HQ 0734264 - Country of Origin Marking - Baseball Gloves with Hangtags; 19 CFR 134.46; 19 CFR 134.32(o); 19 CFR 134.32(c); "Economically Prohibitive". - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 734264
January 27, 1992

MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 734264 NL

CATEGORY: MARKING

Louis S. Schoichet, Esq.
Siegel, Mandell & Davidson, P.C.
One Astor Plaza
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10004

RE: Country of Origin Marking - Baseball Gloves with Hangtags; 19 CFR 134.46; 19 CFR 134.32(o); 19 CFR 134.32(c); "Economically Prohibitive".

Dear Mr. Schoichet:

This is in response to your letter of July 18, 1991, in which you request a ruling concerning the country of origin marking requirements applicable to a baseball glove to which is affixed a hang tag.

FACTS:

Your client, the Wilson Sporting Goods Company, imports baseball gloves from various countries. Each glove is embossed with the name of its country of manufacture. Attached to each glove is a folded hang tag (showing four sides) bearing information as to the model characteristics, break-in and care instructions, and other information. On the back side of the tag appear Wilson's U.S. address and the words "Printed in Korea".

The submission advises that Customs officials at the Port of Los Angeles have issued an advisory notice stating that the hang tag must be marked with the country of origin of the baseball glove, and warning that future such shipments will be treated as violative of the country of origin marking requirements.

Stated in the alternative, your submission urges: 1) That marking of the hang tags is not required under 19 CFR 134.46; and 2) That an exception from the marking requirements be approved for the existing inventory of hang tags pursuant to 19 CFR 134.32(c) and 134.32(o) because the tags are centrally sourced from Korea to serve as tags for gloves from a number of countries and the nature of the tags renders them not capable of post-manufacture stamping with the country of origin of a particular glove. It is represented that the current invventory of hang tags has a value of $85,000, while the cost to manufacture new tags with proper markings is put at $200,000.

ISSUES:

Are the hangtags required to be marked with the country of origin of the gloves?

Is an exception allowable on the basis that correcting the marking would be economically prohibitive?

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, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304.

If the name of a country or geographic location other than the country of origin appears on an imported article or its container, section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46) provides that there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, the name of the country of origin preceded by "Made in", "Product of", or other words of similar meaning. This requirement is intended to prevent the ultimate purchaser of an imported article from being confused or misled by the appearance of words or names other than the country of origin. For purposes of 19 CFR 134.46, Customs considers a hangtag to be part of the article to which it is attached. In this case, although the marking of the country of origin on the glove is acceptable, the presence on the hangtag of the words, "printed in Korea" and of the U.S. address of Wilson Sporting Goods triggers the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46. The name of the country of origin of the baseball glove, accompanied by the words "Made in" or words of similar meaning is required to appear in close proximity, i.e., on the same side of the hangtag, as the references to Korea and Wilson's U.S. address. Without the supplementary marking specified at 19 CFR 134.46, the marking of the baseball glove does not comply with the requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134.

The alternative claim is that despite the instant violation an exception from marking under 19 CFR 134.32(c) and 19 CFR 134.32(o) should be approved. That is, the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 with respect to the hang tag should not be enforced pending the exhaustion of the importer's supply of hang tags because the expense of correcting the violation either before or after importation would be economically prohibitive. You state that Wilson has an inventory of approximately 1.3 million hang tags with a value of $85,000 which would be unusable; corrective stickers could be printed and affixed to these tags at an expense of approximately $200,000.

In a previous ruling which is cited in the submission, Customs granted relief to an importer of surgical blades under both 19 CFR 134.32(c) and 134.32(o). The blades were packed in boxes which were properly marked, but the individually wrapped blades were subject to the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 in that they bore a reference to a U.S. location other than the country of origin. This office accepted the importer's representations that there had been no attempt to avoid compliance with the marking requirements; that steps had been taken to remedy the marking deficiency; and that the cost of marking every wrapped blade was substantial in relation to the cost of each blade (one cent). We thus concluded that it would be economically prohibitive for the importer to mark the articles either before or after importation.

In this matter we have no representations as to the cost of the baseball gloves in relation to the cost of remedying the marking violation. Assuming that 1.3 million gloves with hang tags require correction by attachment of a sticker, the per- glove cost would be slightly more than fifteen cents each. In relation to the value of each finished glove, unlike our determination in the matter of the surgical blades, we do not regard this expense as economically prohibitive to correct within the meaning of 19 CFR 134.32(c) or 134.32(o). We accept, as in the previous case, that the violation did not involve any attempt on the part of the importer to avoid the marking requirements, and we acknowledge that corrective action will be taken in the production of new hang tags. However, it is our opinion that no exception relief may be approved for the existing inventory of tags, which must be corrected before they may be used on imported baseball gloves.

HOLDING:

The hang tags affixed to imported baseball gloves must indicate the country of origin of the gloves as required by 19 CFR 134.46 because they bear references to locations other than the country of origin of the gloves. The claim that it is economically prohibitive to correct the marking deficiency is not accepted.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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