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HQ 082579


April 10 1989

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 082579 JLJ

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 204.27,; 4415.20.4000

Mr. Denton Sherry
President
NEPA Pallet & Container Co., Inc.
P.O. Box 399
Snohomish, Washington 98290

RE: American Manufacturer's Petition Concerning the Tariff Classification of Wooden Pallet Bins

Dear Mr. Sherry:

You asked several questions regarding the American manufacturer's petition filed under 19 U.S.C. 1516 concerning wooden pallet bins imported from Canada.

You asked the definitions of the terms "harvesting" and "designed for use in the harvesting of fruits."

In House Report No. 342, at pages 7 to 8, dated May 12, 1965, the Committee on Ways and Means discussed item 204.27, Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), and stated that it would restore duty-free status to certain harvesting containers. The Committee described these containers as follows:

The harvesting containers here involved are containers wholly or in chief value of wood designed for use in the harvesting of fruits and vegetables. One type which is imported is the so-called harvesting bin. Harvesting bins are made of plywood and lumber and usually have an integral pallet that allows forklift handling. Their primary use is by fruit growers, to secure the advantages of mechanical handling in the harvesting of their crops. Typically, the bins are filled in the orchard by pickers and are moved by tractors with forklift attachments either directly to the packing house, or to other conveyances which bring the bins to the
packing house, where they are unloaded on arrival or after incidental storage. Sometime harvesting containers are imported in "knock-down" condition and are assembled in the United States.

In C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 32 Cust. Ct. 54, C.D. 1579 (1954), the Customs Court defined the term "harvesting" to include the actual collection of fruit in the field and transportation to processing plants.

You asked whether the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), required the "designed package" concept of the TSUS. In a telephone conversation with Ms. Johnson of this office, you explained that item 204.27, TSUS, covers complete packing boxes, cases and crates; you wondered whether the HTSUSA required that complete packages of unassembled pallet bins be imported together.

The Explanatory Notes for Chapter 44, HTSUSA, state with regard to such merchandise, at page 634:

These containers may be presented without a lid ("open" containers such as cases, crates, etc.). They may be unassembled or partly assembled, provided the wood is in sets of the parts necessary to make a complete con- tainer or an incomplete container having the essential character of a complete container. Where the wood is not in such sets, it is to be classified as sawn or planed wood, plywood, etc., as the case may be.

Finally, you requested that your American manufacturer's petition be amended to include the applicable HTSUSA numbers. You believe that subheading 4415.20.8000, HTSUSA, which covers other pallets, box-pallets and other load boards, other, should apply to the instant wooden pallet bins, while subheading 4415.10.6000, HTSUSA, covers cases, boxes, crates, drums, and similar packing, containers designed for use in the harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Actually, subheading 4415.20.4000, HTSUSA, which covers pallets, box-pallets and other load boards, will cover the instant merchandise.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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