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HQ 950716

December 30, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 950716 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: Unknown

Ms. Lisa A. Hartman
A.N. Deringer, Inc.
P.O. Box 284
Highgate Springs, VT 05460

RE: Travel Tune-Up Kit; GRI 3(b); EN 3(b)(X); GRI 3(c)

Dear Ms. Hartman:

This is in response to your letter of October 31, 1991, on behalf of Rossignol Ski Company, Inc., concerning the classification of a travel tune-up kit under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The subject travel tune-up kit is used for the tuning of snow skis. It consists of a nylon tune-up kit cover, a tune-up manual, an eight inch Oberg file, a file care (wire brush), a pocket edge stone, a wax sample and guide, an emery cloth, a metal base scraper, and an acrylic wax scraper.

ISSUE:

Is the subject kit a "set" for tariff classification purposes? If so, do any of its components give it an essential characteristic?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

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

GRI 3(b) provides that:

[m]ixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.

In understanding the language of GRI 3(b) the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes may be utilized. The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to be used to determine the proper interpretation of the HTSUSA. Explanatory Note 3(b)(X) (p. 4), HTSUS, provides that "[f]or the purpose of this Rule, the term 'goods put up in sets for retail sale' shall be taken to mean goods which:

(a) consist of at least two different articles which are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings . . .;

(b) consist of products or articles put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity; and

(c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking (e.g., in boxes or cases or on boards)."

It is our position that the subject travel tune-up kit satisfies the criteria for treatment as goods put up in a set for retail sale as listed in Explanatory Note 3(b)(X), HTSUS. The kit consists of at least two different articles which are classifiable in different headings, it consists of articles put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity (the tuning of snow skis), and it is put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking.

However, we have determined that no single article imparts the essential character of the kit. All of the articles in the kit are necessary for snow skis to be effectively tuned. Therefore, GRI 3(c) must be considered. It provides that:

[w]hen goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or 3(b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.

Under GRI 3(b), then, the article in the kit whose classification occurs last in numerical order is the classification for the entire kit.

HOLDING:

The travel tune-up kit , under GRI 3(c), is classifiable under the heading of the article whose classification occurs last in numerical order among the articles contained within the kit. The article whose classification occurs last is the file care. Therefore, the travel tune-up kit is classifiable under subheading 9603.90.80, HTSUS, which provides for: "[b]rooms, brushes: [o]ther: [o]ther." The general, column one rate of duty is 5.6 percent ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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