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HQ 732918


April 24, 1990

Mar-2-05 CO:R:V:C 732198

CATEGORY: MARKING

Gordon L. Hendrick
Cortez Customhouse Brokerage Company
4950 West Dickman Road
Battle Creek, Michigan 49015

RE: The country of origin marking of blister packs containing titanium ligating clips.

Dear Mr. Hendrick:

This is in response to your letter of November 27, 1989, requesting a ruling regarding the country of origin marking requirements for blister packs containing titanium ligating clips. We apologize for the delay in responding.

FACTS:

Your client, Richard Allen Medical Industries, intends to import blister packs containing 10 trade marked titanium ligating clips per pack from Japan. The blister packs are not sold individually. The blister packs will be repackaged at importer's facility in the U.S. into a dispenser carton and be sold 24 packs to a carton. The dispenser carton will be marked with the country of origin, Japan. A sample of the dispenser carton and blister pack was submitted. The country of origin marking appears on the sliding panel of the cartons as follows:

Manufactured in Japan
Exclusively for Richard-Allan
Medical Industries, Inc.

On the top panel of the carton the importers name and U.S. address, "8850 M-39, Box 351 Richland, Michigan 49083-0351," appears.

In a telephone conversation March 27, 1990 with Robert Dinerstein of our office, you indicated that the dispenser carton will be sealed with a plastic wrap. You also indicated that importer agreed to a put the country of origin marking near its U.S. address on the dispenser carton.

ISSUE:

Does the proposed country of origin marking on the dispenser carton satisfy the requirements of Section 304?

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 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. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was that the ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods is the product. The evident purpose is to mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking should influence his will." United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297 at 302 (1940).

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), requires that when the name of any city or locality in the U.S., other than the name of the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears on an imported article or its container, there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters, or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by "made in," "product of," or other words of similar meaning. The purpose of this section is to prevent the possibility of misleading or deceiving the ultimate purchaser of the actual origin of the imported goods.

The general rule in country of origin marking is that the article must be marked unless otherwise excepted. However, under 19 U.S.C. 1304(a)(3)(D), if the marking of a container of such article will reasonably indicate the origin of such article, the article itself is excepted from marking. In this case, the blister packs containing the clips will only be sold to ultimate purchasers in the dispenser cartons. The dispenser carton will also be sealed with a plastic wrap. The ultimate purchaser will be able to ascertain the country of origin of the ligating clips by looking at the dispenser carton. Accordingly, we conclude that marking the dispenser will reasonably indicate the origin of the article. Therefore, the article need not be marked.

We find that the proposed country of origin marking on the sample dispenser carton meets the requirements of 19 CFR 134.41(b) in that the ultimate purchaser would be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. However, because
a U.S. address appears on the top panel of the carton the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are invoked. Therefore, the country origin must be marked permanently and legibly in close proximity to the U.S. address in at least comparable size letters preceded by the "Made in," "Product of" or other words of similar meaning. Customs has ruled that in order to satisfy the close proximity requirement of 19 CFR 134.46, the country of origin marking must appear on the same sides or surfaces of a box as the U.S. address (HQ708994 dated April 24, 1978). If U.S. address appears on the top panel of the carton then the country of origin marking must be also appear of the carton.

HOLDING:

The litigating clips and its blister packs need not be marked with the country of origin as long as the sealed dispenser carton is properly marked with the country of origin. The proposed country of origin marking on the dispenser carton meets the requirements of 19 CFR 134.41(b). However, because a U.S. address appears on the top panel of dispenser carton the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 is invoked. The country of origin marking must appear on the same panel of the carton as the U.S. address and in at least comparable sized letters preceded by "made in," "product of," or other similar words.

Sincerely,

Marvin Amernick

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