HQ 0109665 - Palletainers (wire mesh containers) as instruments of international traffic - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 109665
September 12, 1988

BOR 7-07-CO:R:P:C 109665 BEW

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Mr. L. Dammer
Mercedes-Benz of North American, Inc.
One Mercedes Drive
Post Office Box 350
Montvale, NJ 07645-0350

RE: Palletainers (wire mesh containers) as instruments of international traffic

Dear Mr. Dammer:

This is in reference to your letter of July 21, 1988, in which you asked that we classify certain palletainers (wire mesh containers) as instruments of international traffic (ITT).

FACTS:

You state that you intend to use palletainers (wire mesh containers) for ocean freight shipments of automotive spare parts from Germany to the ports of New York, Baltimore, Savannah, Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago. You state that the palletainers are made of iron or steel and that they are collapsible. You state that there will be a few thousand of them in service from Germany to the United States. You state that they will be returned to Germany in their collapsible form (approximately 120) by means of 40 foot steamship containers. You state that the palletainer have a life expectancy of approximately 15 years. They have an identifiable individual serial number, and contain the Mercedes star and the Number 2032, which represents a Mercedes part number. The palletainers are manufactured in West Germany, and will cost DM 225.

ISSUE:

Whether the palletainers (wire mesh containers) used for the transportation of automotive spare parts may be designated as instruments of international traffic within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1322(a) and section 10.41a, Customs Regulations.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1322(a)), provides that "[v]ehicles and other instruments of international traffic, of any class specified by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be granted the customary exceptions from the application of the customs laws to the extend and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed in regulations or instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury."

The Customs Regulations issued under the authority of section 322(a) are in section 10.41a (19 CFR 10.41a). Paragraph (a)(1) of section 10.41a designates as instruments of international traffic lift vans, cargo vans, shipping tanks and certain other named articles and states that other articles may be designated as instruments of international traffic by the Commissioner of Customs in decisions to be published in the weekly Customs Bulletin. These instruments of international traffic may be released without entry or the payment of duty, subject to the provisions of section 10.41a.

To qualify as an "instrument of international traffic" within the meaning of section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1322(a)), and the regulations issued thereunder (19 CFR 10.41a et seq.), an article must be substantial, suitable for and capable of repeated use, and used in significant numbers in international traffic.

We find that the palletainers under consideration may be used as a container or holder, that they are substantial, suitable for the capable of repeated use, and that they are used in significant numbers in international traffic. We further find that the palletainers under consideration are similar to palletainers which were designated as instruments of international traffic in Treasury Decision 70-236 (steel frame platforms, with steel mesh sides, used to carry snowmobile spare parts), and similar to certain collapsible containers of nylon which were designated as instruments of international traffic in Treasury Decision 68-4 (collapsible containers of nylon capable of holding 2,000 pounds of zine dust or similar material).

HOLDING:

The palletainers under consideration qualify for treatment as instruments of international traffic and may be released under the procedures set forth in section 10.41a, Customs Regulations.

Sincerely,

B. James Fritz
Chief

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