CLA-2-21:RR:NC:2:228 L83843
Ms. Shirley A. Coffield
Coffieldlaw
666 Eleventh Street, N.W.
Suite 315
Washington, D.C. 20001
RE: The tariff classification and country of origin marking of sugar and gelatin blends from a foreign trade zone.
Dear Ms. Coffield:
In your letter dated March 29, 2005, on behalf of Streamline Foods, Inc., West Bloomfield, MI, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Samples and ingredients breakdowns were submitted with your letter. Examination of the samples found the products to be of a fine granulation, with the sugar and gelatin particles virtually indistinguishable. The blends are said to be composed of 91.43 percent sugar/8.57 percent gelatin, 91.33 percent sugar/8.67 percent gelatin, 91.25 percent sugar/8.75 percent gelatin, 91.17 percent sugar/8.83 percent gelatin, 91.08 percent sugar/8.92 percent gelatin, and 90.99 percent sugar/9.01 percent gelatin. Sugar produced in Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, or another developing country, and gelatin produced in the United States, Brazil, or Argentina, will be combined in a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in Toledo, OH, to produce the blends. After importation, food processors will add flavorings, colors, preservatives, salt, and sodium citrate to the various blends to make gelatin dessert mixes. The blends will be in put up in tote bags containing 1800 to 2700 lbs. The retail consumer or an institutional user will only add water to the final product to make the gelatin dessert.
The applicable subheading for the sugar/gelatin blends will be 2106.90.5870, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for food preparations not elsewhere specified or included…other…of gelatin…other… containing sugar derived from sugar cane or sugar beets. The rate of duty will be 4.8 percent ad valorem.
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.
The “country of origin” is defined in 19 CFR 134.1(b) 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 this part. For tariff purposes, the courts have held that a substantial transformation occurs if a new and different article emerges having a distinctive name, character or use. Anheuser Bush Brewing Association v. The United States, 207 U.S. 556 (1908) and Uniroyal Inc. v. United States, 542 F. Supp. 1026 (1982).
Applying the provisions of Part 134 to the facts of this case, we find that the imported sugar and gelatin blends are goods of the United States for marking purposes. Products of the United States are not subject to the country of origin marking requirement of 19 U.S.C. 1304.
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 telephone number (301) 575-0156, or at the Web site www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html.
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