United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule
faqs.org  Rulings By Number  Rulings By Category  Tariff Numbers
faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 1990 HQ Rulings > HQ 0081888 - HQ 0082053 > HQ 0081978

Previous Ruling Next Ruling


HQ 081978


December 22,1989

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G: 081978 JLJ

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO: 3926.90.90; 4818.90.00

Lynn S. Baker, Esq.
Katten, Muchin & Zavis
525 West Monroe Street, Suite 1600
Chicago, Illinois 60603-3693

RE: Disposable Surgical Drapes

Dear Ms. Baker:

You requested tariff classification rulings under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) for an eye drape, No. 8441, and an under buttocks drape (otherwise known as UBD), No. 8750, assembled in Mexico of United States components for your client, Convertors Division of Baxter Healthcare Corporation of El Paso, Texas. You submitted samples of both along with your request. You state that the UBD is fully dutiable. Inasmuch as you did not ask about the applicability of Chapter 98, HTSUSA, to the eye drape, we will not discuss it here.

FACTS:

The eye drape, No. 8441, is a rectangular surgical drape which has a circular piece removed from the middle of the product in the shape of an eye. It is used as a cover in eye surgery. It is made of a product known as Dexter 3557, which you state is made of wood pulp and polyester fibers. You state that Dexter 3557 is, by weight, more than half pulp and a smaller amount of polyester fibers. Customs Laboratory Report No. 2-88-10452-001 of February 25, 1988, states that the Dexter 3557 appears to have been made on a paper-making machine with an attachment necessitated by the long polyester fibers.

The Dexter 3557 is laminated with a polyethylene copolymer blend in a cast extrusion process which accomplishes the lamination through heat and pressure. The Dexter 3557 is thicker than the extruded lamination. The resulting material is known as Clopay 4557 and is sold to Convertors for assembly into the eye drape.

The Mini UBD Prep Pad 8750 (UBD) is used in obstetrical procedures. It is a rectangle which is folded over to form an open pocket at one end. It is made of a product known as Scott 3030 which consists, by weight, of more than half paper base sheet and a smaller amount of EVA emulsion (binder) to increase the sheet's strength.

The Scott 3030 is then laminated with a polyethylene laminate in a cast embossed extrusion process which laminates through heat and pressure. The Scott 3030 thus becomes Clopay 303024. It is manufactured into the UBD in Mexico.

The UBD's components are, by weight, a small amount of paper base sheet and more than half polyethylene laminate.

ISSUE:

What are the classifications of the UBD and eye drape?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

You believe that both products are classified as other hospital articles of paper in subheading 4818.90.0000, HTSUSA, because you think that they are essentially paper materials laminated with plastic. General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 3(b), HTSUSA, states that "...composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components...shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential charcter...." You state that the purpose of the non-plastic part of the drapes is to absorb fluids while the plastic acts as a final barrier to prevent leakage of fluids through the drapes. Inasmuch as you feel that the absorbency gives both drapes their essential character, you feel that both products should be classified as paper products in Chapter 48, HTSUSA.

The Explanatory Notes for Chapter 48, HTSUSA, define paper as follows:

Paper consists essentially of the cellulosic fibers of the pulp of
Chapter 47 felted together in sheet form. Many products, such as certain tea-bag materials, consist of a mixture of these cellulosic fibers and of textile fibers and of textile fibers (in particular man-made fibers as defined by Note 1 to chapter 54).
Where the textile fibers predominate by weight, the products are not regarded as papers and are classified as nonwovens.

Following the Explanatory Notes, the wood pulp predominates by weight over the polyester fibers in Dexter 3557; therefore, the material is a paper classified in Chapter 48.

The Dexter 3557 is then laminated with a polyethyene copolymer blend (i.e., a laminate of plastic) to become Clopay 4557. The Dexter 3557 is thicker than the plastic laminate.

The Scott 3030 is a paper which is laminated with a polyethylene laminate (i.e., a laminate of plastic) to become Clopay 303024.

GRI 1 states that "...for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...." Chapter Note 1(f) of Chapter 48, HTSUSA, states that "This chapter does not cover...paper-reinforced stratified sheeting of plastics, or one layer of paper or paperboard coated or covered with a layer of plastics, the latter constituting more than half the total thickness, or articles of such materials...."

Chapter Note 1(f) of Chapter 48, supra, indicates that the classification of both the UBD and the eye drape depend upon the thickness of the plastic laminate in the Clopay 303024 and the Clopay 4557. The thickness of the Dexter 3557 is greater than that of the plastic laminate; therefore the Clopay 4557 is classifiable as an article of paper in Chapter 48, HTSUSA. If the plastic laminate on the Clopay 303024 constitutes more than half the total thickness, then the UBD will be classified as an article of plastic in Chapter 39, HTSUSA. If the plastic laminate does not constitute more than half the total thickness, then the UBD will be classified as an article of paper in Chapter 48, HTSUSA.

HOLDINGS:

If the plastic laminate on the UBD constitutes more than half the total thickness of the material, then the UBD is classified under the provision for other articles of plastics: other: other, in subheading 3926.90.90, dutiable at the rate of 5.3 percent ad valorem. Products of Mexico classified in this subheading are eligible for duty-free entry under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) if all applicable regulations are met.

If the plastic laminate on the UBD constitutes half or less than half of the total thickness of the material, then the UBD is classified under the provision for hospital articles of paper: other, in subheading 4818.90.00, HTSUSA, dutiable at the rate of 3 percent ad valorem. Products of Mexico classified in this subheading are eligible for duty-free entry under the GSP if all applicable regulations are met.

Since the thickness of the Dexter 3557 is greater than that of the plastic laminate in the Clopay 4557 eye drape, the eye drape is classified under the provision for hospital articles of paper: other, in subheading 4818.90.00, HTSUSA, duitable at the rate of 3 percent ad valorem. Products of Mexico classified in this subheading are eligible for duty-free entry under GSP if all applicable regulations are met.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: