HQ 0089452 - Reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 848874; Cull/Waste/Mutilated Side Runs of Uncoated Waste Newsprint or Printing Paper; Heading 4707 Not Applicable; Classified as Paper or Paperboard - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 089452
August 23, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 089452

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4707

Mr. Grant Nicholls,
Canadian Pacific Forest Products Limited
1 Nicholas Street, Suite 528
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1N 7B7

RE: Reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 848874; Cull/Waste/Mutilated Side Runs of Uncoated Waste Newsprint or Printing Paper; Heading 4707 Not Applicable; Classified as Paper or Paperboard

Dear Mr. Nicholls:

This is in response to your letter of April 23, 1991, to Customs officials at Champlain, New York, requesting a reconsideration of NYRL 848874 of February 26, 1990, concerning the tariff classification for certain paper and paperboard imported from Canada. Your letter was forwarded to this office for response. No samples were submitted with this request.

FACTS:

You stated that "...these commodities are all shipped in rolls having widths exceeding six inches and are sold as cull/waste paper." NYRL 848874 described the instant merchandise as "...cull and/or mutilated side runs of uncoated waste newsprint or printing paper."

NYRL 848874 concluded that "Since the determination of whether these articles qualify as 'waste paper' for tariff purposes will depend upon their particular form and condition when imported, we are unable to issue a ruling on them. Local Customs officials may be contacted for advice at or about the time of entry." This is the portion of NYRL 848874 for which you request reconsideration. You claim thatthe merchandise in question is currently entering the United States under Heading 4707 HTSUSA.
ISSUE:

Do the instant papers qualify as "waste or scrap" for the purposes of Heading 4707, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA)?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

Heading 4707, HTSUSA, covers, among other things, waste and scrap of paper or paperboard. The Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, says the following about this portion of Heading 4707:

Waste of paper or paperboard covered by this heading includes shavings, cuttings, clippings, torn sheets, old newspapers and journals, proof- sheets, printers' rejects and similar material.

The Heading also covers scrap articles of paper or paperboard.

Such waste or scrap is normally used for pulping and is often presented in compressed bales, but it should be noted that its possible use for other purposes (e.g., packing) does not exclude its classification in this heading.

It has not been established that the instant paper or paperboard meets the requirements of the Explanatory Notes set forth above. Paper or paperboard which is imported in rolls and which has never been used is not ejusdem generis with the exemplars mentioned above. For this reason, we cannot classify the instant merchandise as scrap or waste paper in Heading 4707, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

The instant merchandise does not qualify for tariff treatment as scrap or waste under Heading 4707, HTSUSA. It must be classified under the appropriate tariff provisions which would apply to any other similar paper or paperboard imported from Canada. NYRL 848874 affirmed.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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