30.6000, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for Meat of
bovine animals, frozen: Boneless:...Other. The rate of duty will
be 4.4 cents per kilogram.
Finally, meat which has been processed as described above
remains a product of that country in which the animal was
slaughtered. Accordingly, beef imported into Canada from other
countries, and there processed by the addition of 2 percent salt,
may be subject to an absolute quota under the provisions of Public
Law 88-482, as amended. Frozen beef from Australia and New
Zealand, which is classified in heading 02.02, HTS, may only be
entered into the United States--effective April 8, 1993 to the end
of the calendar year--,if imported as a direct shipment destined to
the United States on an original through bill of lading from
Australia or New Zealand, pursuant to Section 204 of the
Agriculture Act of 1956, as amended, (7 USC 1854) and Executive
Order 11539, as amended.
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