CLA-2-04:OT:RR:NC:2:231
Mr. Richard L. Tarnove
MRO Suppliers, Inc.
6278 N. Federal Highway (#222)
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
RE: The tariff classification of buffalo-milk Mozzarella cheese from Venezuela.
Dear Mr. Tarnove:
In your letters dated October 5 and November 3, 2010, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The item in question is identified as “Mozzarella cheese of buffalo milk (not cow)…to be imported for wholesale and distribution to retail and food-service companies.” The cheese will be presented in the form of 50, 100 and 500-gram balls. The ingredients are pasteurized buffalo milk, thermophilus cultures, rennet, sodium chloride and calcium chloride. The fat content (on an as-is basis) is said to be 21 percent, and the moisture content is said to be 60 percent. Manufacturing process information included in your inquiry indicates that the product is an unripened cheese that is ready for shipment and consumption very shortly after it is produced.
The applicable subheading for the above-described “Buffalo-Milk Mozzarella Cheese” will be 0406.10.9500, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for cheese and curd: fresh (unripened or uncured) cheese, including whey cheese, and curd: other: other: other: other. The rate of duty will be 8.5 percent ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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. In the present case, the immediate containers must therefore be marked to indicate the origin of the imported cheese packed within them, e.g., “Product of Venezuela.”
Importations of cheese are subject to regulations administered by various U.S. agencies. Requests for information regarding applicable regulations administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) may be addressed to that agency at the following location:
USDA
APHIS, VS, NCIE
Products Program
4700 River Road, Unit 40
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231
Tel: (301) 734-3277
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 the FDA at 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 Nathan Rosenstein at (646) 733-3030.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division