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HQ 086048


February 21, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 086048 NLP

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

Tariff No.: 7310.29.00

Robert G. Kalik, Esq.
Bennett A. Caplan, Esq.
McDermott, Will & Emery
1850 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C 20006

RE: Classification of a Liquor Container

Dear Sirs:

This is in response to your letter of October 24, 1989, on behalf of Mohawk Valley/Dewar's Scotch, requesting a tariff classification of a tinplate liquor container manufactured in Scotland under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). A sample was submitted for our examination.

FACTS:

The subject merchandise is a rectangular box of tinplated steel composition. It is approximately 3.5 inches wide, 12.5 inches high and 3.5 inches deep. The container has a hinged front lid, and the inside contains a cardboard box, which is designed to hold a 750 milliliter bottle of Dewar's Scotch. The box's exterior is colored gold, and is embossed and printed with images and descriptions of Edinburgh Castle, Eilean Donan Castle, the Dewar's Highlander, the Aberfeldy-Dewar's Distillery and the Dewar's Seal. The box is also marked with the legend, "DEWARS White Label Evokes the Spirit of SCOTLAND." The tin will be imported with a 750 ml. bottle of Scotch inside.

ISSUE:

Whether the tinplate containers are the normal packing containers for the scotch and therefore not subject to treatment as imported articles?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order. GRI 5 provides the following:

(a) Camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, drawing cases, necklace cases and similar containers, specialy shaped or fitted to contain a specific article or set of articles, suitable for long-term use and entered with the article s for which they are intended, shall be classified with such articles when of a kind normally sold therewith. This rule does not, however, apply to containers which give the whole its essential character.

(b) Subject to the provisions of rule 5(a) above, packing materials and packing containers entered with the goods therein shall be classified with the goods if they are of a kind normally used for packing such goods. However, this provision does not apply when such packing materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use.

The tinplate box at issue is not the normal container for packing scotch whiskey. Under GRI 5(b), the normal packing container for the scotch is the liquor bottle. The bottle is not suitable for repetitive use after the liquor is gone. It is classifiable with the liquor at the same rate of duty.

Furthermore, the tinplate box is not provided for under GRI 5(a). The instant box is not specially shaped or fitted to contain a specific article or set of articles. Nor is it suitable for long-term use. Thus, the tinplate box is separately classifiable from the scotch in the bottle.

In adddition, inside the tinplate box is a piece of cardboard that is easily removed. The purpose of the cardboard is to hold the bottle in place and protect the bottle while it is in the box. It protects the bottle in the same way that styrofoam packing materials would. Therefore, under GRI 5(b), the cardboard inset would be classifiable with the liquor at the same rate of duty.

Therefore, since the tinplate box is not the normal container for packing scotch, the issue to be decided is the correct classification of the box. GRI 1 provides that classification is determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRI's, taken in order.

Heading 7310 provides for tanks, casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers, for any material (other than compressed or liquefied gas), of iron or steel, of a capacity not exceeding 300 liters, whether or not lined or heat insulated, but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment. The Explanatory Notes (ENs) are the official interpretation of the HTS at the international level and provide guidance on the interpretation of HTS heading 7310. The ENs for heading 7310 provide as follows:

....]T[his heading covers sheet or plate iron or steel containers of a capacity not exceeding 300 l, but of a size easily moved or handled, commonly used for the commercial conveyance and packing of goods, and such containers installed as fixtures.

Furthermore, the ENs to Heading 7310 states that "The smaller containers ]covered by this heading[ include boxes, cans, tins, etc., mainly used as sales packings for butter, milk, beer, preserves, fruit or fruit juices, biscuits, teas...." (Emphasis added). However, heading 7310 is not limited to containers which would comprise the normal packing container for the articles they contain.

The instant tinplate rectangular box has a capacity of less than 300 liters and it will be used as sales packing for an item similar to the exemplars in the Explanatory Notes to heading 7310, HTSUS. Therefore, the tinplate box is classifiable within heading 7310, HTSUS, as a container of steel, not exceeding 300 liters.

HOLDING:

The tinplate box is classifiable in subheading 7310.29.00, which provides for tanks, casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers of iron or steel of a capacity of less than 50 liters: Other. The instant merchandise is entitled to entry free of duty.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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