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HQ 087173


September 18, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 087173 CMR

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9507.90.6000

Salvatore Caramagno, Esq.
Ross & Hardies
888 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006-4103

RE: Classification of hand-cast string-drawn fishing nets

Dear Mr. Caramagno:

This ruling is in response to your submission of May 8, 1990, on behalf of Blue Ribbon Products, requesting classifica- tion of a hand-cast string-drawn fishing net. The net is produced in Taiwan.

FACTS:

The net at issue is approximately six feet in diameter with a 1/2 inch mesh size and weighted with lead. It is made of a open mesh construction with knotted monofilament yarn of man-made fiber. The subject net is commonly known as a cast net and its principal use in the United States is to catch bait fish, such as minnows. While this type of net may be used by commercial bait shops, it is principally used by sports fishermen to catch bait. Two sample nets were submitted.

ISSUE:

Are cast nets such as the one at issue classifiable in heading 5608, HTSUSA, which provides for, among other things, made up fishing nets and other made up nets, of textile materials, or in heading 9507, HTSUSA, which provides for, among other things, fishing rods, fish hooks and other line fishing tackle; fish landing nets, butterfly nets and similar nets?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of goods under the HTSUSA is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that "classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to [the remaining GRIs taken in order]."

Heading 5608, HTSUSA, specifically provides for made up fishing nets and other made up nets, of textile materials. The Explanatory Notes for heading 5608 exclude "[s]ports nets (e.g., goal nets and tennis nets), fish landing nets and other nets of Chapter 95." The Explanatory Notes are the official interpretation of the HTSUS at the international level.

You have suggested that the cast net at issue is excluded from heading 5608 because it is used by sports fishermen to catch bait and thus, should be considered a sports net. We agree that cast nets are principally used in the United States by sports fishermen to catch bait. Furthermore, you contend that the fishing nets encompassed by heading 5608 are limited to commercial fishing nets and that the cast net at issue is excluded since its principal use is not commercial, but recreational.

The HTSUSA does not contain any language specifying the scope of the phrase "made up fishing nets." Since the HTSUSA fails to define the terms at issue, it is proper to look to previous decisions under the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) for the tariff meaning of the terms. In Pier I Imports, Inc. v. United States, 83 Cust. Ct. 43, C.D. 4819 (1979), the Customs Court considered the scope of the TSUS provision for fish netting and fish nets. The merchandise at issue was decorative fish netting used for display purposes. The court noted the Government's contention that items 355.35 through 355.46, TSUS, were intended to encompass only commercial fishing nets and fish netting. The court concluded that since the merchandise at bar was not suitable for commercial fishing, it was not classifiable in the provision for fish netting and fish nets. Pier I Imports is discussed in HRL 060802 of February 8, 1980, C.S.D. 80-224. In its argument in Pier I Imports, the Government asserted that previous acts of Congress demonstrated a congressional mandate that the provision for fish netting and fish nets encompassed only commercial fishing nets and fish netting.

In HRL 060802 of February 8, 1980, Customs ruled an aquarium net of the type used in homes and pet shops was not classifiable under the provision for fishing nets. In light of Pier I Imports and the decision issued by Customs in HRL 060802, and without any
contrary indications within the HTSUSA, we believe it is proper to conclude that the phrase "made up fishing nets" in heading 5608, HTSUSA, applies to only fishing nets suitable for commercial fishing.

As the subject net is not principally used for commercial fishing, it does not fall within the scope of "made up fishing nets" of heading 5608, HTSUSA. It is a net used principally by sports fishermen participating in the sport of fishing. The net is used either directly before or during fishing activity. While the net is not mounted on a wire support and fixed to a handle, it is similar to landing nets in that each net is utilized by sports fishermen while fishing.

The Explanatory Notes for heading 5608 provide: "Made up nets of this heading are restricted to those nets not covered more specifically by other headings of the Nomenclature." Although the net at issue is not a "fishing net" of heading 5608, it may be an "other made up net" of the heading unless covered more specifically elsewhere in the tariff. We believe that since the net is principally used by sports fishermen, it falls within the exclusion for sports nets found in the Explanatory Notes for heading 5608, HTSUSA, and is covered more specifically in heading 9507, HTSUSA, as a net similar to landing nets and butterfly nets.

HOLDING:

The casting net at issue is classifiable as a sports net similar to landing nets in subheading 9507.90.6000, HTSUSA, dutiable at 5 percent ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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