CLA-2-02:S:N:N7:229-892236
Mr. John M. Poole
John A Steer Co.
28 South Second Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
RE: The tariff classification of fresh or frozen BONELESS BEEF, with 3 percent added salt, from New Zealand.
Dear Mr. Poole:
In your letter dated November 5, 1993, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of A.S.C. Imports, Ltd. of Miami Beach, Florida.
The product in question is described as fresh or frozen beef of New Zealand origin, slaughtered and processed in New Zealand. The processing involved is described in your submission, as follows. After slaughter, and prior to the onset of rigor mortis, the beef will be deboned. This boneless beef, in pieces of about five or six pounds each, will then be tumbled, to get the myosin out of the meat and thus enhance its absorption ability. While the meat is being tumbled, some three percent by weight of salt will be added, and tumbling continued until all the salt has been absorbed. After tumbling, the boneless beef will be packed into 60 pound cartons, and may be shipped either fresh or frozen. After importation, this product will be used in the making of sausage.
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 appropriate.
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 inter-pretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate classification under the HTSUSA by offering guidance in under-standing 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 beef, fresh or frozen, of chapter 2.
The applicable subheading for fresh BONELESS BEEF, sprinkled with 3 percent salt, will be 0201.30.6000, 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.
The applicable subheading for frozen BONELESS BEEF, sprinkled with 3 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.
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