CLA-2-98:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Yohai Baisburd, Partner
Dentons US LLP
1301 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
RE: The tariff classification of equipment and goods related to the Copa América Centenario, referred to in English as the 2016 Centennial Copa America.
Dear Mr. Baisburd:
In your letter dated March 1, 2016, on behalf of the CA2016 Local Organizing Committee LLC, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Descriptive literature was provided.
Your request for a ruling pertains to the equipment and goods necessary for the operation and competition of the 2016 Centennial Copa America. The 2016 Centennial Copa America is a scheduled international men’s association football (soccer) tournament due to be held in the United States in 2016. The competition is a celebration of the centenary of CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation) and the Copa América (Spanish and Portuguese for America Cup), and is to be the first Copa América hosted outside of South America. CONMEBOL is the continental governing body of association football in South America and is one of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA’s) six continental confederations.
This marks the 45th edition of Copa América since its inception in 1916, and will be held as part of an agreement between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF (the football confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean) as a special edition between the usual four-year cycle, and will feature an expanded field of 16 teams (an increase from the usual 12), with all ten teams from CONMEBOL and six teams from CONCACAF. The tournament will be held in ten United States cities: Chicago, East Rutherford, Foxborough, Glendale, Houston, Orlando, Pasadena, Philadelphia, Santa Clara and Seattle, and will feature sixteen-teams divided into four groups. Group A is comprised of USA, Columbia, Costa Rica and Paraguay, Group B is comprised of Brazil, Ecuador, Haiti and Peru, Group C is comprised of Mexico, Uruguay Jamaica and Venezuela, and Group D is comprised of Argentina, Chile, Panama and Bolivia.
In your ruling request, you indicated the following personal effects, and necessary and support equipment related to the 2016 Centennial Copa America:
• Soccer goals, nets, balls, stadium seating, food for the team/family, display racks • Audio/media equipment • Uniforms/banners/pictures • Furniture/Office equipment • Promotional materials tied to the event • Timing equipment • Venue equipment and materials to run the event, such as whistles, stretchers, • Medical/Training materials such as bandages • Sponsor’s goods, materials and equipment to run the event • Team training materials, equipment, tools, uniforms or accessories that are required for use or to be used to execute the games • Hospitality items that assist an accredited member in displaying the culture of their country, team, sport or bid for future hosting of the event • Broadcasters and Media accredited parties’ material, equipment and goods needed or used in conjunction with the event • Personal items of the accredited family members
It is your belief that the appropriate classification for all associated equipment and goods is subheading 9817.60.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which allows in part, for the duty free importation of articles not intended for sale or distribution to the public, but belonging to participants, officials, accredited members, teams and delegations of an international athletic event held in the United States. It is not stated the manner in which the equipment and goods will be imported to the United States and subsequently exported out of the United States. Nevertheless, the equipment and goods will be presumed to have traveled to the United States by common carrier, air charter, vessel or truck.
Subheading 9817.60.0000, HTSUS, provides for: Any of the following articles not intended for sale or distribution to the public: personal effects of aliens who are participants in, officials of, or accredited members of delegations to, an international athletic event held in the United States, such as the Olympics and Paralympics, the Goodwill Games, the Special Olympics World Games, the World Cup Soccer Games, or any similar international athletic event as the Secretary of the Treasury may determine, and of persons who are immediate family members of or servants to any of the foregoing persons; equipment and materials imported in connection with any such foregoing event by or on behalf of the foregoing persons or the organizing committee of such an event, articles to be used in exhibitions depicting the culture of a country participating in such an event; and, if consistent with the foregoing, such other articles as the Secretary of the Treasury may allow.
With regard to your request that CBP rule that the 2016 Centennial Copa America held in the United States is an international athletic event (a/k/a, sport event), on May 14, 2002, notice was published in the Federal Register designating the Volvo Ocean Race, a round-the-world international sailing competition, as a qualifying international athletic event under subheading 9817.60.0000, HTSUS. Although on land rather than on water, we find, that the 2016 Centennial Copa America tournament is another type of international sporting competition viewed by millions around the world. Consequently, the tournament also qualify as an international athletic (sport) event under subheading 9817.60.0000, HTSUS. See Headquarters ruling HQ H174206 dated July 22, 2011, and New York rulings N233829 dated October 23, 2012, N237173 dated January 18, 2013 and N242515 dated June 21, 2013.
Based on the information you provided, the enumerated listing above of personal effects, and necessary and support equipment related to the 2016 Centennial Copa America falls within the purview of subheading 9817.60.0000, HTSUS. This is subject to none of the items being offered for sale or distribution to the public, and provided said items are imported by, or on behalf, of eligible individuals or entities.
U.S. Note 8, Subchapter XVII, Chapter 98, HTSUS, provides: Any article exempt from duty under heading 9817.60.0000 shall be free of taxes and fees that may otherwise be applicable, but shall not be free or otherwise exempt or excluded from routine or other inspections as may be required by the Customs Service (CBP). With regard to items that you have not specifically identified, it is within the discretion of the Port of Entry to determine whether the items meet the conditions and requirements of subheading 9817.60.0000, HTSUS. We recommend that you work with the Port of Entry with regard to any items not identified herein and any other issues you may have, such as the correct marking of the items, prior to importation.
The applicable subheading for the enumerated listing of goods above in regard to the 2016 Centennial Copa America will be 9817.60.0000, HTSUS, which provides for: Any of the following articles not intended for sale or distribution to the public: personal effects of aliens who are participants in, officials of, or accredited members of delegations to, an international athletic event held in the United States, such as the Olympics and Paralympics, the Goodwill Games, the Special Olympics World Games, the World Cup Soccer Games, or any similar international athletic event as the Secretary of the Treasury may determine, and of persons who are immediate family members of or servants to any of the foregoing persons; equipment and materials imported in connection with any such foregoing event by or on behalf of the foregoing persons or the organizing committee of such an event, …. The rate of duty will be free.
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/.
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 Neil H. Levy at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Deborah C. Marinucci
Acting Director
National Commodity Specialist Division