HQ 0731007 - Country of origin marking requirements for imported rubber gaskets - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 731007

July 12, 1989

MAR 2-05 CO:R:C:V 731007 pmh

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Finn Claudi-Magnussen
Flourocarbon
Alicia Park Executive Suites
25251 Paseo De Alicia, Suite 200
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

RE: Country of origin marking requirements for imported rubber gaskets

Dear Mr. Claudi-Magnussen:

This is in response to your letter of January 19, 1988 requesting a ruling on country of origin marking requirements for rubber gaskets imported from Canada. We apologize for the delay in responding to your request.

FACTS:

According to your letter and a telephone conversation with Ms. Patty Hanson, of my staff, the rubber gaskets are imported in bulk from Canada and delivered to your Albertville, Alabama facility where they will be inspected, repackaged in smaller bulk containers and shipped to various domestic customers. Your customers are manufacturers of PVC plastic pipes and pipe fittings and the rubber gaskets will be components in the finished pipes and pipe fittings, which will be sold to municipalities, rural water districts and waste management agencies. The rubber gaskets will be imported in sizes of 4- inch, 6-inch and 8-inch diameters and you have submitted a sample 4-inch gasket for examination. You contend that the individual rubber gaskets should be excepted from the country of origin marking requirements because they are ultimately used as mere components of the finished plastic pipes and pipe fittings.

ISSUE:

Whether the described imported rubber gaskets must be individually marked with the country of origin.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article. Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.1(d), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(d)), defines ultimate purchaser as the last person in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported.

It is argued that the rubber gaskets should be excepted from individual marking because they do not reach the ultimate user in their original form but, rather, are ultimately integrated into pipes and pipe fittings which in turn become parts of sewer and water lines. However, as indicated above, Flourocarbon will initially sell the rubber gaskets, in the form in which they were imported, to the pipe manufacturers. It is for the benefit of these manufacturers, who are the ultimate purchasers in this case, that the rubber gaskets must be properly marked to indicate the country of origin.

We note that pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1304(a)(3)(D) and section 134.32(d), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.32(d)), an exception from individual marking is applicable where the marking of a container of such article will reasonably indicate the origin of such article. This exception is normally applied in cases wwhere the imported article is imported in a properly marked container and Customs officials at the port of entry are satisfied that the ultimate purchaser, i.e., the last person in the U.S. to receive the article in the form in which it was imported, will receive it in the original unopened marked container. However, for articles that are to be repacked after release from Customs custody, section 134.34, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.34), requires that an exception under 19 CFR 134.32(d), may be authorized in the discretion of the district director at the port of entry, under certain specified conditions. One of these is that the district director must be satisfied that, if unmarked articles will be repacked in the U.S., the new containers will properly indicate the country of origin of the articles to an ultimate purchaser in the U.S.

In this case, we consider the ultimate purchaser to be the pipe manufacturer who installs the rubber gaskets in pipes and pipe fittings. Therefore, so long as the rubber gaskets are imported in properly marked containers and the Customs officials at the port of entry are satisfied that the rubber gaskets will be repacked in properly marked containers and that the ultimate purchaser will receive them in this fashion, we are of the opinion that marking the containers in lieu of the individual rubber gaskets satisfies the statutory requirements. However, the exemption may only be granted in the discretion of the Customs district director. Therefore, we suggest you contact the Customs office at the port of entry and submit for their examination and approval a sample of the marked container in which you plan to repackage the gaskets.

HOLDING:

Rubber gaskets that are imported in bulk and repackaged after importation, should be individually marked prior to sale to the ultimate purchaser. However, the rubber gaskets may be excepted from individual marking if the district director is satisfied that they will be repackaged in properly marked bulk containers and will reach the ultimate purchaser in such containers. However, appropriate arrangements must be made with the district director of Customs, pursuant to 19 CFR 134.34, for an exception from individual marking of the rubber gaskets.

Sincerely,

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