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HQ 088982


May 17, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 088982 JMH

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9616.10.00

Mr. Robert J. Core
Encore International
170 Broadway
Suite 1601
New York City, NY 10038

RE: Perfume sprayers; toilet sprays; mounts for toilet sprays; scent sprays and other toilet sprays for liquids; plastic caps; actuator pump sprayers; articles imported complete but unassembled; GRI 2(a)

Dear Mr. Core:

This is in response to your March 26, 1991, request for a classification ruling for certain glass perfume bottles with a plastic cap and a pump sprayer. Our decision follows.

FACTS:

The articles in question are glass bottles approximately three inches tall in a triangular shape. You state that the bottles are imported empty and then filled with perfume or toilet water once in the United States. The bottles are imported with a plastic cap and a "finger actuated pump sprayer." The three articles are entered in an unassembled condition.

ISSUE:

What is the appropriate classification for the triangular perfume bottle, the plastic cap, and the pump sprayer?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation ("GRIs"). GRI 1, HTSUSA, states in part that "for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes and...according ..to the following provisions." The relevant heading is heading 9616, HTSUSA. Heading 9616 describes the following:

9616 Scent sprayers and similar toilet sprayers, and mounts and heads therefore; powder puffs and pads for the application of cosmetics or toilet preparations...

The Explanatory Notes to the HTSUSA are useful in determining what is included in the various provisions of the tariff. Explanatory Note 96.16, HCDCS, states that heading 9616 covers scent, brilliantine and similar toilet sprays, the mounts for toilet sprays, and the head-pieces for toilet sprays. Explanatory Note 96.16, Vol. 4, HCDCS, p.1612. The term "spray" indicates the dispersal of a liquid in a mass or jet of droplets. See Headquarters Ruling 088500 ("HQ 088500"), dated April 4, 1991, citing Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, pp. 1125 (1984).

The articles in question form a bottle that is to hold a scent or similar toilet liquid. The bottle disperses the liquid in a mass of droplets. However, the articles are imported in an unassembled condition. GRI 2(a), HTSUSA, one of the "following provisions" mentioned in GRI 1, states the following:

Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.

The triangular perfume bottles are entered with their plastic caps and their pump sprayers. The complete bottle is entered, it is merely unassembled. By virtue of GRI 2(a), such a complete, unassembled article is to be classified as if it were the finished product.

A finished perfume sprayer bottle is a "scent sprayer" and is classified under heading 9616. Thus, the triangular bottles, plastic caps and pump sprayers entered together are classified as a finished perfume sprayer bottle. The proper classification for the triangular bottle and its components is subheading 9616.10.00, HTSUSA, as "Scent sprayers and similar toilet sprayers, and mounts and heads therefore; powder puffs and pads for the application of cosmetics or toilet preparations...Scent sprayers and similar toilet sprayers, and mounts and heads therefor..."

HOLDING:

In accordance with GRI 2(a), the triangular bottles, plastic caps and pump sprayers are a complete but unassembled article. Such complete but unassembled articles are to classified as if they were the finished article. Finished perfume sprayer bottles are classified under heading 9616 is accordance with GRI 1. Thus, the triangular bottles, plastic caps and pump sprayers are classified under heading 9616. The proper classification for the triangular perfume bottle, caps, and pump sprayers when imported together is subheading 9616.10.00, as "Scent sprayers and similar toilet sprayers, and mounts and heads therefore; powder puffs and pads for the application of cosmetics or toilet preparations... Scent sprayers and similar toilet sprayers, and mounts and heads therefor..."

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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