HQ 0732920 - Country of origin marking for imported decorated golf balls - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 732920

April 16, 1990

MAR 2-05 CO:R:C:V 732920 pmh

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. G.B. Manarey
Designer Golf Products Ltd.
9943 - 5th Street, S.E.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2J1L3

RE: Country of origin marking for imported decorated golf balls

Dear Mr. Manarey:

This is in response to your letter of November 21, 1989, requesting a ruling on the country of origin marking requirements for imported decorated golf balls.

FACTS:

According to your letter, Designer Golf Products Ltd. produces and imports various decorative golf ball products. These consist of: a single decorative golf ball - no packaging; key ring with one ball attached; shot glass with one golf ball -shrink wrapped; a basket with two balls and two tees - shrink wrapped; a clear plastic carton holding three golf balls and two tees - shrink wrapped. Each product, including the single ball, is marked by means of a sticker bearing the words "Made In Canada." In addition, you note that those baskets used in some of the products, are made in China and that the golf tees used are products of the U.S. You did not indicate whether the shot glasses and the key ring components are products of Canada.

ISSUE:

Whether the proposed method of marking satisfies the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304.

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. Part 134 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. 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 if the marking of the container of such article will reasonably indicate the origin of the article. This exception is normally applied in cases where the article(s) 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 its original unopened marked container.

In this case, some of the articles are imported in shrink wrapped retail packaging; the ultimate purchaser is the U.S. consumer who will purchase the articles at the retail level. If Customs officials at the port of entry are satisfied that the individual golf balls in each of these packages will remain in the marked, sealed package until they reach the ultimate purchaser, they do not have to be individually marked with the country of origin. It is sufficient to mark each shrink-wrapped package. The suggested sticker bearing the name of the country of origin must be sufficiently conspicuous and permanent to be acceptable. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), provides that the degree of permanence should be at least sufficient to insure that in any reasonably foreseeable circumstance, the marking shall remain on the article (or its container) until it reaches the ultimate purchaser unless it is deliberately removed. The marking must survive normal distribution and store handling. The ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain.

Those golf balls that are sold singly or attached to a key chain must be individually marked with their country of origin. Again, a sticker bearing the country of origin would be acceptable if it is affixed with sufficient permanence and is sufficiently conspicuous.

Several of the shrink wrapped packages include additional articles (shot glass, small basket). It is not clear from the facts whether the shot glasses are products of Canada. If the glasses are products of Canada, the proposed sticker affixed to
the shrink-wrapped package would be sufficient marking to indicate the country of origin of the shot glass as well as the golf ball. If the glasses are not products of Canada, additional marking indicating the country of origin of the glasses is required.

With regard to the baskets used for some of these products, you indicate that they are products of China. These baskets do not have to be individually marked with their country of origin. In Grafton Spools, Ltd. v. Inited States, 45 Cust. Ct. 16, 23, C.D. 2190 (1960), the court found that empty metal spools imported from England and wrapped in the U.S. with inked ribbons to create typewriter ribbons, lost their separate identity in the finished product. The court determined that it was the ribbon and not the spool, which the manufacturer's customers were interested in purchasing. In HQ 732444, dated February 5, 1990, Customs found that uniquely shaped glass-blown articles that were filled with souvenir ocean water and sand did not have to be marked with their country of origin. Customs determined that the glass-blown articles had lost their separate identity in the finished product and it was the ocean water and sand that the customers of the finished sounevir were interested in puchasing. Likewise, with the baskets in this case, we find that they serve merely as decorative packaging for the golf balls, and it is the golf balls that the ultimate purchaser is interested in purchasing. Consequently, we find that the baskets are not required to be marked with their country of origin.

Although no information was provided regarding the country of origin of the metal key ring which is attached to the decorated golf ball, no separate marking on the key ring is required. Like the baskets, the metal component loses its separate identity when the decorated golf ball is attached. We are of the opinion that it is the decorated golf ball and not the metal ring which the ultimate purchaser is interested in purchasing.

HOLDING:

Decorated golf balls that are imported and sold packaged for retail in sets of two and three, in small baskets and in clear plastic cartons and shrink wrapped, do not have to be individually marked with the country of origin. It is sufficient to mark the shrink-wrapped retail package, itself, provided the
country of origin marking is sufficiently permanent and conspicuous. Individual decorated golf balls that are sold unpackaged and on key rings must be individually marked with the country of origin. Golf balls that are packaged with shot glasses and shrink-wrapped, may be marked by means of a sticker bearing the country of origin. If the shot glasses that are packaged with the golf balls, are not also products of Canada, their country of origin must also be indicated.

Sincerely,

Marvin M. Amernick

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